One of the most frightening scenarios is to suddenly see yourself without money or even without a passport in a strange country.
In addition, the feeling of being a real fool for having trusted that kind and smiling local.
In this article we share some types of common travel scams and frauds so that you have your guard up.
The pirate taxi driver
In some developing or chaotic countries like India, it may happen that to leave the airport for your accommodation you find that there is no safe transport system or established taxi line.That is when you are approached by pirate taxi drivers. If you see no other alternative, you take it.
Along the way, they inform you that the hotel where you are going to stay is closed in order to take you to another hotel because they are going to receive a commission from that other place. It seems incredible, but more than one has fallen, even having booked at the hotel weeks before the trip.
Find out if the hotel where you book has a transfer service from the airport to the hotel.
This is not include on the menu!
Another common scam occurs at tourist eating places. You usually see an advertisement placed with very attractive menus and prices. But once the order is consumed and at the time of paying, it turns out that they charge you an amount of extras that you had not contemplated. For example, in China we were charged extra for napkins. In other places they charge for cutlery.
This is different from the service charge that may come on the account. In the US and Canada you pay an additional but it is something that is established. This is usually between 5% to 10% of consumption.
Always when entering the restaurant make sure that the prices are reflected. It may be that the steak costs you 10 dollars and this is reflected, but it turns out that the contours are charged separately.
Beware of street packs
It is very common in countries like Thailand that you find people on the street selling tour packages like someone who sells lottery tickets.
The modus operandi is the usual: they see you with the face of a tourist and begin to try to lower your defenses by stunning you with dozens of offers, one cheaper than another. It is very risky to take these street packs. Everything can range from charging you dearly for what they sold you cheap to assault and whatever comes to mind.
Always buy tour packages at a travel agency or at the hotel itself. As always, common sense can save you a lot of sorrow.
By the way, it is important to clarify from the beginning in which currency you are being charged. The local currency and the dollar are not the same.
The scam guide
Another common fraud is that of the super friendly and smiling local people who offer you the help of taking you to places that only a local knows and quite cheaper than the packages of the agencies.But then it turns out that you have to pay for the food from the places where they take you, and even pay their “fees”.
In certain places, tour packages do not include the guide’s food, but they do not tell you. You should always thoroughly clarify what is included and what is not included in the “package”. Because it is you who can end up in a package.
The “favorite scam”
Every time we travel, we find out about the most common scam in our destination. There are forums and portals on the internet where travelers tell about their travel experiences and warn others about common scams and frauds.
That cute girl!
In many places you can see children dressed in colorful costumes typical of the place. Or adults dressed as gladiators in Rome. They look so cute and so typical that it’s hard to resist taking a picture of them.
If you do, be prepared to pay the shift model fees, usually with set rates, but which you don’t see advertised anywhere.
The entrance to heaven is charged
It happens in Thailand that, when visiting a temple, it may happen that when you arrive there will be people who tell you that just that day it is closed to the public and they want to convince you to take you to another more beautiful, larger, older or even more sacred temple. And which turns out to be more expensive.If you’re interested in that other temple, go on your own. If not, decline the invitation. Be well informed about schedules of places to visit.
When you enter the mosques you must take off your shoes. There are special places to store shoes. But it happens that the shoes are stolen while you visit the place, it does not happen very often but there have been cases. We recommend taking a bag to put your shoes in and carrying them on you during the tour.
In those sacred places, you must not show shoulders and you are not allowed to enter with shorts. Generally in highly visited sacred sites, they can provide you with the necessary implements such as scarves and even baggy pants and they are usually free. Some take advantage of this and offer clothing items for sale.
Charity is also charged
There is another scam that involves a group of people asking you to sign a signature collection letter for a charity. But then it turns out that they want to force you to collaborate with money, even establishing a minimum “loving donation”.
Never agree to give to charities in strange surroundings. They are almost never true real charities or begging networks.
What is given away… is also charged
People who want to give you bracelets, flowers or details and then want to charge you for them are typical. If you think the detail is nice, give them. If not, don’t even accept it, they will be very insistent.
It happened to us once that a smiling man asked us to read our palms. What we thought was a kind gesture from a stranger turned out to be a palmist’s session with a set fee.
I suppose that in our hands he said “dupes with easy money.”
Silk fingers
Of course, we cannot leave out the ubiquitous and clever pickpockets.
The most common modus operandi is to work in pairs or teams. While one of them distracts you, the other robs you without you realizing it. The distraction usually consists of stumbling, asking you things like directions (to you, a tourist with a lost face) or doing some performance to get your attention.
It happened to a friend that it was stolen in front of us and none of us noticed. She just felt pushed and she turned to see who she was. Soon after, she realized that she no longer had the koala where she kept her documentation and her money.
Conclusions
As you can see, there is a long and even ingenious series of stealing your money voluntarily or involuntarily and that has unsuspecting tourists as its target.Here, the key word is “dupe”. The use of common sense and the previous investigation of schedules of our destinations, as well as the customs of the place, although it will not protect us 100% if it greatly reduces the probability of going through a bad time when you are traveling.
Unfortunately, it must be said, be wary of anyone who seems excessively kind to you or who insists on giving unsolicited help.
And always listen to your inner voice that warns you of that little boy or that pretty old lady.
