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The holidays are in full swing, and that means sun, sea, sand and… scams.
Even the most cautious of travelers can be caught off guard by a clever ruse. And often, this happens when they least expect it.
Want to avoid getting scammed? Tourists have shared some common scams on Reddit to watch out for.
User ‘pelican678’ started the discussion on the ‘Travel’ forum when he asked: ‘What’s the worst scam you’ve ever fallen for while traveling?’
From tourists being given fake banknotes as a distraction to seemingly friendly boat tour operators making a killing off scams, read on to find out the details of scams around the world…
The taxi scam
Want to avoid getting scammed? Tourists have shared some common scams to watch out for on Reddit. One of the most common scams involves taxi drivers lying about having a “broken meter” and then overcharging for the ride.
Perhaps one of the most common scams that travelers fall victim to is overcharging taxis – many Redditors warn tourists to never pay at the end of a ride.
User ‘countlesskillalot’ said many taxi drivers in Morocco “tell you they have a broken meter and charge you a very high fare.” He added: “I’ve literally had to quit taxis because of this, because they always overcharge me.”
User ‘pelican678’ wrote: ‘Taxis in foreign countries can be a huge rip-off, especially when you are detected as a tourist. Uber has helped a lot, at least they have good customer service and ways to avoid being charged.’
‘SquareVehicle’ agreed: ‘Uber and other ride-hailing apps were a complete game-changer when they came out.’
The two-note scam
Scammers may try to trick tourists by pretending they have been given a very low value banknote.
Tourists should keep a close eye on their cash, especially in countries where they are unfamiliar with the currency, as some scammers may try to trick them.
User ‘Harperfin’ experienced this in Morocco, where he noted that the purple 20 Moroccan dirham note (£1.60/$2) looks similar to the blue 200 dirham note (£15.90/$20.40). He explained: ‘A waiter at a restaurant scammed me out of my money and then ran off, insisting that I had mistakenly given him a lower value note. He distracted me by waving the money around and talking rapidly.’
‘NoStructure371’ added: ‘I had a similar experience in Amsterdam. A beer was eight euros and I gave him 50 euros and the waiter gave me a two euro coin back as if it was no big deal, giving me 40 euros less thinking I wouldn’t say anything.’
User ‘Angle_Of_The_Sangle’ called it a ‘classic’ scam. He wrote: ‘When I was trained as a cashier, we were taught that when the customer hands you a bill, you place it on the cash register while you give them change. You don’t accept their $20 and put it in the register because they might claim they gave you $100.’
The handwritten note scam
Travelers should be wary of anyone approaching them with a handwritten note, as many Redditors warn that it could be a distraction tactic used by scammers to steal valuables, including phones.
User ‘GooeyPig’ almost fell victim to the scam at a McDonald’s in Paris, where a man approached their table and left a handwritten note. They explained: ‘I leaned over to try and read it but he kept sliding it towards him so I grabbed it off the table, told him I couldn’t read it and handed it back to him. He walked off.’
The user said his friend narrowly avoided having his phone stolen: “(The scammer) had placed the note directly on my friend’s phone and kept sliding it towards him. I couldn’t hide the phone once I took the note.”
User ‘angry_llana_pants’, who had a similar experience, responded: ‘It happened to a friend of mine in a cafe in Athens. A woman approached waving a note on the table while speaking quickly in Greek. My friend had her phone on the table, the scammer distracted her enough and stole her phone.’
The bracelet scam
Redditors claim that many scammers insist on giving tourists wristbands and then demand payment after putting them on.
Travelers should not only watch their wallets, but also their wrists, according to Redditors, who claim that many scammers insist on giving tourists wristbands and then demand payment.
User ‘not_cthulhu’ recalled a trip to Japan where a man dressed as a monk approached them, gave them a bracelet and said ‘some nice words of affirmation’ before demanding a ‘ridiculous donation’.
User ‘kummer5peck’ experienced something similar in Athens. He wrote: ‘People try to give you these bracelets aggressively saying they’re going to perform an African dance afterwards. I’m not sure if it’s a scam, but more like they’re harassing people until you give them money to leave them alone. Either way, it worked for me. I gave them the five euros.’
The “baby needs food” scam
Many scammers will try to pull at people’s heartstrings, according to Redditors who pointed out a common scam involving baby formula.
User ‘ph_gwailo’ dubbed it the “My baby needs food scam,” after falling victim to the scam in Havana, Cuba. He wrote: “You’re lured into a general store with a sob story: a man’s baby can’t eat because the government won’t sell him enough baby formula. You then buy it from him, but he returns it to the store later to receive cash back.”
‘SundayRed’ described the scam as “pretty mild overall.” They wrote: “My wife fell for the ‘please help me buy baby formula’ scam in Mumbai. She ended up going to the store and buying a bunch of groceries for a woman who I’m 99 percent sure was on the store’s payroll.
“Still, it’s a very inexpensive measure, it has no repercussions and ultimately it helps someone, even if it’s a little dubious.”
The boat trip scam
Redditor ‘loosey_goosey175’ revealed how he was scammed by a seemingly innocent and elderly boat tour operator in Thailand
Be careful who you book a tour with.
Redditor ‘loosey_goosey175’ revealed how they were scammed by a seemingly innocent, elderly boat tour operator.
They revealed: ‘My partner and I went to Thailand and we really wanted to go on a boat tour around some islands. I remember thinking, “Be careful, there are a lot of scammers who will tell me a random price,” (so) I chose this older man who seemed really innocent and sweet.
‘We decided to go on a tour and asked the price. He told us that the price for this tour for the two of us would be around £130, which seems pretty fair for a full day tour with lunch and some snorkelling stops along the way. We booked our seats, paid for everything and waited patiently for the next day.
‘As it was already morning, we headed to the “meeting point”. Finally, after waiting for more than an hour and a half… we went to look for that man, thinking “oh, maybe he forgot about us”. (But) his “place” was empty and closed, so naturally we asked other vendors where that man was. One said, “Unfortunately, he passed away late last night.”
‘Now comes the best part of the story. Three days after the news of his ‘death’, we were walking by the same spot and there he was! I couldn’t believe my eyes. So the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t trust anyone, not even nice-looking old people.
‘We were left without a refund because he said, “I’ve never seen you in my life.” (Even though we showed him our tickets that he gave us that day.)’