Travel scams: travellers are all being scammed once in a journey. But it's possible to avoid them so as not to get ripped off!
You are travelling, open to others, eager for exchanges, encounters and friendship. Alas, scams are also part of the travel experience! Here are a few tips to not get fleeced
The purpose of this article is not to turn you into a paranoid traveller, on the contrary. Better informed about possible scams, you will be more serene and will easily sort out those who want to do you good and those who want to fleece you.
However, be aware that even the most experienced travellers can also be fooled. Even if you’re careful, you can still fall into the trap of a fox. Trickery is their business, they know how to take it and how to trap us, that’s how it is. Don’t beat yourself up, the scams are sometimes so well set up that it’s very difficult to get suspicious!
Some scammers work with authority and don’t hesitate to use strong words to knock out the naive traveller
One can be surprised at the number of scams that operate using authority. I’ve seen travellers spend $100 in souks for things they didn’t want to buy. They felt obliged, dominated, intimidated. Frightened by the consequences of a refusal, they opened their wallets. It’s a scam, the aim being to get as much money out of you as possible by impressing you.
There are many ways to get the upper hand over a stranger. Scammers rely on your ignorance of the terrain, they will scare you with warnings about imaginary dangers (don’t go that way, it’s a real cut-throat) or simply lecture you on how to behave: in my country you don’t refuse an invitation, it is an offence, etc. From then on, they will manipulate you to get what they want.
Need some help? How nice of you to be so considerate! Beware it’s not always free, it may be a scam!
Even more disappointing, you are approached because you look lost and you are kindly accompanied… then you are asked for money for guiding you. The help is not always as selfless (but not always) as it seems. In many cases, these providential people are not there by chance. They keep a lookout and wait to spot stray strangers: large crossroads, metro stations, a maze of alleyways… Since they’ve pulled you through this bad patch, they’ll think it’s legitimate to get a few coins out of you. Afterwards, it will be difficult to prevent them from sticking to you until you open your wallet.
What should you do if you are being swindled by a “helping hand” scam?
Before you accept help, make one thing clear: if it’s going to result in a reward, say no (I’m not giving you money, no money!). Sometimes it’s a bit abrupt, but it has the advantage of avoiding any misunderstanding. Chances are, once the announcement is made, you’ll be left high and dry. If you want to use the services of this person to guide you, why not? But set the price at the outset, negotiate! You will leave amicably and everyone will be happy. You, because you will have learned a lot from this walk, and your “guide” who will have won his day.
Hospitality scam: you will be invited home as a friend and you will be charged for the visit, that’s it!
It’s one of the most disappointing scams of the trip: you are greeted in the street and welcomed with a warm smile. You are beautiful, you are a brother, a sister, it is so nice to meet you, etc. They then drag you into the house to drink a tea with the family and crack! Sooner or later a display of trinkets will appear in front of you. Guilty of having drunk and sat down, the traveller then feels obliged to buy something… at the full price of course cause now, you are a friend! Sometimes it is just tea that will be charged… at the price of champagne!
Special mention for poor little lonely women with a kind heart
Beware of those who would have you believe that you are a poor little lost woman, the ideal prey of the big bad wolves who are waiting for you everywhere! This way of doing things is recurrent in many countries where the woman is a fragile little thing and infantilized throughout her life.
Firmly dismiss the guy who takes you by the hand with authority and leads you into his shop… or elsewhere. Run away from men who are too paternal, dominant or, at best, show them who they are dealing with!
Watch out for those who push you, grab your arm, block your way. Go into defence mode, put the distance of an outstretched arm between you and say it loud and clear: you are too close!
Cultural exchange and foreign exchange scams: the providential stranger
Scammers know perfectly the “traveller’s mode”: the desire for cultural exchange, encounters and sometimes play on your guilt for being born privileged. You come from a rich coutry, you are rich!
They tell you that life is cruel, the mother is sick, the family is working hard to get by… Don’t be fooled by their smile and sometimes their cheerfulness which shows how brave they are against adversity. They know very well what they are doing. They play the card of cultural exchange, of those 50$ that are nothing to you but can change everything for them or the scarves woven by the women of the village with the sweat of their brow… This 50$ will surely end up in booze or gambling and the scarves may be made in China!
Avoid any condescension or excessive empathy, that’s what the scheme is based on. You’re on a trip, you don’t have to become everyone’s close friend, the saviour of oppressed people, especially if it’s based on money.
The most beautiful human adventures are not for sale. These small sums of money that don’t cost you anything given out of the goodness of your heart maintain the idea that travellers are just good at being ripped off, with a good conscience on both sides: locals think you are loaded, stinking rich, that a small bill is nothing for you, and travellers have the impression that they are saving the world.
All this creates and maintains rotten, artificial and often false human relations.
They come to pose next to you, smile, thumbs up: clik! And now: give me the money for the picture!
Paid photo or free photo?
This debate divides travellers. Some find it normal to pay for a photo, others do not. The question is unlikely to be settled, but the different aspects of this business must be considered.
It’s all about quality. Rushing up to the locals to take their picture without even starting a conversation or asking permission is very rude and frustrating for them.
It’s all about quantity. A photo, taken discreetly, taking the time to make a nice shot is still more fun than shooting in a burst of gunfire. What is scandalous in this type of attitude is the objectification of people. Show some respect, you’re not in the zoo.
I’m not in favour of paid photography. I don’t charge the Chinese, Burmese, Egyptians who take pictures of me all over the place.
Be careful not to fall into the traps, not all of them are in need, it’s also easy money. I think that the philosophy of paid photography is not a good one. If you have to pay for everything, then there is no longer a sincere and normal relationship between the men and women of this world.
Scams around cash dispensers, ATM and exchange offices
If you are approached while you are withdrawing money from an ATM, sound the alarm, the scam is not far off!
Beware of people who are too nice to suggest that you use another cash machine to avoid withdrawal charges
When withdrawing money from the ATM, be extra careful!
When travelling, be careful not to take too much cash with you
Scams at the exchange office are one of the most common scams in the world
Beware of unofficial street dealers and currency exchange offices
In order not to be cheated, you must already have an idea of the rate at which you want to exchange your currency
This application will also allow you to escape another scam: converting the notes you hand them from a different currency. In Serbia, instead of converting a €100 banknote, the operator converted US$100. That is 9810.00 instead of 11760.00 Serbian dinars. Oops!
It is imperative that you check the banknotes, crooks have talents, the sleight of hand is one of them
Last recommendation: have the value of banknotes and coins explained to you
Other common travel scams: the list is unfortunately endless!
Police or civil servant scams
The fake policemen who rob you completely
Gifts that cost money
Little or big accident that make you fall into the win-lose trap
Watch out, he goes or they go, with his accomplices, to relieve you of your belongings or run away with your bag. The aim of the manoeuvre is to draw your attention to the accident so that he can rob you. The technique is also used when you are in a car. You are stopped at a red light to tell you that your tyre is flat or something is dirtying your windscreen. Some will even run into you to get you out of the car. A third party involved in the scam will then take what’s inside the car.
Here is the most complicated chapter about scam: good heart-pity tricks
Your empathy, your good education and above all the idea that you are privileged in relation to these poor people will make you fall into all the traps. It is only after some practice of travelling that you will understand better the mechanics of the scam. A little girl hugging a newborn baby, a little boy begging for money to buy the book, the uniform, the notebook that will allow him to go to school, children doing their homework on the pavements… All this is 99% based on lies, even the clothes are costumes. The aim is to collect money which often goes to very well organised mafias.
Sometimes it is enough to have a conversation with a “normal” local family to understand this. These locals abhor these beggars and castigate these criminal systems which deprive children of any future and exploit them like slaves.
So be careful to curb these impulses of love and charity towards one’s neighbour. It is possible that this lady earns more than you by begging for money or that this Roma family, so touchingly poor, owns a palace in Romania. You are going to buy clothes for the little boy dressed in rags, well cut with a cutter. You will see him the next day with the same clothes: new clothes don’t bring in enough money.
6 basic rules can help you avoid travel scams
- Don’t go with the idea of making a masterstroke that will quadruple a modest starting bet: import of jewellery, art objects, antiques, precious crafts bought at 5€ and resold in Europe at 200€, etc. It’s all fake… and a scam!
- Don’t take the widow and the orphan too much to heart, compassion and empathy are very effective levers to get you to open your purse. Building a well, a school, helping an orphanage, that can be a scam and not a small one!
- Be suspicious, without fear of being seen as a cheapskate, when it comes to money. Forget politeness and diplomacy and count the notes again, ask for more information, have the conditions explained to you several times before handing out a note. You’ll see that the fraudster will suddenly become less patient, less smiling, less nice…
- Become super friends at first sight? Yeah… Be a little more demanding than that before you trust someone. Those who get ripped off are mostly the ones who say yes right away.
- Be careful as soon as the offer, whatever it is, is too good to be true. Crooks know that you don’t attract flies with vinegar. They will make you glimpse the mountains and wonders to lure the naive.
- Don’t react to fast when you are told bad news (hotel gone, tourist site closed). It is by putting pressure on you, a sense of urgency, by making you lose all logic, that thieves catch you in their nets.
