Common travel scams while on holiday
By Darren Cronian on Sunday, December 6th, 2009

The excitement of being on holiday sometimes helps us lose our common sense and as a tourist they are many people who want to take advantage that you are in an unfamiliar location. In 2003, I visited Kuala Lumpur and I was approached by a man as I walked down the street.

Common travel scams while on holiday

Vulnerable solo traveller

He chatted to me and then invited me for a drink to welcome me to the city. As I was a solo traveller, prior to my holiday I read a number of forums and a few mentioned about a scam trick where someone appears friendly, takes you to a local bar or restaurant and then robs you.

This local man could have genuinely wanted to be welcoming, but, I wasn’t going to risk it. I was obviously vulnerable because I was travelling alone, in a country that I had never visited before and well I often look lost. I found the locals to be incredibly friendly though.

Here are a few other common holiday scams.

Taxi pricing scam

I very rarely use a taxi abroad and if I do then I make sure to ask and agree to the price of the journey before stepping inside the cab. I’ve read a story of travellers using non official taxi’s and being ripped off, robbed or left in the middle of nowhere.

Using a taxi abroad could make you a scam victim. I read a story where a tourist gave the driver a large note, so he quickly exchanged it for a lower value note and told the tourist that he had not given him enough money. Make sure you keep the local police telephone number just in case.

Money exchange scam

On a few occasions I have been approached by people in the streets offering to exchange my money to their local currency. I was wise to this scam but what they do is offer you either counterfeit money, the wrong currency or confuse you on the exchange rate and you end up getting less for your money.

The simple solution for this is take your debit or credit card and use ATM’s, or exchange some of the money back home. If you do have to exchange money abroad, use official money exchange shops, but make sure you check the rate in the window before purchasing.

Tourist trip scam

A while back I went to Tenerife with a group of friends and what spoilt the holiday for me was the continuous stream of people coming up to you to try and sell you timeshare, counterfeit goods and party trips. One group we met paid £40 each for a party on a boat trip, the boat never arrived.

Another popular scam is ticket touts outside popular tourist attractions that will try and sell you a ticket for less than the official price. When you arrive at the entrance you’re turned away because the ticket is fake. Always purchase tickets from the official ticket office and not from touts.3

Another good read on popular holiday scams is the interview with Paul Wilson, of the BBC programme, the Real Hustle, who reveals some popular travel scams and tips how to avoid them.

Your travel scam experiences

These are just three scams that I have come across recently but feel free to add your own experiences with travel scams; what other scams have you read about, and what advice would you give to other travellers to make sure that they are not a victim of a travel scam.


Related posts

Please enter your email address to receive my free newsletter

 



15 responses to “Common travel scams while on holiday”

Mary Jo | 6 December, 2009 at 4:48 pm

I observed this one while traveling in Chicago:

While standing at a street corner, waiting to cross, a man came up to a fairly well dressed couple, told them that he had been admiring the man’s shoes as he was a shoe expert. IN fact, he told them, he could tell the guy where he got the shoes, and if he was right he wanted $5.

I don’t know whether the couple was gullible, or just wanted to get rid of the guy, so they said sure. The guy started cackling and said, “You got them on your feet, now give me my $5. I’m not sure if it was embarrassment or what, but they did — and then the guy went on to find his next mark.

Report this comment

Dean Oliver | 7 December, 2009 at 9:23 am

Hi Darren
a commom scam in Vietnam is with the rickshaw drivers. We got caught with this one in Ho Chi Minh City.

The rickshaw drivers offer to take you on a tour of the city for say $10 each. All goes well until the end of the tour, where upon they will not drop you at your hotel, instead opting to drop you nearby but out side a local restaurant or group pf locals.
They then start to argue with you when you offer to pay, saying that you agreed to pay $40 each, then starting to shout loudly in Vietamese obviously to draw attention to them, you then have to pay them the large amount or face having the locals crowding round etc

Left a bitter taste in my mouth

Report this comment

Simon | 7 December, 2009 at 10:28 am

Came across one while in Bangkok some years ago, on the way from the airport to hotel you have to pay the toll fees for the taxi and the driver will give you back the wrong change from paying the toll.

Worked this out after the second of the two tolls on the way in so when going back to the airport made sure I had plenty of change/small notes to give driver correct toll to pay – result on not very happy taxi driver.

Report this comment

Nick | 7 December, 2009 at 11:09 am

London; I got a free taxi ride as on a trip from Kings Cross to Whitehall we went past Army and Navy twice (should not of gone past it at all) once the front then the back.

This is because my cousin whom I been staying with got the cab with his Brum accent and spent the whole trip talking about how it was his first time in London, when the taxi driver told us the fare I spoke up and asked how many Army and Navy stores are there and I think you over charging gov, and he said it whots on the meter mate, so I offered to fetch the nearby police office and all off a sudden he drove off and did not take any money..strange..lol (for those that do not know Black Cabs can have there license suspended on the spot for overcharging)

Florida Attraction ticket scams.. you buy a reduced price attraction ticket only to find you have to attend a timeshare presentation.

Report this comment

Simon | 7 December, 2009 at 11:13 am

On a recent trip to Paris my partner and I got a lot of taxis, and what would often happen is that the driver would say, ask for 8 Euro, we would give him a 10, and he would never give us the change. I would just be sitting there waiting.

It started to get pretty frustrating, and even when we were in Montmarte and asked a taxi driver to confirm the fare before we got in I felt like we were being ripped out again.

Thank goodness for the new taxi initiative in Rome, that’s all I can say.

Simon

Report this comment

Simon | 7 December, 2009 at 12:01 pm

@Nick – that’s a great story. Will have to use that piece of advice next time I catch a black cab!

Also… worth mentioning are unlicensed cabs.

Report this comment

Darren Cronian | 7 December, 2009 at 2:02 pm

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s interesting that all of the travel scams have been around taxis or transport. I had a similar issue with a London cabbie, charged me a fortune because I had a Yorkshire accent probably!

I never use them now, always use the London underground.

Keep the experiences coming! :)

Report this comment

Saben | 7 December, 2009 at 2:06 pm

I think the worst we have seen so far was in Kathmandu. Mothers take thier children around asking tourists for money for milk. They take the tourist to a shop to buy the milk (at 5 times the actual cost) then return the milk to the store after the tourist leaves and split the money with the shop owner. We saw many tourists getting hit up and actually buying them milk while we were there.

Report this comment

Dan Stevens | 7 December, 2009 at 3:34 pm

Some really useful information there, thank you. Although I’ve not been a victim of a scam, I have had my car broken into in Portugal in a place called Sintra. I have also been jumped on at a cash machine in Marseille, France. Both times nothing was taken as I am very careful about my valuables, but it shows you can never be too sure about your safety anywhere in the world.

Report this comment

Dom | 7 December, 2009 at 5:50 pm

I was sold a watch (Rolex copy) that I paid £40 for. I took it back after my arm went orange (do not ask) and the shop would not refund me my money.. I was stupid but I later found out from a watch expert that it was the worst copies he had ever seen.

Report this comment

Darren Cronian | 7 December, 2009 at 6:04 pm

@ Dom

Were you mad?? £40 crikey. That’s a rip-off even at copycat standards. i bought a watch it was a ‘RALOX’ watch, time went backwards, but it only cost me a few £s.

Report this comment

Pingback - Traveling with MJ | 13 December, 2009 at 7:09 pm

[...] Travel Rants lists some of the great and not-so-great scams that travelers may encounter.  Don’t get taken in. [...]

Report this comment

Heather | 13 December, 2009 at 9:29 pm

My sister told me that there were some scam-meisters on the train from Rome to Florence. First, when they were trying to work out how to buy tickets from the automatic machine, a lady came up and was very friendly and helpful and showed them how to use it but then asked for a tip.

On the train itself, a lady told them that they had to put their cases on a certain place in the luggage rack and that it was forbidden to put them in another, but some police appeared on the platform and that lady immediately disappeared.

Report this comment

kenoath | 16 December, 2009 at 5:26 am

A taxi driver tried to scam us in Adelaide, South Australia once. We were told a taxi fare from the hotel to the airport would be about A$8, when we got there we got the old ‘forgot to turn the meter on’ trick and he asked for A$18. We stood our ground, stayed in the taxi until he said OK, A$10. The missus got the bags out of the boot and as I got out I threw him A$5. By that time he was being told by security to move his cab so he had to head off. And a trick I have used a few times in taxis, when I get in a cab I take a photo of the drivers ID with my mobile phone. When they ask why I tell them that me and the missus are a bit forgetful and if we leave something behind in the cab at least when we go to the police we can tell them the cab number and driver ID. It is always an uneventful trip and the meter is always on and we get to where we are going in a straight line!

Report this comment

Bob | 5 March, 2010 at 3:51 am

You may want to consider opening a whole new chapter for “india scams.” The list is long, but includes:
- Scammers selling fake gems to tourists in Jaipur, promising a big payday when the gems are re-sold in the US (or wherever). Gems are of course fake. (Also see a similar scam in Bangkok)
- Pretty much anything to do with “giving your credit card number to someone you met on the street.”
- The famous “shit on shoes” scam in Mumbai: Scammer flicks some pigeon droppings on your shoes while you’re not looking, then points it out and takes you to his shoe-shining buddy to clean it off.
- Rickshaw drivers who agree on a fare to go from point A to point B, then upon arrival claim that the fare was per person.

I could go on for a very long time with the India list. Most of these are small scams that are more annoying than harmful, but anything to do with giving out your credit card number to someone you met on the street can lead to major damage.

Report this comment

Please post a comment

     Comments will be moderated. Please read the comment policy before posting.