Travel scams

The globe is a fairly peaceful place and most people no matter culture, income or strange language are friendly and will only do their utterly most to help you. But then there are the tiny percent of bad seeds that are trying to take advantage of vulnerable travellers. Everyone can fall victim to their tricks, but being aware of the most well-known travel scams will steer you clear of the worst.

Chinese tea house
Claim it on the insurance
Coin collector
Credit card fraud
Credit card fraud, part II

Dirt on shirt
Donations
Drugged
Fake changes
Fake cops

Fake cops, version II
Finder do not keep
Money swapping taxi driver
Organised crime
Oriental carpets

Rape accusation
Reverse exchange rate
Robbed fellow traveller
The gem scam
The tuk-tuk scam

If you know other travel scams, please share with us.

This scam comes in many disguises around the world, but this is the Chinese tea house version and takes place at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. You are chatted up by two cute young ladies who claim to be English students. They ask if you have some time to chat so they can practice their English. Sure, why not. They will suggest some tea, so you all go to this traditional Chinese tea house. This can be done so subtle, that you might believe that you picked the place yourself. Maybe you offer to pay, maybe the girls are gone when the bill comes, but never the less the tea is super expensive (75$-200$). So the lesson is; anyone who approaches you on Tiananmen or Wangfujing is probably trying to make a buck out of you. The best solution if confronted with an outrageous bill seems to be a laughing rejection and a threat to call the police. Modesty and politeness will only make things worse. And yes, the girls are in on it, no matter how cute and friendly they might seem.

This scam involves yourself trying to scam others. A doctor, or friend of, chats you up and suggests that he can creates some fake doctor bills (including rapport, official stamps, and everything) on your behalf, which you then can claim on your travel insurance. You will of course have to pay him upfront some fraction of the fake bill's value in promises that you will pocket the other bit, when the insurance company eventually pays up. Well well, travel insurance companies are well aware of this kind of scams and have probably already seen a fake bill from the doctor in question. No insurance company will pay out a huge amount post treatment without ever being in contact with the hospital in question. So forget about financing your travels by dodgy insurance claims, which only make future insurances even more expensive for the rest of us... and do we need to mention, it is also illegal?

This is a harmless, little trick mostly preformed by young kids. First a "collector" ask if you have any foreign coins, because they just happen to collect those as an innocent hobby. They can be very convincing and even know the currency and nominations of your home country's money (funny that they always are missing the high nomination in their collection though). So when they finally have got some foreign coins, the next step is to sell them back to other tourists for the local currency, under the excuse that some tourist paid them in Swedish Krona or Japanese Yen. Clever, right?

Oh boy, don't get us started on this one. The tricks are too many and too painful. SO... only use your credit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs that look authentic or to make purchaces at well established businesses (and no, that tailor down the side street in Agra is probably not well established).

So now you only use your credit card at ATMs, but your sorrow isn't over yet. Smart scams range from fake fronts that swallow your card along with the PIN to more sophisticated plastic sleeves that are inserted into the card slot to jam your card and make you believe the card is swallowed after you have pressed the PIN. So if possible only use ATMs in connection with banks that are open, else check the ATM and see if it looks altered. Or simple see the machine in use before you have a go.

You are walking in a crowed street and suddenly you get something on your jacket. It can be anything from coffee to dog pooh. Faster than lightning a diverse group of friendly locals want to help, offering to clean your jacket with their very convenient napkins. Before you realise what is going on your wallet/money belt/camera/daypack is changing hands. The solution is to "be cool" when it happens, decline their service firmly and walk away fast. You can always check out the stains in a safer place later on. If you don't realise the scam before they are freeing you from your valuables, yell out and act aggressively. Trick thieves are rarely into attention and violence, but use your good judgement.

Some fake collector, let it be a school kid in Sri Lanka, a monk in China or even an orthodox Jew at the Western wall in Jerusalem, approaches you and pretends to represent some do-good cause asking for a donation, which of course only ends up in their own pocket. You want to do good, but how can you tell the real charity from the con-artists preying on want-to-do-the-right-thing travellers. Well, it can be difficult to tell but it's probably a hoax if the collector only target tourists/are very persuasive and smooth talking/physically makes them hard to avoid/asking for a minimum amount/show you a book of how much other tourists have paid (often showing exorbitant amounts). Do give to the real ones and never let you get bullied by the fakes.

This trick is famous in the Philippines, but again it could happen anywhere from Europe to South America. In the bus station (or train or anywhere) you are chatted up by some friendly locals. Maybe they are going on the same bus as you, maybe they are just waiting like you. After a while they offer some sweets which you out of politeness don't refuse. Unfortunately they contain some sedative drug and when you wake up, you find yourself vacuumed for valuables. This one is hard to see coming and there is no reason to be paranoid, but if you are travelling alone or are otherwise vulnerable, why take any risks.

You get offered a very good deal on some goods from a street vendor near a tourist site. The price is not a round amount, so you pay a bigger note and get your change back, nothing special here. Well, maybe not. This scam has two sides. First the obvious that traders will never make deals which are not to their benefit. If a bargain sounds too good, it probably is. The second part is the actually scam, where the vendor gives back your change in counterfeit money. There is a lot of fake Chinese money in circulation (especially 50 notes) and quite a few ends up in the hands of tourist, which then gets an unwanted expensive souvenir.

A couple of plainclothes men come up to you and present some kind of official looking police ID claiming to be "tourist police" or similar. They ask to see your passport/money, maybe even mentioning some obscure reason like there are fake money around. If you hand over your passport you end up having to pay to get it back, if you hand your money over you will not see them (all) again, and if you deny they will ask you to follow them to the police station in their car, where you will get seriously robbed. So what to do? Show them a photocopy of your passport and claim that if that is not sufficient, you can go with them to the nearest police station... but by walking. In the meantime try to look around for some uniformed officials, like traffic police or military, you can try to catch the attention of. What ever you do, do not step into their car, anything else will be a better solution. There is of course the slight chance that they are real cops in a seriously corrupt country, but then you are probably already aware of this scam, since you are travelling in such a fucked-up place.

This one starts with a (fake) tourist approach you. While you two are chatting the fake cop comes and demand to see the passports and money of both of you. Your fellow tourist will of course hand over his right away, assuring you that you have to do it too. During the inspection you will of course be relieved of some your money. Listen to your mother, don't trust strangers (at least regarding your money belt).

This has been the going scam on the Red Square for some time. Some guy accidentally drops a wad of money at your feet. Another guy comes by, picks it up, and offering you half of the stack. After sharing the money, the second guy disappears and moments later the first guy returns and aggressively demanding all his lost money. Well, why would anyone want to share a lot of money with a traveller like you? If it seems too good, it probably is.

This is quite a simple trick, but unfortunately very effective. You have finished your taxi ride and pay the driver a ten note of the local currency. The driver takes the money but return the note claiming that you only gave him a one note. You are almost sure that you paid him a ten, but what to do. So you end up paying him another ten. Not very nice of him, is it?

This is not a scam, more a reminder when you go drinking in fancy bars while travelling in poor countries. Since ordinary locals can not afford this kind of flamboyant activity, chances are at least one of the other guests is the son of some hotshot, whether a crime lord, general or even the country's president. Most will just ignore a travel bum like you, but some might find you interesting... probably just for the novelty factor. Some are friendly and will even invite you back to their after party, while others can be drunk and dangerous. So this is just a kind motherly advise of not mingling with guys who drive expensive American cars (like Hummer) in troubled countries.

Making oriental carpets is an ancient art form - and so is selling them. Buying an Persian rug or oriental carpet on a trip can be the best souvenir ever purchase... or the worst spend money. Don't fall for the "it could pay for your trip if resold at home". Buy with your heart. If you like it and you have bargain the price down to something you can live with, do it. But don't try to outsmart the seller and believe it is a life investment. And never never never pay more for special features you don't have a clue about, like "interesting that you should pick that one, for it is a very rare hundred years old tribal rug made of silk dyed in vegetable pigments...blah blah blah". Buy a carpet because you like it, not because it is a good deal - because it rarely will be.

This scam is aimed at all you horny boys who believe that they are too handsome to be resisted. So you meet this local women that thinks you are hot, so naturally you two start a consensual sexual relationship under the promises that she is not into it for the money. After a couple of happy days you are sharing a beer with some newly found local friends, maybe a "brother" of your "girlfriend", when she comes by. She slaps you in the face and screams that you raped her the other night. The men around the table stands up and starts shouting at you, mentioning police, jail and worse things. As it turns out, the solution is of course a trip down to the ATM... and as long as your credit card is working, one trip might not be enough. So before you jump into bed with an Asian lady for a one-night stand, you might ask yourself what she gets out of it... for she is probably asking herself the same thing.

You arrive at another border crossing and want to get some local monedas. You might have done your homework and remember what the exchange rate should be - let's say 1.2. The dodgy money guy agrees to 1.2, takes the calculator and divides your amount with 1.2. Right, eh? Across the border you find out that the rate was 1 to 1.2 and not 1.2 to 1 as what you got. The rate should have been multiplied, not divided. Got it? So the point is don't just check the exchange rate, but also which currency is worth the most. This scam can seem ridiculously stupid, but beware that chaotic border crossings can fuckup even the cleverest minds. And do we need to tell you to count the bills and check for counterfeit. This scam can be used anywhere where the currencies are close to each other, like between Honduras and Nicaragua.

This scam is ugly because the con-artist is someone you normally will trust, namely a fellow traveller. It goes likes this. You get approached by a traveller who claims they have been a victim for a robbery. He has lost everything and is asking for 20 USD or so, to be able to fax/call/get to the embassy. Luckily the con-artist is always some dodgy looking guy and not some trustworthy-looking lady, who probably could make a fortune if she was moralless. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we meet the same "robbed" guy with months intervals, and the scam also seems popular in the touristy part of Thailand. So use your good judgement before handing out - or just point them to the nearest police station, so they can report the robbery.

This is a classic Bangkok scam (but the gem part is also popular in India) and every guide book warns you about it and for a good reason. It normally starts with a very cheap tuk-tuk ride. Your super friendly driver wants to show you a special temple, probably because your choice of destination is closed... because today just happen to be Buddha day. The driver might start talking about at special government promotion on diamonds, no tax, but only today. When you get to the temple of the driver's choice, you just happen to meet this friendly guy who is telling you that he is financing his honeymoon by buying diamonds on this special promotion. He suggests that you could also make some easy money by buying some diamonds. Don't get tempted for everyone are in on the scam. The goal is to trick you to the diamond shop and sell you some close-to-worthless diamonds under the promises that you easily can sell them with a huge profit back in your home country (they might already have a buyer in exactly your home town). So the moral is, if it sounds too good it is too good. Forget about financing your trip by buying diamonds, carpets, or anything else that you don't know Jack about.

This scam is essentially the same as the gem scam, just without the gems. A friendly tuk-tuk offers you a way too cheap ride. After a bit of sightseeing in the back alleys he takes you to a tailor, silk, gem, you-name-it shop. "Just for looking" suddenly becomes a very persuasive sale talk in every place. Even if you are genuinely interested in shopping, it will be a bad idea to bring a tuk-tuk driver since they get a commission in every shop. And no, the shop owner is probably not the driver's uncle, brother, or other relative as otherwise claimed.