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Common scams

This article is a travel topic.

There are common scams that occur in many places that the traveller should be aware of. These are designed to get your money or business from you under false pretenses. They fall into three categories: overcharging you, deceiving you or coercing you into paying for a service you don't want, and outright theft.

Prevention is based on knowledge: researching your destination will both alert you in advance to scams in the area and let you know what the usual prices and truly good sights are, so you will be less reliant on the approaches of helpful individuals when you're vulnerable.

At the same time, if you do get stung, don't be too hard on yourself: you were dealing with people who knew the location a lot better than you and with people who were out to deceive you. In some cases you were dealing with hardened criminals. If you think what happened to you was illegal and the police are trustworthy, report it, otherwise you'll have to chalk it up to experience. Note that if you wish to make a theft-related claim against an insurance policy, you will generally need to make a police report and keep a copy for your insurance company.

Avoiding scams

Several bits of common sense may help you stay out of trouble, without needing to know exactly what scams are practiced in what areas:

  • if you have travelling companions, keep each other informed of the general outlines of your plans for the day;
  • don't carry unnecessary amounts of cash or expensive toys around with you, as if you don't have it it is impossible for someone to scam you into handing it over;
  • remember that astounding deals and amazing winnings are as unlikely as they seem and likely to be part of a scam;
  • be wary of any stranger who seems to be singling you out for extended special attention, especially if they are trying to persuade you to leave your friends or accompany them to an unknown area;
  • you are not required to be polite or friendly to anyone if they refuse to leave you alone when you request it;
  • alcohol and other drugs affect your judgement and should be indulged in only among people you have good reason to trust; and
  • being in situations where you are among a group of strangers who are all known to each other and unknown to you give them a great deal of power over you.

Research into your destination, its general layout and the usual price ranges are helpful in avoiding many scams.

Helpful locals

These scams are based upon the idea of offering you help or advice that is actually deceptive, trusting that you will rely on the scammer's "local knowledge". They usually involve giving advice that results in you paying for something you otherwise wouldn't or going somewhere you don't want to go. Some scams in which a helpful local offers to cut you a good deal can be outright fraudulent — convincing you to buy fake gems for example — but many simply get you to pay for something that you wouldn't pay for if you knew the area better.

One of the biggest traps of these kinds of scams is the desire to be polite to people who are polite and friendly to you; and the scammers know this. While you shouldn't become a hard-nosed nasty person, you should receive unsolicited offers of help with polite caution, and when you are reasonably certain that you're being scammed, there's no need to be polite in fending it off: feel free to walk away, yell at the person or yell for help. Pretending they don't exist, which entails not making eye contact, not walking faster, not saying 'hello' or 'no', will often humiliate them or tire them out without frustration on your part. Do not respond if they call you racist to attract your attention. Another common mistake is to say 'no thank you' in which case they have their 'foot in the door' tactic up and running and feel that they can engage in a conversation with you.

Another trap is the "too good to be true" offers: they are almost certainly not true.

Accommodation recommendations

Your driver or guide will tell you that the place you're heading to is gone, or if you've booked, that it's no good or too expensive and that he knows somewhere better. While this may be true, it's likely that the 'better' place is giving him a commission for referrals, and his commission is just going to increase your room rate.

You must insist on going to your planned destination. In some cases the driver will not drive you to your hotel even if you insist. In some cities in India, taxi drivers will take you to the wrong hotel and insist it is the one you requested! Get the correct name, because there are a lot of copies, example

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This page was last edited at 12:44, on 26 December 2008 by Wikitravel user Hypatia. Based on work by Jani Patokallio, Andrew Fox and Peter James, Wikitravel user(s) Pashley, Morph, Dubbaluga, C421103 and Tatterdemalion, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.

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