Tourist Scams

[Wetdog]

I was reading another thread and I came across an interesting post about a tourist scam. I have posted it below.

Be careful for scam artists/gypsies here. Some will pretend to show you a magic trick, where ou need to put your finger into a loop of string. When you do they tighten it and charge a release fee. I found this really evident around Sacre Cour, where there seemed to be gangs of these guys that just close in on you are you head towards the bottom of the hill. Me and a mate had to physically push our way through at one point. As for Gypsies, they are just annoying. The will speak to you in a bunch of different languages until they work out what language you speak, then they follow you forever. Just ignore them.

I thought this would make for an interesting, funny and informative thread. Everyone who has traveled has a story of someone trying to scam money from them.

I was recently in Paris, near the Lourve in fact, when two young women (early 20s maybe) approached me with a clipboard. They made sign language, as if they were deaf, and pointed towards a petition in support of an international deaf charity. It was full of entries, like name, country, signature etc. I initially waved them away, but they persisted so I decided to sign the petition. Anyway, after completing my details I reliased that the last column on the petition was "donation". I looked at the other entries, each one consisting of a figure of 20 euro, 40 euro, 50 euro etc.

At this point, it occurred to me that I had been scammed! Naturally, I told them to piss off and gave nothing. They waved angrily and stormed off. I will never know for sure whether they were legitimate or not, but on the basis of no identity card and ludicruous sums of donations (the smallest donation on the petition was 20 euro, of about 30 entries!) I concluded in that split moment that they were not authentic and reacted accordingly.

I also paid 4.20 euro for a cafe latte in Paris. Does that count?

 

[TheStinger]

The best one I have heard of is a scam in Russia where they use something that you could almost call a Jedi mind trick. They stop to "help" you if you have a map and are looking for something. They take the map and hand you two things (like a bottle of water and a pen).

After explaining where to go, they hand you the map back and ask for their water bottle, pen, wallet, keys and whatever else they think off and then walk away with them. What they do during the initial conversation is use certain words to confuse your brain and then when they start asking for things your brain is so muddled that you genuinely believe the items are theirs and you hand them over willingly.

It is only after a few moments that the realisation of what you have done hits you and by that time they are long gone.

Derren Brown did a version of the scam on his show.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

You're likely to get scammed if you get on a camel in Egypt for a photo opportunity or ride.
The camel handler will likely not let you down unless you give me another fee.

 

[Lionheart182]

Paris is the worst for scams. We saw a lady with a story written out on a clipboard, something about her husband throwing her out and her having nowhere to live, asking for money, crying hysterically. We then saw the same lady 3 days later with a new story written down, and a dog next to her.

Also there are guys somewhere in Paris who will make you a bracelet around your wrist, then demand money once they finish. Very nearly got done by this one, but realised at the last second.

Lastly, not exactly a tourist scam, but very nearly got scammed whilst looking for a flat in London. I realised when I got two reply emails from amazing flats which were exactly the same, despite supposedly being different people.

Word of advice for travellers - never, ever, EVER use money transfer sites when looking for a flat - i.e. Western Union, Moneytree etc. They're scams.

 

[standingroomonly]

Jetski's in Asian countries (i'm sure elsewhere as well) are a common way to scam some cash out of a tourist.

Make sure you check every part of the Jetski for damage, even the underside, take photos on your camera/phone before getting on one.

 

[Chris_6678]

Paris is the worst for scams. We saw a lady with a story written out on a clipboard, something about her husband throwing her out and her having nowhere to live, asking for money, crying hysterically. We then saw the same lady 3 days later with a new story written down, and a dog next to her.

Also there are guys somewhere in Paris who will make you a bracelet around your wrist, then demand money once they finish. Very nearly got done by this one, but realised at the last second.

Lastly, not exactly a tourist scam, but very nearly got scammed whilst looking for a flat in London. I realised when I got two reply emails from amazing flats which were exactly the same, despite supposedly being different people.

Word of advice for travellers - never, ever, EVER use money transfer sites when looking for a flat - i.e. Western Union, Moneytree etc. They're scams.

Haha ahh paris had the same thing , lots of old ladies with stories on a clipboard or a piece of paper wrapped up and they follow you around. Best thing to do was not look at them as they then followed you.

Also had a guy outside the Eiffel tower try sell us a string bracelet.

And another guy came up to us and asked if we dropped a gold ring. We said no but he then gave it to us and wished us luck blah blah... then a few seconds later goes how bout 10$ euros for finding it so figuring out this was a scam gave him back the ring. Then about an hour later we walked down the same street and he was doing the same thing to another couple of people walking by.

 

[dart]

Venice:

Whenever you buy a ferry ticket, you will get short changed.

They'll give you enough coins or notes to make it look like you've got the right change but you will be caught short.

We bought ferry tickets 3 times, 3 different booths, got short changed each time.

Ticket sellers must be raking it in.

 

[BeepTest]

And another guy came up to us and asked if we dropped a gold ring. We said no but he then gave it to us and wished us luck blah blah... then a few seconds later goes how bout 10$ euros for finding it so figuring out this was a scam gave him back the ring. Then about an hour later we walked down the same street and he was doing the same thing to another couple of people walking by.

i got done by this one. Only lost out on a couple of Euro though. Could see it all unfold before it happened, unfortunately the other half was a few steps in front of me and was bedazzled by the crappy ring and took it...

The guys handing out "free roses" at the spanish steps in Rome are also scammers... just dont take them...

Anybody who helps you with your luggage and is not clearly an employee of the train station will demand a tip... and i'm guessing the guy who was going to walk us to our hotel in amsterdam would have demanded a tip too...

The guys dressed up in Roman costume in Rome (or croatia for that matter) do not have their photos taken for free... 10 freakin euros thanks very much!

Ahh the joys of travel!

 

[monty1104]

Anyone tried to get into the Grand Palace in Bangkok? So many (like, there are so many it is indescribable) scammers around here. They wait for you to get off the boat (I've even had one trying to get me before I got onto the boat) and claim the Palace is not open for various reasons (Religious holiday, Cleaning, Michael Jordan is visiting, etc), then try and take you on a "tour" of the city, which inevitably ends up at their mates fake jewelry shop. It took us 3 trips there to finally get in. Once we got in and saw everything, Mum tried to warn others of the scams as we left. She got abused by the locals in the middle of the street. Moral of the story, go there, dont listen to anyone telling you it is closed and just walk straight in.

Another I've found is in Prague clubs, you will give them money and they will just give you random currency as change. After a very drunken night in Prague, I woke up the next morning with a dime, some pence and a washer in my wallet

 

[monty1104]

I also paid 4.20 euro for a cafe latte in Paris. Does that count?

This reminds me of something that is common in Italy. People from Australia often think they are posh and cool ordering a "latte". In Italy, latte is actually just milk. So they will charge you full coffee price and just bring you a warm cup of milk. This happened to a friend of mine when we were in Venice. He wanted to have a coffee in one of the 3 places on St. Mark's Square. They charged something like 8 Euro for a coffee. My friend ordered a latte.... they brought him his beverage, smiled and walked off. They then charged him again to have coffee brought on the side. I just sat there laughing. I did warn him beforehand, but his response was "Nah, Venice is a touristy place, they will know what I mean".

 

[monty1104]

The guys dressed up in Roman costume in Rome (or croatia for that matter) do not have their photos taken for free... 10 freakin euros thanks very much!

Ahh the joys of travel!

These guys are everywhere. They have Nazi soldiers and GI's infront of the Brandenburg Gate too. I wouldnt call these "scams" though, it's common knowledge (or so I thought) that they charge for photos. 10 Euro seems steep though. I paid 1 Euro each for my group photo with a GI, Nazi and Uncle Sam infront of the Brandenburg Gate.

 

[ash_1050]

Vietnam was an absolutely full of scam artists from my experience there:

* Customs: We paid for our visas online and, despite having a print out of the visa, they charged us again at the airport.
* The airport 'help' desk: Made us prepay $20(AU) for a $7-9 fare
* Resturant: 10% tax and 5% service fee we were not told about leaving us short changed come time to pay
* Motorcycle driver: Tried to pull the 'see my references' scam
* While getting a massage at a legit massage parlor my travel partner was charged $5 for his 'free' coffee while my 15% tip was knocked back, I was told 60% was expected. When I offered the 15% again it was refused so I walked out.
* A 25% service fee by waiters to deliver a beer at a nightclub
* Got fleeced by prostitutes who left just enough cash for the nearby motorcycle driver to take us back to our hotel.

It's all part of the experience, for the couple of hundred dollars I lost in the experiences above I came out of it with several ripper stories. The best way to avoid scams is to make sure you don't carry around a ridiculous amount of cash on you and don't get aggressive with the locals.

 

[Quokka]

Seen a few whilst travelling but the funniest was when we were on a Nile cruise in about 2003. My wife went into a town to get an international phone card and when she got back gave directions to an aussie guy who was on the cruise with us.

Off he went and when he got back he asked my wife if she had had to pay a tax on the card.

Nope

He started swearing and then explained that the cashier had told him there was a 5 or 10 dollar (in local money) extra charge. I can't remember exactly how much it was but it was only a few bucks Australian, in fact he'd have probably given it to the girl if asked but he just hated that he knew it was a scam and had still handed the money over.

 

[year of the roo]

Haha ahh paris had the same thing , lots of old ladies with stories on a clipboard or a piece of paper wrapped up and they follow you around. Best thing to do was not look at them as they then followed you.

Also had a guy outside the Eiffel tower try sell us a string bracelet.

And another guy came up to us and asked if we dropped a gold ring. We said no but he then gave it to us and wished us luck blah blah... then a few seconds later goes how bout 10$ euros for finding it so figuring out this was a scam gave him back the ring. Then about an hour later we walked down the same street and he was doing the same thing to another couple of people walking by.

Yeah I've had the Gold Ring one before in Paris. My mate through the ring into the river. Maybe not the best decision looking back...

 

[TheStinger]

These guys are everywhere. They have Nazi soldiers and GI's infront of the Brandenburg Gate too. I wouldnt call these "scams" though, it's common knowledge (or so I thought) that they charge for photos. 10 Euro seems steep though. I paid 1 Euro each for my group photo with a GI, Nazi and Uncle Sam infront of the Brandenburg Gate.

I got lucky with those guys. A little bloke (probably a kid really) in a gorilla suit said he would take a photo of me in front of the Tor. So without thinking I said sure. He took the photo and then said "You take one with me." That was my big mistake. I take the photo and then he says "3 Euro."

I said "What?" Again "3 Euro." I fished in my pocket and pulled out a 2 Euro coin. He says again "no, 3 Euro." Realising I had been got, I shrugged my shoulders and said it was all I had and walked off. He didn't pursue it.

Was dumb on my part and I became a lot more savvy around those places pretty quickly.

 

[FootyJunkie]

I was recently in Paris, near the Lourve in fact, when two young women (early 20s maybe) approached me with a clipboard. They made sign language, as if they were deaf, and pointed towards a petition in support of an international deaf charity. It was full of entries, like name, country, signature etc. I initially waved them away, but they persisted so I decided to sign the petition. Anyway, after completing my details I reliased that the last column on the petition was "donation". I looked at the other entries, each one consisting of a figure of 20 euro, 40 euro, 50 euro etc.

At this point, it occurred to me that I had been scammed! Naturally, I told them to piss off and gave nothing. They waved angrily and stormed off. I will never know for sure whether they were legitimate or not, but on the basis of no identity card and ludicruous sums of donations (the smallest donation on the petition was 20 euro, of about 30 entries!) I concluded in that split moment that they were not authentic and reacted accordingly.

Was in Paris in September... saw them at the Eiffel Tower, tons of them. Did the same thing of starting to write the petition and then noticing they wanted a donation. Realised it was a scam and told them to bugger off.

A few days later, my gf and I were coming out of the Metro at the Lourve and they were all there with their clipboards, in a line, blocking the exit of the Metro at the top of the stairs which was fairly steep. Very dangerous situation as it wouldn't take much for losing your footing while trying to get by them and falling back on the hard steps. Had to really force your way through them to get out of there.

Was at the Lourve a few years before and upon leaving, got the string bracelet thing done on me... then got asked for 5 euro. Joke was on him as I had just arrived from Thailand the day before and all I had on me was Thai Baht, virtually worthless compared to the Euro. Got to keep the string bracelet and had it on me for my travels to London and return trip to Oz.

 

[Borry]

Egypt.

Got ripped off to the tune of $350 (AUD) after trying to exchange Singapore Dollars into Egyptian Pounds at a black market currency exchange in Giza. Very very dumb in hindsight to bring that much of that currency (SGD) into Egypt, but I couldn't exchange it in Singapore, nor at an official currency exchange in Cairo, so had not much choice. Lots of these black market currency exchanges in Egypt, and unless you have USD, Euro or GBP stay away from them.

Around most popular tourist sites there is always locals offering to use your camera to take photos of you. I have seen tourists being asked up to 200 EGP to have their cameras returned to them, so not a pleasant experience falling for that trick.

At Cairo and Luxor train stations there will be locals around offering to take your suitcase and other stuff and carry it for you. But they hold onto it at the end unless you pay an expensive fee.

 

[BeepTest]

Anyone tried to get into the Grand Palace in Bangkok? So many (like, there are so many it is indescribable) scammers around here. They wait for you to get off the boat (I've even had one trying to get me before I got onto the boat) and claim the Palace is not open for various reasons (Religious holiday, Cleaning, Michael Jordan is visiting, etc), then try and take you on a "tour" of the city, which inevitably ends up at their mates fake jewelry shop. It took us 3 trips there to finally get in. Once we got in and saw everything, Mum tried to warn others of the scams as we left. She got abused by the locals in the middle of the street. Moral of the story, go there, dont listen to anyone telling you it is closed and just walk straight in.

Yep, got scammed by this one. Ended up going on a boring taxi ride all round Bangkok visiting shitty clothes stores, shopping centres and small shrines just so the guy could get his fuel vouchers. Ended up ditching the guy and getting a seat of your pants tuk tuk ride back to the hotel. I hate bangkok.

 

[rdhopkins2]

Great thread, hopefully a few less people get caught out by these dodgy people.
Unfortunately they give the rest of the local population a bad name.

 

[rocker_oz33]

not so much super scamers.but when l was in venice these blokes were going around selling roses to people mainly couples.then it started to rain they all just disappeared and next minute they came back with umbrella's to sell.l thought it was quiet funny.

 

[ash_1050]

not so much super scamers.but when l was in venice these blokes were going around selling roses to people mainly couples.then it started to rain they all just disappeared and next minute they came back with umbrella's to sell.l thought it was quiet funny.

Quite entrepreneurial of them when you think about it.

 

[Eagle87]

Vietnam was an absolutely full of scam artists from my experience there:

* Customs: We paid for our visas online and, despite having a print out of the visa, they charged us again at the airport.

Umm, the visa online service is one fee, the stamping fee - either USD 25 or 50 depending on type of visa is a separate fee charged at the airport. This is clearly disclosed when you buy a visa online from any of the authorised visa sellers.... no scam at all...

* The airport 'help' desk: Made us prepay $20(AU) for a $7-9 fare

No idea what that means. Many airports have a taxi service that costs more than if you just walk outside and grab a cab....

* Resturant: 10% tax and 5% service fee we were not told about leaving us short changed come time to pay

Almost all Asian cities charge one the price on a ++ basis. i.e. the price quoted is exclusive of taxes which will be added (++) to the bill. Almost universal. Not a scam.

* Motorcycle driver: Tried to pull the 'see my references' scam

??

* While getting a massage at a legit massage parlor my travel partner was charged $5 for his 'free' coffee while my 15% tip was knocked back, I was told 60% was expected. When I offered the 15% again it was refused so I walked out.

So you paid no tip and nothing happened. Now thats a scam.

* A 25% service fee by waiters to deliver a beer at a nightclub

Which club?. I'm in Saigon every month, never heard of this....

* Got fleeced by prostitutes who left just enough cash for the nearby motorcycle driver to take us back to our hotel.

So you got robbed by hookers where exactly?

It's all part of the experience, for the couple of hundred dollars I lost in the experiences above I came out of it with several ripper stories. The best way to avoid scams is to make sure you don't carry around a ridiculous amount of cash on you and don't get aggressive with the locals.

Or you have some idea how places work, what the rules/laws are and you don't act like a gullible tourist

 

[Eagle87]

Yep, got scammed by this one. Ended up going on a boring taxi ride all round Bangkok visiting shitty clothes stores, shopping centres and small shrines just so the guy could get his fuel vouchers. Ended up ditching the guy and getting a seat of your pants tuk tuk ride back to the hotel. I hate bangkok.

A simple "mai pen rai" followed by a stronger "mai-ow" and they would go away. I take visitors there quite regularly and have never had more than minor irritation from the scammers. ANYONE who gets in a taxi with the touts is, frankly, dumb... and ANYONE who uses a tuk tuk in Bankok is a newbie tourist..

Bangkok is a great city, but probably not a place for semi-clueless newbies

 

[Eagle87]

not so much super scamers.but when l was in venice these blokes were going around selling roses to people mainly couples.then it started to rain they all just disappeared and next minute they came back with umbrella's to sell.l thought it was quiet funny.

Same in BKK. They sell one thing, then they switch to umbrellas as soon as it rains... recently, with the floods they suddenly starting selling gumboots .... some late night venues, they will charge a fee to escort you (with large umbrellas) from the front door of the pub/club to the nearest taxi stop - even at 3 in the morning they are around...

Its a service driven arrangement driven by a desire for money ... very entrepreneurial ..

 

[Wetdog]

Haha ahh paris had the same thing , lots of old ladies with stories on a clipboard or a piece of paper wrapped up and they follow you around. Best thing to do was not look at them as they then followed you.

Also had a guy outside the Eiffel tower try sell us a string bracelet.

And another guy came up to us and asked if we dropped a gold ring. We said no but he then gave it to us and wished us luck blah blah... then a few seconds later goes how bout 10$ euros for finding it so figuring out this was a scam gave him back the ring. Then about an hour later we walked down the same street and he was doing the same thing to another couple of people walking by.

Yeah, a guy also approached me with a "lost" gold ring on a bridge in Paris. I just told him I wasn't interested and walked off. Lol when I read your post as it confirmed my suspicion it was a scam.