HOW TO TRAVEL WITHOUT BEING
SCAMMED
I have traveled all my life. I have traveled in 35 countries such as most
of Canada, and most of the United States including Alaska and Hawaii, Mexico, Belize,
Guatemala, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile
Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia
—before its name was changed—Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium,
The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and in the Far East; Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
During the many years I traveled about in those countries, I was never
scammed. I however have been scammed five times in my life but never when I was
traveling. I took great care to use common sense to avoid being scammed while
traveling. I will now tell you about the
ten common scams how travelers are victimized by scammers. But first—
Traveling is truly a
beautiful experience. When you travel, you meet amazing, kind-hearted people
who will bend over backwards to help you on your journey, you experience new
cultures and alternative ways of life, and you develop an appreciation for
history. However, despite all the good people you meet, every now and then you will
meet some people who are just looking to make a buck off you. And now—their scams.
Fraudulent
Currency Exchanges
It always begins the
same way — you arrive in a new destination knowing that one of the first things
you’ll have to do is exchange your currency. Someone comes up to you saying they know the
most cost-efficient place to do it. Then that person either gives you
counterfeit bills to replace your money or demands a hefty exchange rate that
is higher than the going rate.
To get the best bang for your buck,
only exchange money from banks or trusted locations before you go on your trip.
I change some of my money at the airport. Generally, American bills are
acceptable in foreign hotels, restaurants and stores. When I arrive at my
hotel, I then use my credit card to get the local money that I need. When you
are ready to go home, ask your hotel to change their money back to your money.
Petition Scams
A petition scam is
when someone comes up to you either on the street or at a tourism site and asks
you to sign his or her petition. Once you do this, they ask you for money to
help support their cause.
To avoid a petition
scam, never sign a petition abroad, especially if you are given little
information about the cause or what the petition is supporting. If you’re
looking to give support to a cause or give to a charity, it’s best to do some
research first although it will be almost impossible to find evidence that
their cause is recognized in their country, Further, don’t ever sign any
document that a stranger gives t you to sign.
If he is a radical, you can end up in jail for a very long time.
When my wife and I were in Bangkok, a little girl about five offered to
sell ne a post card. I felt sorry for her because if you give a child some
money, the others will swarm over you asking for money. We just walked
away. Having a child come up
to you asking for money is particularly heartbreaking, but remember that these
children are often working for adults who are running a ‘business’.
Beggars
Sometimes a child will come up to you and offer you some cheap
jewelry. In some cases, they even slip a friendship bracelet around your wrist
and then demand money from you. Always politely decline the child’s offer, and
spend your money elsewhere.
The one
thing you should not do is speak harshly to the child. It is not the child’s
fault that she or he has tried to get you to buy something from her or him. When
the little girl followed us for a block, I turned around and patted her on the
head and with a sad expression on my face, I said to her as I shook my head
side to side, “Sorry.” That way, I didn’t hurt her feelings.
Overpriced
Street Vendors
Let’s face it, as a
foreigner you’ll be paying a higher price on almost all bartered street vendor
goods. However, that doesn’t mean you have to pay exorbitant prices on
everything you purchase.
To make sure you
don’t get completely scammed out of your money, do some research about what
similar products are going for and what locals are paying for them. Never
accept the first price a vendor gives you, and barter to the best of your
ability.
There is one downside
to purchasing something from a vender on the street. He may sell you a camera
that was stolen from another traveller. You don’t want to later have to explain
why you have the victim’s camera.
Distraction
Scams
This type of scam is
fairly straightforward in that someone will try to steal your possessions after
distracting you in some way, usually by swarming you or by causing a scene. Be especially aware of the people around you
if there is a big distraction going on. That is
when these bugs will bite you.
You should always be
conscious as to where your wallet, passport and camera is at all times. When
women are sitting at a restaurant, they should never place their purse on the
floor. If you are sitting at a booth, place your belongings on the side of you that
is away from the side of the booth you entered.
When my wife and I were in a Paris subway station, as she passed through
the gate, a young thief reached into her open
purse and grabbed her camera. We couldn’t catch up to him.
When I was walking on a sidewalk in the city of Caracas. two young men
on a motor scooter rode up close to me and the passenger tried to grab the
camera strap that was over my left shoulder. He was unsuccessful. However, I
learned a valuable lesson from that experience. When you are on a sidewalk, put
the strap on the shoulder farthest from the road. Better still. Put it around your neck and under
your armpit.
Taxi Scams
In these popular
scams, a taxi or tuk tuk driver will knowingly take you the long way to
get to your destination, or will claim that the meter is broken and overcharge
you for your ride.
Before you arrive in
a destination you’re not familiar with, download a map on your smart phone or take
a city map with you. Then, when you’re in the taxis, keep track of where
they’re taking you and whether or not they’re using the most efficient route.
When my wife and I
were in Vienna, we told the taxi driver to take us to the train station.
Instead, he took us all over the place before we got there.
When we were just
outside a train station in Paris, a cab driver pulled up in a limo and asked if
we needed a taxi. I said that we did. He took us to our hotel. Then he told me
to pay twice the normal fare. I asked why and he said that it was because we
were driven to the hotel in a limo and not an ordinary taxi. I went into the hotel
and asked the woman at the counter to help us. She negotiated a lesser fare for
us to pay.
When I was in Lisbon,
the capital city of Portugal, I was shocked when the taxi driver asked for more
money than the amount shown on the meter that showed the price of the fare. He
told me that the extra money was for the gasoline he used to get me to my hotel.
I refused to pay the extra money. He then began to sing., “I am going to take
him to the police station.” He did. The
station was under a large park in the centre of the city. The officer dealing
with my complaint said that I ready had to pay for the gas as that was the law
in Portugal. He told the taxi driver that I don’t have to pay for the gas since
he should have told me first before he took me to the hotel. He also told the
taxi driver to take me back to the hotel and that he wasn’t to charge me for
that trip since he took me away from the hotel. As he drove me to my hotel, I
began singing, “I am getting a free ride.”
When my wife and I
were in the capital of Belize, Central America, I asked the taxi driver how
much he would charge us for the ten-minute drive to the dock where a small boat
would take us to the cruise ship. He said that the fare would be five dollars.
When we arrived, he demanded that I pay him ten dollars. I reminded him that he
said the fare for us would be only be five dollars. He responded with, “Its five
dollars each.
A really heavy-set
woman heard what was going on so she yelled at the driver through his open
driver’s window, “Take the five dollars, you bastard.” I gave the crooked
driver the five dollars and as we parted, I yelled at the driver, with the appropriate
word, “ASSHOLE!” Then I thanked the kind lady.
When my wife and I arrived at a train station in the Egyptian
city of Luxor, a taxi driver asked where
we wanted to go. I told him the name of the hotel . Instead, he took us to another
hotel. I told him that was not the hotel I wanted him to take us to. When we
arrived at the right hotel, he had the gall to demand that I pay for the trip to
the first hotel I refused and the man a the desk threatened the taxi driver so the taxi driver accepted the original fare
he proposed to us.
To avoid the broken
meter scam, either don’t take a ride in a vehicle with a broken meter, or
negotiate the price beforehand.
When a taxi driver asks you where you would like to go, the first
thought that comes to my mind is that old ditty, “Welcome to my parlor said the
spider to the fly.”
There have been many times when I have used a taxi to get somewhere and
for the most part, the drivers have been honest. But there are many scum bag
taxi drivers lurking about so make sure you ask them how much the fare will be
before he takes you to where you wish to go.
When my wife and I first arrived at Cairo, we were
at a station and a taxi-driver approached us and asked us if we would like him
to take us to our hotel. He said that the fare oud be five dollars.
It took him an hour to find our hotel. Cairo is a
huge city and the street signs were not in English like our map was. He finally
found the street where our hotel was. I was so impressed with his service so I
asked him to be at our hotel at nine the following morning I was a speaker at
the United Nations Congress being held at a huge conference hall at the other
end of the city. He said that he would also pick us up at five in the afternoon and this was
done every day for five days. On the weekend, he took us on a tour of Cairo
including visiting the pyramids. I gave him fifteen dollars.
While my wife and I were in Cairo, a diver with a
horse and buggy kept following us one early evening and he called out, “I will
take you wherever you want to go for give dollars. We ignored him and finally in desperation, he
said, ‘How about two dollars? I replied OK. When we arrived at our hotel, I
gave him the fiive dollars he asked for.
When my wife and I visited Luxor, which is six
hundred miles south of Cairo a driver with a horse and buggy took us every
where for five dollars on each trip even when we spent several hours touring a
huge temple. He was always at the entrance when we were finished with the tour.
I should point out to you that American currency is far more in value compared with Egyptian currency. As an example, while I was
at the conference I met a man who was an official at one of the banks in Cairo.
He told me that his salary for each month was fifty dollars American. Since the
goods be bought with Egyptian currency, it meant that he was living well.
Street Games
These games are commonly found around tourism hot-spots. The street game gamble is when scammers ask
tourists to play a game of cards, dice, or small object in cups for money. Of
course, the game is rigged from the start, and the tourist will lose their
money. Simply don’t engage with anyone on the street asking you to play a game.
Credit Card
Scams
Credit card scams are common everywhere, but can be particularly
stressful when you’re on vacation and using your card as a primary money
source. Common credit card scams include scanning your card for its
information, tampering with ATM’s, and posing as a hotel clerk while asking you
to verify your credit card information. Always watch the card being swiped. If it is swipe again, that means
that you will be stuck with a second loss of money.
Fake
Photographers
This tricky scam can be hard to know whom to trust, but the fake photographer
ploy essentially involves people asking to take your photo and then either
demanding money for doing so, or running away with your camera.
A good rule of thumb on this is to only hand over your camera to someone
if they look like they’re a traveler themselves. If stranger already has a
camera in his or her hands. not only will they likely know how to use yours,
chances are they won’t be keen on taking your property. Otherwise, don’t ask a
stranger to take a picture of you with your own camera. Nowadays most people
will take a selfy I nstead.
It’s Free
It doesn’t matter whether they are offering you a free shoeshine,
flower, or neck massage; remember that when it comes to strangers on the
street, nothing is truly free. People offering these things will often change
their price once the service is performed or the product is in your hand, and
cause a scene if you don’t pay up.
When I and my wife were in the airport in Honolulu, some twit wearing a
brown gown asked me for a dollar. He said if I give it to him, he will say a
prayer for me. Needless to say, he didn’t get a dollar from me and I didn’t get
his phony prayer.
As I said earlier in this article, traveling is a great experience but be
absolutely sure that you be are on guard for the scum bags that want to rip you
off. For the most part, I have found that the people in those countries I have
visited to be very decent people but as we all know, there are dishonest people
amongst them.
Incidentally. I have just learned that China is waning its citizens not to travel to the United States because of the rampant shooting that is happening in that country.
Incidentally. I have just learned that China is waning its citizens not to travel to the United States because of the rampant shooting that is happening in that country.
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