40 Of The Most Used Tourist Scams That Still Work Because Not Enough People Are Aware Of Them
Tourists are often unfamiliar with the place they’re visiting, its customs and local people, and need information and guidance to get around. And while most locals are willing to help them, some are interested only in taking advantage of these gullible foreigners, getting a hold of their cash and credit cards.
Most travel scams are very smart. The crooks have developed elaborate schemes on how to cheat those traveling abroad out of money and get away with it. Some of their methods are quite obvious once they have occurred, with the victim realizing they have been conned but only after it’s too late. Other tourist scams are more subtle, and the victim may never know that something went wrong. Tourist scammers also know how to take advantage of local laws and law enforcement, giving themselves an advantage against travelers and a get-out-of-jail-free card should their tricks go wrong.
To help people avoid trouble while on holiday, UK-based travel website Just The Flight created an infographic where they share some of the biggest scams and the locations they’re widespread in. Hopefully, these travel tips will help you once the pandemic is over and the borders open again.
Image credits: www.justtheflight.co.uk
“Many of the most successful gambits require a naive and trusting tourist. But don’t think it can’t happen to more sophisticated travelers, too,” American traveler Rick Steves wrote. “There are many subtle ways to be scammed — a cabbie pads your fare, a shop clerk suddenly inflates prices, a public Internet terminal records your password, or a waiter offers a special with a ‘special’ increased price. Be smart: Know what you are paying for before handing over money, and always count your change.”
If a bargain seems too good to be true, it’s too good to be true.
Here’s what people said about this
Don’t think anyone will be travelling any time soon
Scammer hurting now makes them more desperate
I hope not...
travelling =/= going on holiday trips
Which is why the scams will be even worse when you do. Always keep your eyes up when walking. Anytime. Your attention in your phone is all the help an ill intent being needs.
I am a traveller from 10 months into your future: good call.
taxi ride from JFK to my accommodation in central NYC..ripped me off BIG time..l should only have been charged MAX $70 USD but he didn't even put on the meter in the cab and l think charged me as if he was an UBER driver or something..the ride ended up costing me around $240 AUD he caught coming in from a flight from the UK and 3 weeks of constant travelling..will never make THAT mistake again..
If you visit Italy avoid restaurants with exposed Italian flags, they know that tourists have no idea of what italian food tastes or looks like and will overcharge you for frozen food and/or fake italian food like spaghetti meatballs and fettuccine alfredo.
Spaghetti meatballs are an American thing. I'd be surprised if even a tourist trap had something like that on the menu.
Indeed they are so american that that the only place were i'm sure to find them is a restaurant chain called "America Graffiti Diner" but i've seen them a couple of times in some tourist traps in Venice.
Oh yeah, I used to work in Plaza Mayor de Madrid and I can say that ALL the paellas restaurants are tourist traps. Paella is not made in Madrid. Please, dont try paella in Madrid.
Go to Valencia instead
Too true. This goes for any place, always go where the locals go.
Not only that, the menus have no prices and then they present you with something like a $600 bill and call the police if you don't pay. They do this in Greece a lot, too.
I'm going to Greece soon in September, I'll watch out for that.
Can confirm I used to work in a restaurant near the Vatican went to live in Italy for a year, it was a chinese owner,frozen food, was terrible.The scam was there was this main course and everything out of that main course was really expensive. My job was luring people there.
Well i was broke and desperate needed to pay the rent and buy some food, I would warn most people to only buy what's on the promo menu and bringing people to the restaurant was specially hard, most tourist don't want to follow you some blocks to get to a restaurant in a place they are not familiar. Made some good friends on the street specially people from Bangladesh who would sell nuts and some irish guys. Didn't last there, only a couple of months, being foreigner is a hustle even though I have a Italian citizenship, being young and dumb was really hard finding jobs specially with my broken italian at the time.
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Didn't that bother your conscience? Or was it okay to rip people off because 'dumb tourists'?
Never happens at McDonalds. And they are all over Italy
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I'm good if I go to Italy I'm good because I'm Italian American and have eaten Italian food tons of times. (Home made) Also I've been to Italy multiple times. But I've never gone to a restaurant, I always stayed with my grandmother. (And her cooking is delicious)
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If you haven't made all of your dinner reservations before you leave home, you are an amateur traveller and deserve whatever you get.
this is useful
But some of them may be false. Everything they said about delhi is not true. People there dont even know what rosemary is... cant say about other places.
The sprig of rosemary one isn't just done with rosemary - small pretty plants and fake flowers are used in the same way.
And many of these, like the I'll take your picture-scam isn't just in europe, it's global.
Literally nobody in London has ever played a 'Street game'... They would look like a total dickhead and stand out like a sore thumb. Not a good look for a thief to draw attention to themselves.
The rosemary thing is all over Europe as well.
your right, they would probably just rape you in delhi
Neither in Madrid
@Chris, I think they do street games in Camden market, I haven't been there within the past 2 years though
@chris: i am not even from the uk. Most of the time I visited the UK I didn't spend much time in London. But when I did last time, there were plenty of games going on, on the bridge near Westminster abbey and London eye
Fred, you're back from the dead!
This comment has been deleted.
It would be to you, you pair of larrikins..
Don’t think anyone will be travelling any time soon
Scammer hurting now makes them more desperate
I hope not...
travelling =/= going on holiday trips
Which is why the scams will be even worse when you do. Always keep your eyes up when walking. Anytime. Your attention in your phone is all the help an ill intent being needs.
I am a traveller from 10 months into your future: good call.
taxi ride from JFK to my accommodation in central NYC..ripped me off BIG time..l should only have been charged MAX $70 USD but he didn't even put on the meter in the cab and l think charged me as if he was an UBER driver or something..the ride ended up costing me around $240 AUD he caught coming in from a flight from the UK and 3 weeks of constant travelling..will never make THAT mistake again..
If you visit Italy avoid restaurants with exposed Italian flags, they know that tourists have no idea of what italian food tastes or looks like and will overcharge you for frozen food and/or fake italian food like spaghetti meatballs and fettuccine alfredo.
Spaghetti meatballs are an American thing. I'd be surprised if even a tourist trap had something like that on the menu.
Indeed they are so american that that the only place were i'm sure to find them is a restaurant chain called "America Graffiti Diner" but i've seen them a couple of times in some tourist traps in Venice.
Oh yeah, I used to work in Plaza Mayor de Madrid and I can say that ALL the paellas restaurants are tourist traps. Paella is not made in Madrid. Please, dont try paella in Madrid.
Go to Valencia instead
Too true. This goes for any place, always go where the locals go.
Not only that, the menus have no prices and then they present you with something like a $600 bill and call the police if you don't pay. They do this in Greece a lot, too.
I'm going to Greece soon in September, I'll watch out for that.
Can confirm I used to work in a restaurant near the Vatican went to live in Italy for a year, it was a chinese owner,frozen food, was terrible.The scam was there was this main course and everything out of that main course was really expensive. My job was luring people there.
Well i was broke and desperate needed to pay the rent and buy some food, I would warn most people to only buy what's on the promo menu and bringing people to the restaurant was specially hard, most tourist don't want to follow you some blocks to get to a restaurant in a place they are not familiar. Made some good friends on the street specially people from Bangladesh who would sell nuts and some irish guys. Didn't last there, only a couple of months, being foreigner is a hustle even though I have a Italian citizenship, being young and dumb was really hard finding jobs specially with my broken italian at the time.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Didn't that bother your conscience? Or was it okay to rip people off because 'dumb tourists'?
Never happens at McDonalds. And they are all over Italy
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
I'm good if I go to Italy I'm good because I'm Italian American and have eaten Italian food tons of times. (Home made) Also I've been to Italy multiple times. But I've never gone to a restaurant, I always stayed with my grandmother. (And her cooking is delicious)
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
If you haven't made all of your dinner reservations before you leave home, you are an amateur traveller and deserve whatever you get.
this is useful
But some of them may be false. Everything they said about delhi is not true. People there dont even know what rosemary is... cant say about other places.
The sprig of rosemary one isn't just done with rosemary - small pretty plants and fake flowers are used in the same way.
And many of these, like the I'll take your picture-scam isn't just in europe, it's global.
Literally nobody in London has ever played a 'Street game'... They would look like a total dickhead and stand out like a sore thumb. Not a good look for a thief to draw attention to themselves.
The rosemary thing is all over Europe as well.
your right, they would probably just rape you in delhi
Neither in Madrid
@Chris, I think they do street games in Camden market, I haven't been there within the past 2 years though
@chris: i am not even from the uk. Most of the time I visited the UK I didn't spend much time in London. But when I did last time, there were plenty of games going on, on the bridge near Westminster abbey and London eye
Fred, you're back from the dead!
This comment has been deleted.
It would be to you, you pair of larrikins..