People take holiday or vacation time to relax or to explore. Sometimes one’s guard drops, either due to the more relaxed state or being unfamiliar with the surroundings. Consequently, tourists are often seen as an easy target by thieves and scammers.
Travel fraud is a real threat and even the most seasoned travellers can be tricked. Travel expert and the owner of Hot Tub Lodges, Ilkka Ollikainen, tells Digital Journal about the most common tourist scams that could be encountered this year.
Taxi Overcharge
Your plane has just landed, you have collected your luggage and you have just jumped into a taxi. In all of the excitement, you may have already been scammed. Ollikainen says: “One of the most common scams where ever you travel is to get ripped off by the taxi company. If the driver doesn’t turn on the metre or you notice it going up very quickly you have been scammed.”
“Before travelling, find out how much your route should cost and then use this as a reference. If you find your ride going up too quickly ask them to pull over and find another cab company. Always use a licensed cab to minimise the chance of getting ripped off.”
Accommodation is full or closed
Another common scam that you may encounter when travelling abroad is the taxi company telling you your accommodation is full and they know of a better hotel with free rooms. The new hotel is often owned by an accomplice that will charge you extortionate prices.
Ollikainen observes: “Don’t fall for this scam and insist that you be taken to the hotel that you have booked and have paid for. Usually, this is enough to be taken to your hotel that isn’t full, but if the taxi company keep on insisting, get out and find a new taxi.”
Found jewellery
The found jewellery scam is common around Europe in cities such as Paris, Rome and Venice. The fraudsters will often walk in front or behind you and then will tap you and show you a piece of jewellery to ask if it is yours.
If you claim that the jewellery is yours or even if you don’t they will try and prove that it is valuable and sell this ring back to you.
“The jewellery may look authentic but it isn’t and it’s worth nothing at all. If someone tries to pull this scam on you tell them no thank you and walk away, do not stop as they could have an accomplice going through your belongings as you examine the jewellery”, explains Ollikainen..
Broken Camera
The broken camera scam can be an expensive and frightening scam when it is pulled on you. A stranger will ask you to take a picture of them and when they hand you the camera they will drop it and make it seem like it’s your fault. The stranger will then become aggressive requesting payment to fix the camera.
“This is one of those scams where you are made to feel intimidated and it’s not a very nice experience to have, unfortunately, the only way to stop this scam from happening is to tell people you won’t take a picture of them”, outlines Ollikainen.
Vehicle Rental Damage
Another expensive con that is used on tourists is the damaged vehicle rental con. This starts as an innocent exchange where you rent a vehicle such as a scooter, car or jet ski and as collateral, you give the company your passport. When you return the vehicle, the company will inspect it and find damage that wasn’t there before.
Ollikainen details the scam further: “Companies can pull all kinds of scams when it comes to vehicles so be sure to take videos and pictures of your vehicle when renting one, you should also take the time to thoroughly review any rental company to make sure they are legit.”.
Spilling a drink on your clothes
No one likes to have food or drink spilled over them, but this is a popular scam that’s used in busy cities such as Barcelona, Rome and Madrid. A stranger will seemingly spill food or drink over you and apologise profusely, as they are wiping the mess off you, one of their partners will be going through your belongings robbing you. By the time they are done, you will still have a stain on your clothing while your pockets may have been emptied.
Describing this, Ollikainen says: “If you find someone has spilt something over you in a crowded area, don’t let them touch you. While accidents can happen, it’s more than likely a ruse to get you to put your guard down so an accomplice can go through your pockets.”
Public Wi-Fi
Connecting to the Wi-Fi abroad is something that many of us look to do as soon as we get to our hotel, but connecting to the wrong Wi-Fi can have devastating financial effects. Scammers can set up public unsecured networks which allow you to connect while in the background your data is being stolen.
Ollikainen advises: “Never connect to unsecured networks as a golden rule, you don’t know who owns these networks and what they intend to do with your data. You should also turn off the settings in your phone to stop the automatic connection to Wi-Fi spots such as these too.”
“Finally if you do need to connect to the Wi-Fi when abroad, make sure to use a VPN so that your data has another level of protection.”
