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40 Tourist Scams

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I've seen or experienced three of these scams:

-Had a friend get hit by the "3 cups" scam in Paris. Ended up losing 80 euro.

-A guy offered to help me and my parents buy a metro ticket in NYC at the machine because we looked like obvious tourists. My dad actually agreed to the help, but the guy got chased off because a cop was watching him the entire time.

-At one of the public and popular beaches in Seattle, a VERY attractive young blonde girl walked up and down the beach asking people for money because her car was broken down. She was getting money left and right until some guy stood up and yelled for everyone to hear that she did this every weekend and was a scammer.
 
Not sure about the scam, but in the NYC Apple store, two different Chinese people asked us if we wanted iPhones, they got kicked out by employees real quick. Saw those CD guys in Times Square too, very common in major urban areas.
 
Travelled quite a lot in many European countries, but never had anyone attempt any scams on me, except for that taxi thing that happened to me and my friends in some Eastern European country, can't remember which. It was like 1 or 2 kilometers at most, but at the end the driver said it cost 45 euros. Fuck that guy.

If you use a taxi in a foreign country, always be sure to ask first how much it costs.

WesternHeretic said:
Europe seems scary.
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Any place with a lot of tourists tends to be awful. That's part of the reason why you should generally avoid travelling in the most tourist-filled places. You can also avoid a lot of the crap if you don't seem like an obvious tourist.
 
Makes you wonder why these people don't just get real jobs if they're just going to go through all the work it takes to scam people.


oh that's right, it's because some people are scum.
 
The Lamonster said:
Makes you wonder why these people don't just get real jobs if they're just going to go through all the work it takes to scam people.


oh that's right, it's because some people are scum.
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While I agree that, yes, some people are scum, what you're seemingly overlooking is the fact that some of them have no alternatives.
 
The last time we were at Las Vegas, my family came across those Hip-Hop CD scammers who tried to give them to my father. He dodged a bullet by refusing them, though.
 
Add to the list scammers dressed up in costumes offer you a picture with them and then demand that you pay $20-$50 for the service. I haven't had it happen to me but I know someone who takes part in this and he is a complete shitbag.
 
What happened to the "good ole days" of your backpacking tour guide prosititing themselves to members of the group during hotel stops? You only had to deal with a guilty conscious if that.
 
My dad got scammed in Argentina sooner this month. The taxi driver gave him fake money as change. For someone who doesn't understand a word of Spanish, he was probably an easy target.
 
threetri333 said:
To Avoid This Summer

How many do you know of, perhaps ones that aren't on this list? I only found this link, but can't find its source: http://i.imgur.com/COj1LSE.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/COj1LSE.jpg[IMG]

Other Mentionables:
- "Free" Drinks in Hotel Rooms
- Tour Bus leaves your group stranded and won't proceed unless a majority buy from stores there.[/QUOTE]

Honestly, you didn't find the source? It's right in the actual image you linked.

[url]http://www.justtheflight.co.uk/blog/16-40-tourist-scams-to-avoid-this-summer.html[/url]
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koziakauzu said:
You've found this bullshit in Lonely Planet?
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It's kind of true at least in Finland. There are homeless people obviously, but it's more or less because they choose that, for example because they can't handle the rules (no drugs and things like that) of the dorms that the government would give to them.

Of course, then we get into the discussion of how much they're victims of things like their upbringing and possible drug addiction and such, but in general the government doesn't let you become homeless if you abide by the rules.

This is off topic though.
 
If you were posting this in the 90s I'm pretty sure this one would be on there:

hMKwD.jpg
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Not much of a scam, but when I was in Japan I was walking through Ueno Park on my way to Ueno Zoo and this guy stopped me and struck up a conversation (in English). He thought I was Australian, but I said I was from the US and he asked me what state and I said Illinois, specifically from Chicago. This led to him talking about Abraham Lincoln and eventually a discussion about the US Civil War. He had some knowledge of it, and I tried to fill in some gaps where I could. We started talking about what caused the Civil War and he had a weird "War of Northern Aggression" conspiracy, that led into other conspiracy talk about 9/11, War in Iraq, and then talking about the "Police State." Not the police state in the US, but in Japan. And kept talking about how "brave" I was to visit a country that I didn't know the laws and whatnot. This eventually all comes full circle when he starts talking about his "book" (which was just some 8.5x11 sheets of paper printed and stapled together) which he then shoved into my hand and asked for a donation. Desperately needing an out, I gave him a couple hundred yen and went running.

To be fair, the guy does actually publish some stuff on Amazon, so I guess its not really a scam, just aggressive marketing.

edit - Also, he has his own website.
 
I was in Paris last month - I saw the cup scam, the petition scam, and the friendship bracelet scam all multiple times. Good thing I read-up before my visit.

EDIT: A few times I saw police officers chase the scammers away. One group of girls doing the petition scam had their pens and papers confiscated - I saw them a couple of minutes later with fresh supplies.

The cup scam seems particularly egregious - there's a small crowd of people loudly cheering and making bets. It's clear that they're all in on it. So slimy.
 
Aesius said:
-At one of the public and popular beaches in Seattle, a VERY attractive young blonde girl walked up and down the beach asking people for money because her car was broken down. She was getting money left and right until some guy stood up and yelled for everyone to hear that she did this every weekend and was a scammer.
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I see that happen all the time in grocery store parking lots. It's amazing watching someone change their story mid-way through begging and not realizing.

My family was hit by the scammers in costume when we went to Rome. It seemed obvious to me what was going on but my mom persisted we take a picture with a man in plastic Roman armor and another in a toga.
 
Reciprocity Scams |OT| You Owe Me Five Bucks For The Words You Just Read

Papercuts said:
The music artist one happened to me when I went to Vegas last year, but it was just a guy alone on the street and I was with a group so it easy to get him to fuck off.
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Me too - usually 2-3 people together on the walkways crossing over the streets where there's a captive audience. Could have been people giving out genuinely free CDs for all I know, I just "no thanks" and keep on truckin
 
I had the "found ring" scam happen to me. I spotted him and his buddy who was walking a bit behind him as they were walking towards me, so i just kept walking without turning back when he called me.
 
I don't see the prostitute scam. Happened to my friends and I once in Barcelona and once in Paris. Girls come up to you late at night and get all cozy trying to convince you to pay for sex while their friends come up from behind and try to steal your wallet.
 
How does the ring scam even work? Guy asks if the ring belongs to you, you say no and they try to sell it? But it doesn't belong to them either, and how would they even know how much it is worth? If I came across that I would be more confused than willing to purchase the ring.

Also wouldn't that be receiving stolen goods since you know the ring doesn't belong to the other person and therefore they aren't authorized to sell it. Seems a bad situation to get yourself into in the first place if you didn't know it was a scam.
 
Pastry said:
I don't see the prostitute scam. Happened to my friends and I once in Barcelona and once in Paris. Girls come up to you late at night and get all cozy trying to convince you to pay for sex while their friends come up from behind and try to steal your wallet.
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There are any number of 'distract the mark while the pickpocket does his thing' scams around the world. The 'map' one can be modified to be as simple as kids shoving their cardboard signs in your face so you can't see the others picking things out of carried bags.

I don't think I ever want to travel to Rome.
 
Koomaster said:
How does the ring scam even work? Guy asks if the ring belongs to you, you say no and they try to sell it? But it doesn't belong to them either, and how would they even know how much it is worth? If I came across that I would be more confused than willing to purchase the ring.

Also wouldn't that be receiving stolen goods since you know the ring doesn't belong to the other person and therefore they aren't authorized to sell it. Seems a bad situation to get yourself into in the first place if you didn't know it was a scam.
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A frequent element in a con is to convince the mark to do some shady business out of greed, so that they won't complain too much about it once they realized they've been conned.
Besides, it probably works like email scams, where a weak story is a good way to quickly filter the gullible from people in the know.
 
Steam
A man named Gaben approaches you with sales of unimaginably low prices for quality games new and old, but in the end you are paying much more on games altogether than you would otherwise and yet actually play less.

Location: Worldwide
 
Avoid Rome and Spain. The thread.

Aesius said:
-At one of the public and popular beaches in Seattle, a VERY attractive young blonde girl walked up and down the beach asking people for money because her car was broken down. She was getting money left and right until some guy stood up and yelled for everyone to hear that she did this every weekend and was a scammer.
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This is probably the easiest money maker.
 
haha the CD one is always hilarious, i just say "i don't want to listen to your shitty music" and walk away, the artists don't do anything.

post that "we got a badass pic" but i don't wanna be bothered listening to garbage when in new york.


i have read lists like these before and will make note when i go to Europe one of these years, the baby one is just smh, now i will honestly think of not catching it if i am in Europe.
 
Got off the the plane in birmingham and I was in a rush to get to the NEC centre to play my match in a halo tournament that I hopped in a taxi the minute i got out of the airport and was like "NEC asap please". Cost me £20 and it turned out the NEC and airport are fucking connected and takes a minute to walk between the two,
 
OccamsBlender said:
Glad I'm in Japan.

The pickpockets mainly target people who are so drunk they pass out inside train stations or trains. IE people so stupid they deserve it.
I lost my iphone in a cab and found it in tact. No crazy phone charges.

The worst common tourist scam Japan has is overpriced entry for tourist sites or merchandise. Like $8 to go inside a small temple and then there's like 4-6 of these little temples all charging that within 1km of each other.

You don't even have to tip in Japan which is insane given the quality of service.
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The worst scam ever happened to me in Japan. It was the day of my arrival and I was strolling in Ueno park in Tokyo just to soak in some atmosphere and then was approached by a monk who first showed me pictures of a burned down school building and then a list of earlier donators with the respective amount given by them. I was tired and had yet no grip of the currency so I gave him an equal amount in yen. Turned out to be 70 €. Fucker.
 
This is why I travel light and kept the few wallet-like items I did have in a zippered pouch resting against my chest when I was in Rome. Never kept anything in my pockets.

Edit: Also had the whole "overly friendly" local demanding to help me with the super complicated automated ticket booth. Though I think they were just not much more than a beggar and would ask for a few euros if I had actually let them help me.
 
ThreePiMatt said:
Not much of a scam, but when I was in Japan I was walking through Ueno Park on my way to Ueno Zoo and this guy stopped me and struck up a conversation [,,,] I gave him a couple hundred yen and went running.
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Fritz said:
The worst scam ever happened to me in Japan. It was the day of my arrival and I was strolling in Ueno park in Tokyo just to soak in some atmosphere and then was approached by a monk who first showed me pictures of a burned down school building and then a list of earlier donators with the respective amount given by them. I was tired and had yet no grip of the currency so I gave him an equal amount in yen. Turned out to be 70 €. Fucker.
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Be careful in Ueno Park then.
 
Some dude did that flower thing to me and my cousin when I went to Paris. We were walking together so I guess he assumed she was my girlfriend and gave her a rose. He walked around us and came to me telling me to pay. I'm like no, and he points out that he gave her a rose. So I took the rose from her hand and gave it to him and told him to fuck off. It was an interesting occurrence.
 
Ryuelli said:
Paris sounds like a shit hole.
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It isn't. 99% of Paris is awesome and beautiful. There was one area we passed through though that had me on edge though. Had a ton of really rough looking sex shops and urban gangster looking dudes hanging out and outright intimidating people.

Other than that my wife and I would walk around most of it as late as 1:00am and never felt unsafe.
 
Warm Machine said:
It isn't. 99% of Paris is awesome and beautiful. There was one area we passed through though that had me on edge though. Had a ton of really rough looking sex shops and urban gangster looking dudes hanging out and outright intimidating people.

Other than that my wife and I would walk around most of it as late as 1:00am and never felt unsafe.
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Rue Saint Denis I suppose. Or maybe near Gare du Nord ?
There are a few shady places (not especially dangerous actually, I never had any trouble there anyway), but yeah Paris is fine everywhere but in the touristy areas (aka Eiffel Tower/Trocadero mainly). The best part of it is away from the well known landmarks. I love that city.
 
Fritz said:
The worst scam ever happened to me in Japan. It was the day of my arrival and I was strolling in Ueno park in Tokyo just to soak in some atmosphere and then was approached by a monk who first showed me pictures of a burned down school building and then a list of earlier donators with the respective amount given by them. I was tired and had yet no grip of the currency so I gave him an equal amount in yen. Turned out to be 70 €. Fucker.
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Damn. I always make sure to have a solid understanding of the currency before I go anywhere because in the past I have ended up buying incredibly expensive things without knowing and ending up with very little money at the end of my trips lol

A popular scam in Japan, particularly Tokyo's red light district, aim for foreigners under the assumption that they're looking for good clubs or to satisfy their yellow fever needs. There'll be girls who will ask men to buy them non-alcoholic drinks and chat them up while racking up a huge bill that the poor inebriated fool be forced to pay before he can leave. Sometimes solicitors will lead a group of foreign dudes to a run-down joint and make them pay for a bunch of nonsense fees and whatnot, taking advantage of the language barrier. Those looking for soapland action get trolled even harder, since 95% of them are for "Japanese only" and the other 5% are rough to say the least.

Just stay away from red light district businesses unless you're hanging out with a local or you know the language. It's a fine place to stroll through and safe for the most part.
 
Alx said:
Rue Saint Denis I suppose. Or maybe near Gare du Nord ?
There are a few shady places (not especially dangerous actually, I never had any trouble there anyway), but yeah Paris is fine everywhere but in the touristy areas (aka Eiffel Tower/Trocadero mainly). The best part of it is away from the well known landmarks. I love that city.
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Gare du Nord for sure. Not 5 minutes after I stepped off the train from London, I was hit up by the petition scam.
 
In Istanbul (my 2nd time there mind you), I fell for the "shoeshiner drops something in front of you and me, being a nice guy, picks it up and he tries to repay me by asking for money".

Got 5 lira outta me. Only like $2.50 but still. Damn.

I'm well traveled and I thought I knew all of the tricks. But this shoe of a gun got me good
 
I had four of those tried on me in one day in Delhi.

Also the CD one in New York. I'm ashamed to say I gave one of them $10.
 
Haven't seen any of these scams in person, but have seen the glasses scam in NYC (though the guy had a bottle, not glasses). In that case, it's just best to walk away; they're looking for an easy mark to get a few bucks from, and if it's not you, it will be some other tourist willing to oblige.

(I have to say, if I ever travel through Europe, I think I'm just going to avoid Italy. What fun is a vacation if I have to stay on guard over dozens of potential scams no matter where I go?)
 
Superflat said:
Those looking for soapland action get trolled even harder, since 95% of them are for "Japanese only" and the other 5% are rough to say the least.

Just stay away from red light district businesses unless you're hanging out with a local or you know the language. It's a fine place to stroll through and safe for the most part.
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smh damn
 
Superflat said:
Damn. I always make sure to have a solid understanding of the currency before I go anywhere because in the past I have ended up buying incredibly expensive things without knowing and ending up with very little money at the end of my trips lol

A popular scam in Japan, particularly Tokyo's red light district, aim for foreigners under the assumption that they're looking for good clubs or to satisfy their yellow fever needs. There'll be girls who will ask men to buy them non-alcoholic drinks and chat them up while racking up a huge bill that the poor inebriated fool be forced to pay before he can leave. Sometimes solicitors will lead a group of foreign dudes to a run-down joint and make them pay for a bunch of nonsense fees and whatnot, taking advantage of the language barrier. Those looking for soapland action get trolled even harder, since 95% of them are for "Japanese only" and the other 5% are rough to say the least.

Just stay away from red light district businesses unless you're hanging out with a local or you know the language. It's a fine place to stroll through and safe for the most part.
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The perfidious part was certainly the list of donors. I just thought it sure be okay. The jetlag made me an easy bait.
 
Damaniel said:
Haven't seen any of these scams in person, but have seen the glasses scam in NYC (though the guy had a bottle, not glasses). In that case, it's just best to walk away; they're looking for an easy mark to get a few bucks from, and if it's not you, it will be some other tourist willing to oblige.

(I have to say, if I ever travel through Europe, I think I'm just going to avoid Italy. What fun is a vacation if I have to stay on guard over dozens of potential scams no matter where I go?)
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Yeah, I live here in NYC and someone tried the glasses scam on me as I was going back to work with my lunch! Walks up to me and says I "kicked his glasses out of his hand with my knee and what am I going to do to fix the problem". I stared right in his eyes and said I didn't touch his glasses, and how could i possibly knee them out of his hand while walking normally. He then seethed and cursed under his breath while looking mean and mad and I walked away. I hadn't heard about this scam until a few years later, then the whole incident made much more sense.
 
I can't believe that out of all these scams, according to this thread the one GAFers fell for the most is the NYC "check out my hip hop" CD scam. Crazy.
 
There's some of those hip hop scammers here in los angeles especially around beaches and piers such as the Redondo beach pier. They wear brand clothes to make them look like they're a step away from being famous while trying to get you buy their mixtapes...I've seen tourists get duped into buying them....and it feels awful watching them buy the scam tape...

Also on sunset and vine. there was this dude that asked me to solve an anagram with hidden conspiracies which I did for the Fuck of it since I was bored and soon after wanted me to give him cash for his conspiracy knowledge. Dude started to follow me while yelling obscenities at me. So glad I was near the red line subway station.
 
Damaniel said:
(I have to say, if I ever travel through Europe, I think I'm just going to avoid Italy. What fun is a vacation if I have to stay on guard over dozens of potential scams no matter where I go?)
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I spent a week in Sicily earlier this year and didn't see or hear about a single scam. Rome is probably different, but that's only one city in a country with thousands of places to see.
 
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