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I work for a rental car broker and the rental car industry is rife with scams. We currently offer rental suppliers who are extremely crooked but successful nonetheless. Most of the really bad stuff happens in Spain and other southern European countries, but some rental companies in the US are also routinely scamming customers for large amounts. There are several ways to get more money out of a seemingly bargain priced prepaid booking. The classic scam is renting out vehicles with hidden damage (under the fender or somewhere not easily spotted right away) and then charging them for the "new" damage when they return the car. That is mostly gone now because people have gotten wise to it. What's more popular are hidden insurance contracts or to add several insurance products to the rental agreement without telling the customer. Then having them sign on an electronic pad, where they can't see all the charges they accepted. If they notice right away you either tell them some lie about it or cancel the insurance. If the customer doesn't notice right away, it's almost impossible to get a refund for the insurance they clearly accepted with their signature. Other scams are raising depot amounts to incredible sums (2000+ euros) so that most people's credit cards can't be blocked for the amount. Then the customer has to buy extra insurance to reduce the deposit, or they forfeit their prepaid booking. There even is one major Spanish company who make 60-80% of their earnings by just straight up pressuring customers to buy extra insurance.
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Mar 12, 2016 00:22
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 06:34 |
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The scammers and tourist lures in Bangkok are super obvious, it's incredible that there are still idiots falling for their retarded schemes. They lurk around anywhere near the palace, at a distance where you can't see the gates bustling with people. Mostly they prey on tourists which are so naive and credulous that they will instantly accept anything a friendly local tells them. Every time I've been to Thailand, i was quite impressed how simple and how badly executed the scammer's approach was. It's nothing like a real con man, getting to know you, trying to gain your confidence, it's just some random guy who walks up to you and says "Going to XY landmark? It's closed, hop in my taxi" Travelling in northern Africa, like Tunisia or Morocco, is where you'll meet people who put in some real effort. In Tunis, one dude came up to us, speaking perfect German (like no accent at all) and told us he was a waiter at our hotel (60 kilometers away in another city), then proceeded to tell us all about the neighborhood we were walking in, telling about his family and travels. He's been to various European countries, even our home city, knew all kinds of landmarks there. This guy was friendly and interesting and did seem completely uninvolved in anything, so we walked and talked for like 45 minutes, before he said that he has to pick up his car from a repair shop. He left, but an hour later in a completely different part of town, after a tram ride, we meet him again, sitting at a coffee shop. He invites us for a cup of coffee, we chat some more, then part ways again. Before going back to the bus station a couple of hours later, we meet him again, and this time I ask him where he put his car. And now he starts with a long story about his car troubles, and about how he didn't have enough cash on him so the repair shop still kept the car, and he doesn't have a ride back to the other city. Then he asks if we have cash on us and could spare to lend him a couple thousand dinars (like 10 euros). Although i'm a pretty skeptical person, at this point i believe this guy is the real deal, and pull out my wallet. He goes oh, not 10 euros, he misspoke, we need to lend him at least 150 euros, or he won't get his car back. He will definitely meet us tomorrow at the hotel when he has his next shift, and repay us with cash he keeps at home. When he suddenly raised the sum he needed, i got kinda suspicious and i said that i only had 20 euros on me and we still needed bus fare, so I gave him half. After profusely apologizing and thanking us, we made plans to meet the next day and go out for coffee. Of course he never showed up at our hotel, all the other waiters didn't know a guy with his name or description, and one of the waiters told us that it's a very common scam. These guys actually follow you from your hotel, take the bus for 1,5 hours, then follow you around Tunis all day, "randomly" bumping into you, being friendly and nice, and at the end they somehow get some money from you after gaining your trust. Some tourists have given them a lot of money. What impressed me was how natural the guy's delivery and demeanour was- he was so relaxed, knowledgeable and well dressed- he played his role perfectly, he put in some real effort, like a whole day's worth of following us around and getting to know us.
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Mar 22, 2016 11:42
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Kopijeger posted:If he really was that affable and interesting, he could probably make a decent living being a legitimate tourist guide. Seems like a waste. Yes, in fact we met a couple of guys in Tunisia who were ultra friendly, spoke several languages really fluently and still turned out to be crooks. One explanation I heard was that while the education system is pretty good, the whole country is so corrupt that a lot of qualified people with no connections can never find a real job and turn to ripping off tourists instead. It really affects your attitude towards the locals after a while, which sucks because not every friendly or helpful person wants to take advantage.
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Mar 22, 2016 16:37
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The most notorious scams right now in Germany are all targeting old people. German pensioners are often wary of banks and many keep large sums of cash or jewelry at home. The scammers have a couple of possible tricks, the most important being the nephew con. They call the elderly and by using smart conversation skills, get them to reveal the name of their nephews. Then they pose as the nephews and tell some sob sorry about how they need a large sum of money quickly, usually to buy an apartment. The money is then collected by a "friend" of the nephew. Most of these scams are revealed when pensioners go to their bank to withdraw 10000+ Euros, and the bank staff have been specially instructed to alert the police in these situations. Some are only discovered later when the real nephews call. Also common are the fake superintendent or fake police officer. They get the elderly to open them the door and distract them in the kitchen, while their accomplices sneak in the house and steal stuff. The crazy thing is that some of these old people are really down to earth working class people, living in tiny flats, and they have sums up to 100000 euros stuffed under their mattresses. The scammers know all the usual hiding places and can make of with bundles of cash in minutes.
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Apr 8, 2016 10:37
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It's simple, just use the same fake birthday for all your fake profiles. Just pick a date you can always remember, like some historically significant date.
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Jun 1, 2016 20:56
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