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In the normal Ask/Tell there's a thread about common scams, and a lot of them are those that target tourists in foreign countries. I think it might actually be useful to have a thread which talks about such scams, either those that we've experienced or that we've heard of. I know that I've protected myself in the past by being aware of these things, and tourists can be vulnerable by not wanting to appear rude or assuming to just be experiencing the culture. In the Philippines, there was a huge racket uncovered last year where airport personnel would put bullets into a traveler's suitcase, tell the traveler that they're in deep poo poo, and demand a bribe to make it go away. If you didn't pay it, they'd simply arrest you for transporting illegal items, and good luck pleading your case. Terrible embarrassment for the country and they cracked down hard on it, but it's still best to wrap your luggage when traveling through the country. Also in the Philippines, everyone you meet will be friendly and helpful, and then stick their hand out after they've helped you. Even in places like bathrooms there will be people who give you towels to dry your hands and then expect a tip afterwards. It might be a bit jarring to those not experienced. When I flew into Los Angeles I experienced a similar thing. The airport was confusing to navigate and I had to get to a different gate, a friendly stranger walked up to me and asked me if I needed help, and then gave me excellent directions on how to get to where I needed to go. I was actually really impressed by the service, but then as I was on my way he mentioned that he's here for a charity and asked if I would donate to his cause, I told him that I didn't have any American currency but he gladly accepted any kind of foreign money. I guess not a scam, but it did catch me off guard since I didn't really expect that in the States. NYC, and probably other American tourist cities have no end of people trying to scam you out of your hard-earned cash. One of the more depressing ones is where black youths will try to peddle their homemade hip-hop CDs to you, even forcing them into your hand and then demanding a donation to support their efforts. If you refuse it, then they get all tough and prey on fears that tourists have of NYC African youths, even being blatant like "are you sure you want to argue with a black man like me?" Great job enforcing the stereotype, guys! I've heard that these days those CDs are loaded with viruses and ransomware anyway so the scam continues when you put it in your PC. In Times Square, Hollywood, and probably other places you also see people in costume posing for pictures. Obviously you're expected to tip, but you may be surprised at the amount the person asks for. I saw someone get quoted like $20, I'm sure you can negotiate or whatever but I'm sure most people just pay it to not appear rude. Also bad in the Times Square area are electronic shops with insane markup, selling goods of questionable quality with pushy salespeople and a no-refund policy. poo poo like this: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d1734028-Reviews-47th_Digital-New_York_City_New_York.html In China I've heard that random Chinese girls will come up to westerners in tourist attractions and say how they're studying English in college and how they'd like to practice with you. Everything seems innocent enough, they might show you around the site, and then suggest a place to go for lunch, or a place to drink good Chinese tea or some poo poo. You go there and end up with an insane bill and are "pressured" into playing it. I think the scammer also pretends to be shocked but say they don't have much money on them and oh no what should they do? This scam is especially cruel because it's actually not uncommon for people to want to talk to westerners, especially schoolkids from the countryside who are visiting and never see foreigners in their town. During my travels in Asia I've also had random people come up to me and offer to show me around or just want to talk to me with no scam involved, so you have to be really careful. I could have easily seen myself fall for this if it had happened to me and I wasn't aware of it. Also in China, you can book tours for fairly reasonable rates, which include dining. The catch is that during the tour, they take you to special "government shops" where they talk about how it's only open for tourists and have special deals that locals wish they could get. You usually go to jewelry or jade shops where they may give you a demonstration of how to find "authentic" gems and of course everything in the shop is top quality. All the shop staff is quite friendly and will be all too helpful to suggest things, even if you're a male who doesn't have an interest in jewelry they'll make plenty of suggestions for your wife or girlfriend. All of the stuff is just above costume jewelry and overpriced, needless to say the reason they don't sell to locals is that they'd go out of business as it's possible to get the same or far better-quality stuff for much cheaper in the country. The tour company and guides get a kickback on the sales so it's like the razor model in which you offer the tour for low rates and make it up in commissions. Even knowing that all the stuff in those shops aren't worth buying, they do such a good job presenting everything that I almost felt compelled to buy some crap. They did get me at the tea shop though, but the samples of tea were quite good and I could justify paying the prices, although a teacup I bought with it ended up breaking after just a few months after use. In the Forbidden City we were able to enter a part of the palace where locals aren't allowed to go, the private quarters of some relative of the last emperor, who is a master of calligraphy. Oh, how lucky that today he happens to be in practicing! For a tidy sum, he'll write your name or whatever in his beautiful script! Really, the way they present these things in a way that we're so fortunate to have the opportunity to buy things in itself is quite impressive. I had a mate who was on a group where no one bought anything and the guide apparently complained to the members about it, that must have been a sight. I've also seen similar things in Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, so it's probably a common thing around the world, or at least in Asia. Also, never go with a tour company that also caters to Japanese, they have a big culture of buying souvenirs. I guess it might not be easy to research that, but I once ended up on a tour bus with a large number of Japanese and half of the drat tour was going to souvenir shops. In Japan there are several bars or clubs where touts will invite you with promises of cheap drinks and girls (or you may just wander in on your own), and you'll end up walking out with a sizable bill with lots of additional charges. One of my mates got taken for this, he should have known better but I guess his guard was down or something. He went to the police and they told him there was nothing they could do since the bar had an itemized list of the costs (albeit with completely unreasonable charges like a "$1000 table seating charge"). He ended up just negotiating a lower (still sizable) payout and got the hell out of there. Some places are worse and will have cell phone blockers and tough guys blocking the door so there's no real way to get help. Apparently the police keep saying they're going to crack down on this scam, especially with the Olympics looming, but there doesn't seem to be any progress and these scam bars are thriving. In India you can probably assume that everyone's trying to scam you, but it's up to you whether or not it's worth fighting over like 10 cents. Also be prepared to pay bribes to get any kind of service.
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Mar 12, 2016 13:59
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 05:10 |
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Yeah, right after the earthquake happened a lot of people were on the streets taking donations, and a news report aired about how a number of them were scammers who were just pocketing the cash. Absolutely deplorable. Needless to say people were less giving with their donations after that, although I'd like to think that they still donated, just at official collection points. Probably the same thing happening with the Kumamoto earthquake now.
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May 15, 2016 03:53
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