How to Avoid Common Tourist Scams While Traveling

Life can be a huge scam; we spend 90% of our childhood, studying, working hard in school and college just to land a proper job with good pay. Then we land a job, and we think, “Now, my life is going to be a little easy!” Oh, we were so naive to think that.

Because then we work harder and harder, day in and day out, skipping the things we love to do, so that the money we earn from working hours long in our office can help us get the “dream life” we want. You traveling the world, eating the best food we want, spending time with our loved ones…

But, if we get scammed in that dream scenario (that became a reality) also.Oh! It will hurt, it will hurt the most painful way imaginable. It might not be physical, but it may ache more than something physical. Our dream vacation is one of those rare things in our life that we don’t want to be ruined, or else our entire life will be ruined.

Here, we’ll touch upon a few points that explain how one might get scammed and what to do to avoid such situations: Research about the destination you are visiting, verify tour guides, local offers, and travel services before paying, avoid taxi overcharging, unauthorized drivers, and unexpected detours, be aware of fake accommodation listings and unexpected hotel payment requests, beware of misleading prices, fake discounts, and hidden charges, and what to do if you get scammed. So why waste any more of our time? Let’s get started.

Research About The Destination You Are Visiting

It is something that you need to do even before you buy the ticket; you need to know what scams happen there. Each place is different from each other, each place has its own fair share of scams and crimes, so you need to check the background of the place you are visiting.

Each destination has its very own scams, some where you might get scammed by fake tour operators, while in some places, tourists might get scammed by some fraudulent accommodation companies. So check all these things about the destination you are visiting. Before visiting any of the places, check their Government Travel Advisories; you can also look into the Tourism Websites, Consumer-Protection Warnings, and you can also check any recent accounts of travelers to that specific place.

Through their accounts, you can realise how they get scammed. And many of times, these accounts can give you an insight into what exactly you must do to avoid such scenarios and get out of such a situation (if somehow you find yourself in a situation like that), and in case you get scammed (Just in case), then you can also find an exact solution to that.

But this process is something that can only prepare you to face such situations, or at the very least, educate you about such issues. But that doesn’t mean that you start suspecting every person in that destination (they will think you are racist; don’t do that ever). So don't go around looking at people with a suspicious eye, but BE CAREFUL, research the place as much as you want.

Verify Tour Guides, Local Offers & Travel Services Before Paying

Tour guides, they know how to twist their words in such a way that you will be forced to walk directly into some kind of scam. Tour guides offer a tour with proper guidance, transport, sightseeing, or even help in visiting tourist attractions.

Well, many of the Tour Guides are legitimate who take your money and actually deliver on their promise, but many times, some tour guides use the names of official organizations without any proper authorization, or even charge you for services that are not provided by that organization.

These scammers use multiple tactics that puts a visitor in a pressurizing situation, and in that situation, these visitors are asked to make a decision as soon as possible. They can spread misinformation specifically about the offer that they booked or the ticket that they bought, and then “the guide” will ask them to spend some extra cash, like booking another guide that will get them some kind of advantage, or that the place they are visiting is closed, so their ticket is invalid, so in order to make it valid, you need to buy another offer or have to book a special guide who can get them into that place.

Another tactic is to tempt the visitor with a supposed cheap tour offer that will not cost them that much money, but what the visitor doesn’t know is that they charge some undisclosed fees later. So you need to book with a proper tourism organization, and if your tour guide claims to be part of any tourism organization and tells you about tours or services that you didn’t find on the organization’s website, then you must confirm all these claims with that specific organization. You can also cross-check some of the claims regarding the tourist attraction with the attraction itself.

Avoid Taxi Overcharging, Unauthorized Drivers & Unexpected Detours

This is another scam where the travelers are scammed by the ones whose duty it is to get the visitor to their desired destination or any tourist attraction they want to visit. They know if the visitor is new to that place, they can easily fool that person, so they will overcharge the visitor, take unnecessary long routes, will quote a price before the trip, and after you reach the destination, they will suddenly ask for more money, saying that their meter was broken or any other such excuses. Some fraudulent drivers also claim that the booked ride is unavailable (Even though it is available) and instead provide you with an alternative and (you guessed it) expensive offer.

So, these are a few problems these fraudulent drivers can create for the visitor. The visitor needs to be smart to counter these scams, so here is what you (as a smart visitor) can do to avoid such situations. Even before booking, check the fare and verify the driver and the vehicle you are about to book. No matter what happens, avoid (in any case) last-minute changes in the price; pay only the price you booked the cab and driver for. Check the route using any kind of navigation app to avoid unwanted detours. And last but definitely not the least..

You don't need to feel any obligation to go for an alternative ride; they may claim that your booked service is unavailable, but don't just take their word for it; cross-check it with the official or the service provider.

Be Aware of Fake Accommodation Listings & Unexpected Hotel Payment Requests

This scam will fool you into paying for a non-existent entity. In this scam, many fraudulent companies or scammers advertise properties and hotels for accommodation that don’t even exist, where they use pictures of already existing hotels, or sometimes they will claim to be staff from a known hotel and will demand more money for the stay.

So what can you do to avoid such scenarios: Verify the property they are promoting, check the address, check any reviews (even the reviewers), make sure the reviewer is a real account and not a fake one, and check the photographs properly. Another thing you can do is book through reputed and known platforms or through any verified property websites. Another thing to be careful about is avoiding any payments outside the official booking platform; check the platform’s rules before booking.

Beware of Misleading Prices, Fake Discounts & Hidden Charges

Here, you might get fooled by the local sellers; they know that you are new to the place and don’t know the exact price of the local items. So, they will charge you a high price, misrepresent a product’s quality, advertise misleading discounts, and many more such scams.

So, to avoid such scams, compare the price of the same product with different sellers before buying it. Ask about any kind of additional charges like taxes, service charges, or any other such charges. They will exaggerate the item’s quality or even the worth of the item, saying, “It’s rare. You can only find this item with me; you won’t find it with any other sellers.” So just think before buying anything; you don’t need to rush to a decision after hearing such claims.

These are a few scams that you might come across while traveling. We have also provided a few basic tactics you can follow to avoid such situations, but what if you do get scammed? The suggestions provided in this article to avoid such situations are helpful, but it is easier said than done. So, what if you do get scammed? What should you do then? Don’t worry, we have got your back.

What To Do If You Get Scammed?

Contact your bank: If you paid a scammer, then immediately contact your bank as soon as possible, explaining what happened and requesting them to stop the payment if they can, or reverse it or dispute it. Keep in mind that there's no guarantee that you will be refunded.’

Contact the Platform through which you booked your services: If you are scammed by booking fake hotels, or paying extra fees to someone claiming to be from that hotel, or the cab driver who is demanding more money than discussed, then contact the platform through which you booked these services and lodge a complaint about the individuals.

This one is important. You need evidence that you got scammed, or else they will claim it is you who is scamming so that you can get out of paying for the services. So, in advance, save the receipts, the chats & messages between the organization or the person representing that organization,n and the payment records. This will act as proof in case you get scammed.

So these were some of the scams one may face when they plan a trip, and some ways through which you can avoid these. But remember,r no matter how much you read about this stuff and think that “Now I know everything, now I’ll not be fooled by these fools,” please remember that no matter how much you read or think that you are now prepared, when on a trip you need to be careful about everything.

Take every offer with a pinch of salt. And one last important thing to note: these scammers use urgency as their weapon; they’ll say, “Buy it before it gets sold out” or something like, “This is a very rare piece of antique, and the shops around here will charge you a lot, but here I will give you a discount, but you have to decide soon or else it will get sold out, and then you will not find it anywhere, so decide quickly.” This is their main tactic to force you into not thinking too much and give in to their demands (scams). But what do you need to do? Stay calm, ask questions about the item, and ask why it is so valuable. You don’t need to rush it; they would want you to, but you don't have to. Don’t be too suspicious, but be careful.