Prague Train Station>Four Seasons Hotel
 

Fresh off a five hour train trip from Berlin - speaking no Czech and being solicited by a cab driver at the train station - I got a 'tour' of the city and a pricy ride.

Isn't poisson slang for a mark/victim?

Advice for avoiding scams?
 

So it sounds like the best advice for avoiding scams is:
a) know a bit of the language
b) be aware of your surroundings at all times
c) if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
d) don't talk to strangers who start conversations with you randomly
e) know what approximate cab fare should be

Does that sound about right? Is there more to be gleaned from this? As I leave this country and embark upon my world travels, I'd like to be prepared!

GG

It's been mentioned several times before and luckily for me I only paid $3 or so to learn this lesson.

I was in Freeport, Bahamas with a bunch of friends. I decided to walk alone from our hotel near the International Bazaar to "downtown" where to the post office and grocery store. I barely got off the Bazaar property when a local approached me, appearing a little disheveled but acting very friendly. He asked me where I was going and like a dork I told him. He said he'd show me the way. We walked a couple blocks, with him chatting, asking if I or any of my friends wanted to buy drugs and all, and I began to feel uncomfortable around this guy. I told him I'm through walking and was going back. He asked me money for his "directions" so I gave him $1. He said c'mon, man so I gave him another couple of ones and said "that's all I got" and got out of there.

Was just looking at the FT Paris Forums and found this:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthrea...81#post6585081

1) Guatemala...add everything on the restaurant bill 'obviously' added wrong (i.e. 100+100=500). Confront the waiter to fix the addition to 200. Figure out later that each item should have been 50+50. Clever since the tourist concentrates on the obvious rather than the detail.

2) Lima...two girls approached me at dinner. Have heard of a lot of 'drugging' of the tourist' scams.

3) NYC...someone trying to help at the metro station machine. Under cover cop quickly told him to leave.

Paris scams
 

This is a very useful thread, and about time someone bumped it back to the top of the list.

In Paris with the family last week. The Metro scam is one I had not understood. You put your ticket in and start through the double turnstile. Guy behind you bumps you because he is trying to get through on your nickel. I just yelled at him, but he got through anyway. My wife tells me this is a very common scam. If he gets through ahead of you, you've got to pay another fare.

The other scam I don't understand, mostly because I didn't stand around long enough to watch the whole thing. Takes place all over, but frequently at Montmartre. African guys (they are invariably African) offer a small leather cord, and start tying it around your finger. I got no further than that, but saw a Dutch guy getting a full explanation. It might be that the cord is supposed to bring you luck, for which you are to pay five euros? Can anyone explain this scam?

Here's another point of view on this whole issue. Anyone who has traveled anywhere has a taxi scam story to tell. However, recently in Chiang Mai (Thailand) a took-took driver persuaded my husband and I to hire his services for 3 hours for a fixed fee (<$20) to sight-see around the city - when we needed small change to enter certain temples he lent us the money (as we only had larger denomination bills). He waited while we tours various attractions and never asked for money in advance - we could have easily just wandered off. He then offered us "the services" of his "brother" who had a car to drive us to some outlying areas the next day at a fraction of our hotel price for a car & driver. We agreed and sure enough the "brother" showed up as agreed and we had a great day - again no money was requested in advance. In both transactions we were very weary of a rip-off - but it was just great service at an excellent price - no scams / no add-ons / no un-scheduled stops at tourist shops.

Oh! Just that!
 

OK. I had not clicked through to this reference. Is it just this simple then? Braid a cord around your finger(s) and then ask for money? Possibly pickpocket you while you are distracted?

What a disappointment. Far too simple and unsubtle!

Camels at the Pyramids
 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before since pretty much everyone I know(myself included) that has been to the Pyramids has been scammed by the camel/horse operators there.

As you walk to the gates of the Pyramids, there are people offering camel/horse rides up to the pyramids. It all looks very official since they have stables there but what they do is take you around the gates of the Giza Pyramid Complex. And if you want to go into the grounds, they'll charge you some extra amount(they do use part of this to bribe the police that are guarding the fence though). Again, almost everyone I know has been had by these people. The best advice I can offer is if you want a camel ride in Giza, get one once you are already in the complex, not outside the gate.

Also, be careful when asking one of the locals to take your picture as sometimes they'll ask for a tip before returning your camera.

My greed got the better of me in Romania. Guy on the street offered to give me a great exchange rate. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was something like 10% or 15% better than the going rate. I was young and stupid and thought OK great. He showed me the Romanian money, looked fine. I gave him a $50 bill. He gave me about $2 worth of Romanian currency in return. By the time I realized what happened he was long gone into a crowd of people.

Valuable lesson learned at $48 per lesson.

It was the summer after I graduated college and was seeing Europe on the cheap and losing $50 did sting. This was 12 years ago when $50 was actually worth something.

I forgot the name of the company, but I booked a bus shuttle from EWR to NYC online. When I boarded with the long number that was my "e ticket" The driver claimed it was not on his list and I had to pay cash.
There was no possibility of looking up my ticket by name, and he wouldn't let me look at his list (he also put suspiciously little lime or effort into looking for my number on his apparently very long list of numbers). He also refused to reveal his name. I ended up paying cash and taking doen the bus number. Even with my payment receipts, I failed to get a refund after first e-mailing the company, calling, being told to go to the office, I went to the office and was told to call :mad: and finally sent a letter....ALL WITH NO REFUND OR REPLY. :td:

There are some annoying phone card scams in Mexico. Most the Payphones require a card and they've been known to be resold without the value on them.

One time I needed to make a call in Taxco, and couldn't get a phone card so had to ask around for a coin phone......this guy said he knew where one was and offered to show me where it was. He said there was a shortcut across the closed open air market in the middle of the city and as soon as we were out of site from traffic, he ducked behind a stall and suddenly popped out naked and grabbed my arm. He obviously didn't know I had mace in my pocketed hand the entire time, and when I sprayed his entire frontside he cried like a little girl and I ran away.

Uh, I guess the moral of the story is, if you think you're going to need to use a pay phone, find out how to do it ahead of time where you are and have a good card with you if you're going to need it......and mace rules (legal or not).

Sometimes they bump you to get into your pockets too ... One of those pickpocket scams.

Friend of mine lost his wallet that way. :td:


I have not seen this happen before - would like to know what it all means.

Transportation Scams
 

Taxis:

As a lone female traveller, one thing I learnt when travelling in taxis is to make it obvious that it's NOT my first time in that city/country. If asked, I always say that it is my 4th/5th time travelling to [insert city/country] and that I have a local representative waiting for me at the hotel as we do alot of business here. I have seen the [insert name of greatest monument/s in the city/country] and that it is a beautiful place. I gather all this information from the internet before leaving home. It could jolly well be my first time in that city/country but that is not something I am going to let a cab driver know.



Trains:

I had a situation once in Germany ... a Asian [Filipino] mom and 7yr old son were sitting in front of me on the DB train. It was going to be a one and a half hour journey from FRA to Wurzburg. My seat on the train was reserved so my destination was mentioned next to the seat number.

Anyway, she started speaking to me in German (I don't speak German) and then she started conversing in English. She mentioned that it is good to meet a fellow Asian on the train etc etc etc. She accidentally left her wallet at the previous train station and she was going to meet some friends but does not have the money to get there. Convienently, she has to change to a different train at lo and behold, Wurzburg (ie my destination).

I gave her 20 Euros for her to get additional tickets to her final destination for her and her son. I have been told that I had been conned (by well-meaning colleagues). But I believe in karma so I am going to let things go. :) Next con-artist will have a harder time getting money from me.

Basically, I bought her story cos she has a 7yr old kid with her. He was not one of those sullen quiet kid but was rather precocious and actually engaged me in conversations. If she was lying to me, you know what, it is really a shame ON her if she brought her son along for her scams.

Gold Rings in Paris
 

I had the Gold Ring scam pulled on my twice in Paris. It's hard to call it a scam, though it is.. It just seems so strange. The first time was walking along the Seine at around 8am. Old woman finds a gold ring by my feet. I say that it's her lucky day, but she insists on giving it to me. I accept the obvious brass ring, though it's stamped 18k on the inside, and she asks for some money. I give her about 20 cents and she walks off. I toss the ring into the river...

The very next day, a young skinny man happens to find an exact match of my thrown away ring right in front of the Louis Vuitton store! He hands it to me, and i refuse it. He is persistant, so I take the ring and throw it as hard as possible down the street, as he runs after it.