Globally, in many large cities scamming became a quite good source of income for people. Thieves mostly hunt people who do not know about the place and its culture because it is easy for them to get precious things out of them without putting much effort. They have hundreds of methods to scam you and take money from you. The scammers are always ready to catch your attention gat take advantage of you. Travelers can avoid being scammed by these robbers just by staying a little bit more aware than usual. They have several tricks to get their target into the trap and rob them in the ways they can. Here are some scams that are used in almost every tourist place and tips to avoid all of them.
Common Travel Scams
Distractions
The most common and frequently used travel scam is creating distractions and stealing things smoothly from you. What they do is, someone will put something like ketchup or oil on the target’s clothes or their body. Then some random person will come and tell that they have something on their back. The motive is to get access to your things easily while you are busy wiping off the stain put on your clothes. You can avoid this; all you have to do is get out of the place immediately if something gets on you and reach an open and safe location where no one is around then take off your things and wipe your clothes with water or anything.
Fake Officials
When you travel and something unexpected happens to you the first thing that comes to your mind is to call the cops or look for them around you. But here most people make the mistake of trusting the cops and expecting security from them. Any random cop (fake cops) will come to you and ask for your documents to take a look for checking. After that, they will not return them until you provide them with more which you can call a bribe. Do not hand over your important documents to anyone. Instead, ask them for their id and tell them that you will show your documents at the police station so that they can take you to the police station. If they are fake cops, they will run away from there.
Transportation Scam
Buses and trains are the riskiest places to be scammed. There are the highest chances to get separated from your belongings on public transport. You need to stay alert in these places. Do not ever sleep in buses or trains if your belongings are not locked in some safe place, otherwise when you will wake all your bags and important things will be gone. Never give your bags to anyone on the bus who gives you a helping hand to lift your bags because most of the time they either run away with your things or hand them over to someone else out of the bus. You must keep your things with you only. Never trust any strangers you meet in any transport.
Crying, Babies
This scam mostly happens at night when are returning to your hotel totally tired and just ready to hit the bed and sleep. When you will be walking back to your accommodation you will find a baby crying in very bad condition, when you will ask them about his home or family they will offer an address and tell you to take them there. Do not ever do the mistake to take them to the mentioned place because some people are sitting in the place with dangerous weapons and robbing everything from you. Instead, take the kid with you to the cops and tell them the story.
Also Read: Reasons Why Travel Makes You Awesome
Bottomline
All these scams take place in either crowded places or places like restaurants and taxis. Keep credit cards and other important cards somewhere safe because scammers try to steal them, and this can cause major harm to your financial conditions. Avoid using ATMs, try using your mobile phones for all kinds of payments or deal in cash. Stay out of jam-packed places. People often travel to famous places in their peak season, according to me you should always visit a destination either before the busy season or after that to avoid unwanted throngs.