Warning! Scammers don’t take a break after your trip is over

Years and years ago I took my late mom to Naples, Italy as part of long trip through the country. She insisted on seeing Naples, the land of her family origin. No sooner did we arrive, as she tried to board a bus to tour the city, a fellow tried to pick her pocket book. She, feisty and eagle eyed, saw him “at work” and batted him away. But that was enough of Naples for my mom. She wanted to get away from there asap. I guess Naples has not changed that much in all these years!

Only once (that I am aware of)…I was in Harrah’s in New Orleans and decided to gamble. I went to the ATM to take out some money. In the middle of the transaction , a little old lady tapped me on the arm and asked if I could read the balance on her Harrah’s points receipt(their frequent slot ATMs were next to the real ones). I diverted my attention to the slip she had in her hand when I saw a hand reach for the cash dispenser on MY ATM. I tried to grab the hand but her slipped away and when I turned around, the old lady was gone as well.

The card was still there and I was mad. But I still wanted to gamble, so I did another transaction and the message said “PIN Invalid”. I tried it one more time and the machine ate my card.

As it turned out, apparently I had one too many drinks the night before and was a little fuzzy on my PIN and entered the wrong pin initially. The thief was timing it right to grab the money but it never came out. I discovered that when I called the bank.

It is just so critical to keep yourself aware of what is happening!

As a Brit now fortunate enough to live in the USA, my advice to travelers is to remember Europe is not the USA.

A feeble justice system and decades of ‘progressive’ social policies mean that for many people crime is their full-time job, with arrest and occasional brief periods of incarceration treated as an occupational hazard. For historical reasons, most European police forces are an arm of the state, rather than a part of the local community, and are widely regarded as corrupt and ineffective, with good reason, not least by the criminal fraternity.

Assume everybody you come across during your stay – especially in the street – is out to rob you and you’ll not go far wrong.

When I was in Nice, France, The children of the tziganes tried to steal my things when I took some changes from my purse to give to their mother. A french passing bystander saw it and warned me. Unfortunately lots of pickpockets in France, there are not even french, the come from the East Europe and even far like South America.
I didn’t lose anything but were really upset by the experience. Too bad, I never give the change to anybody when traveling again.
Be very careful when traveling on Paris Metro.
My french friends tell me that the pickpockets are very organized and more than one pickpocket rob you at once.

In the developing world, beware of the “fake accident” scam. This happens a lot in Mexico and India especially. Someone, most likely on a motorbike, will run out in front of your car, so that you can’t avoid hitting it. Often, an adult will enlist the services of a child to be the bike rider. This will typically be done in a semi-crowded area, such as a village, so that a large crowd appears around your vehicle and acts as an additional form of intimidation. The bike rider is rarely seriously injured, but the bike’s owner, or the rider’s parents, will then attempt to negotiate a settlement out of you. Your only real choice is to pay, as you don’t want the police involved if you’re a foreigner that’s caused an accident in a place like that.

The best way to avoid this situation is to NEVER drive a vehicle of any kind yourself. Hire a car and driver through a reputable agency. Scammers rarely attack hired vehicles, because they know the driver will know how to defend himself. The slight added cost (usually $25-35 a day) is well worth it.

The only time I’ve fallen for a scam was, naturally, at the coffee shop next to the building where I work here in DC. I lost $20.

Although its hideous, I almost admire the skill of Roman pickpockets. In the space of three days I saw two attempts. The first was the old ‘screaming old lady’ distracting whilst extracting a wallet and was successful. The second was in the subway, a 11-12 year old girl reached through the doors just before they closed and grabbed a wallet from someone fussing around with luggage. Fortunately, the train was delayed, so the passengers rallied around and forced the doors open. Realising she was caught, the girl just politely handed back the wallet and walked away, presumably to wait for the next train.

IS this REALLY your best advice:??

“My best advice against becoming a victim of one of these scams is not to look like a tourist and to avoid the “touristy” sections of a big city.”

That is ridiculous. Like Clif says, what a way to travel.

Best advice SHOULD be “Be aware of places where scams take place and then be on guard in those places”

I have to agree with clif and ed. Just be smart. I lived in New York City for most of my adult life, and one thing I hated was when locals sneered at tourists – of course they look like tourists, and by the way, this is one of the most diverse cities in the world and who cares what you look like? On the other hand, I had a friend who said he hated New York because he was there once and got ripped off. I asked him what happened – he lost all his money in a three card monte game! Are you kidding me? Keep your money tucked safely in multiple inner pockets, don’t let street scenes distract you from your pockets, and if a stranger presents you with an unusual situation, keep walking. None of that should stop you from sightseeing and enjoying your vacation in a completely tourist-like manner.

They really are out to get you…it is profitable for them. Last month, in New Orleans, a fellow came up and said to a colleague “I bet you I can tell you where you got your shoes!”. I told him “we don’t do that” in a firm voice, and told my colleague/friend that it was a trick. I didn’t remember what the exact trick was, but knew it was something. He googled it later.

Paris: Gypsies at the Eiffel tower. Their first question is “Do you speak English”. The best answer is to pretend you don’t!

In Paris, I was getting off the train, wanted a cab to my hotel and the cabbie quoted 85 euros. I said no, he quoted 75. I said no again, he said “okay, what you pay” – I went to get on the metro instead. A tall African tried to pickpocket me. You really do have to watch out.

@ChelseaGirl
That’s excellent advice. American tourists are usually the easiest to spot in the crowd. Someone in a T-shirt, blue jeans and the egregious white tennis shoes is virtually guaranteed to be an American.

I know I’m going to get flamed for the white tennis shoe comment but it’s true. Let me also pre-empt the “I’m on vacation and I want to walk comfortably” complaints, there are plenty of nice shoes on the market that can be worn without resorting to white tennis shoes. I think looking like a tourist is par for the course with being treated like a tourist. If you want to look different than everyone else, expect to be treated differently.

I’m with Chelsea on the map issue also. If I need to check my map, I do so while seated at a café sipping a coffee. I plan my route and walk with purpose and while enjoying my surrounding. I also benefit because my head isn’t buried in a map so I get to see more! Blending in is perhaps the best part of being on vacation. I routinely have people walk up to me and start speaking in the local language and ask me questions or directions etc. I find this highly complimentary.

Almost scammed by a group of kids in Rabat, Morocco: in a crowd of people a young girl created an argument with my friend (who looked American, but was actually Moroccan too). So my friend yelled back at the girl in French and she walked away. 5 min later we saw the girl with a group of young children and they started running past us. Lot of little fingers were in our pockets trying to grab anything. Luckily, I had my hands in my pockets and they didn’t steal anything.

Ah, my wife and I were subject to the “got your shoes” trick in San Francisco. The guy said “I bet I can tell you where you got your shoes,” and proceeded to give me an unrequested shoe shine (which was not very good, I was wearing sneakers). Gave a whole speech about how there’s a sucker born every minute, and he was smart, and could tell me where I got my shoes, etc., etc., then eventually said “You got your shoes on your feet.” We had a good laugh.

He then demanded $10 for the shine and the joke, and we told him (truthfully) that we didn’t have any cash on us. He suggested we go to an ATM, we told him no, I hadn’t asked him to shine my shoes, he just did it, and just like he said, there’s a sucker born every minute. He stormed off, we had a good laugh and headed back to the car in case he planned to come back with friends.

Everything is card-able these days, so when I travel, I carry a “minimal” wallet (ID, debit card, couple of business cards) in my front pocket, and $20 or less in the other front pocket. If we’re traveling somewhere where a bank isn’t easily accessible, I carry my cash and passport in a money belt, where it’s as difficult to steal as my underwear. I take a pocket-sized camera and keep it tucked away, I don’t wear loud clothes, and if I have to look at my map, I try to be discrete about it. Aside from “got your shoes” I’ve so far never had a problem.

@ Lianne – “The gold ring scam just baffles me, it doesn’t even make any sense!”
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Given the high price of gold, it a gold ring could be worth $ 500 USD to $ 1,000 USD.

This scam goes after a person’s greed. Spend $ 30 USD for a gold ring and sell it for $ 500 USD.

It is my guess that the gold ring isn’t gold and it probably cost $ 0.50 to $ 1.00 USD. If you can find 10 suckers a day, a person can make $ 300 USD a day.

Totally agree with the advice from Chelsea and Brian. I’m a blonde American woman who often travels solo to far flung destinations and I often get stopped by people asking for directions even when I’m in a country where none of the locals look even remotely like me. I’ve determined that this happens because whenever I’m trying to get somewhere, I do my best to memorize my route–that way I always look like I know where I’m going, and thus don’t appear to be a clueless tourist. If I need to consult a map, I duck into a store corner or bathroom.

As for the “white tennis shoe” problem–most major sneaker companies offer shoes in black. I find that black sneakers blend in quite well with jeans (which are worn everywhere) and don’t scream tourist.

A friend and I almost fell for a scam in Cusco, Peru.

The Plaza de Armas is full of people trying to shine your shoes or let you take their picture or sell you stuff. A lot of young men hang out with these portfolios of watercolors and prints that they’ll sell you. My friend got sucked into looking at one and was being convinced by the scammer to buy one when another local young man showed up.

I don’t know what his motivation was, but he explained the scam to us: The print in the portfolio that you think you’re paying s/.30 for is not what you’ll get. Instead, the scammer goes away and either “paints’ or has someone else “paint” a new one and what you get will be a recreation of the one you paid for and it will be approximately the size of a playing card. Who knows how good the recreation would be and details about where or how this would happen weren’t given.

Once we realized what you see was NOT what you get, we said lo siento no quiero and walked away. The crazy thing was, that as soon as the other portfolio guys saw someone get suckered into the sales pitch, they started circling like vultures.

Another scam that we fell for ONCE was accepting a “guided” tour of one of the cathedrals with an expected “tip” at the end. The next cathedral we went into we realized that they have free audio tours which were MUCH more informative than the “guide.”

I don’t think it’s really a question of looking like a tourist or not looking like a tourist, it’s more a question of being aware. It’s much harder to be pick-pocketed if you are paying attention. If you’re in a crowd and people are bumping into you, you should figure someone might try something. Pick pockets often make physical contact or have a “partner” do it for them, because if you feel someone bump into you, you probably won’t feel your wallet being lifted out of your back pocket.

Don’t let people you don’t know try and lead you anywhere, or accept rides from strangers. If children can do it, we should be able to as well. If you see someone who “needs” money or will give you something for nothing, walk away. If this person was an American, would you trust them?

A good rule of thumb is generally “Would this happen at home?” Despite the many cultural differences between the US and everyone else, other countries are not completely alien environments. If this person really does need help, leave it to someone else, particularly someone else who lives there, particularly if they ignore everyone else, but seem to concentrate on you.

I backpacked for over 2 years and you constantly see this type of thing happening. Like the article says, try avoid looking vulnerable (lack of mobility because over packed, etc.) and most of the time you’ll avoid this type of thing. Also, avoid trusting most people from the get go.

Twice in London I was pickpocketed. Once in Camden Market, which is crowded with shops and narrow aisles between them. Got a 10 pound note from my front left pocket lifted there. The next was on Portobello Rd the next weekend. I was sitting on an outer seat in an outdoor snack shop. A crowd of guys came by, seemingly drunk, and jostled me as though it were unavoidable. I felt my wallet move and leaped up, dumping my table and its contents and took off after the guy. I’m fast. The guy saw me coming after him and dropped my wallet and showed me a knife. I fetched the wallet and flipped him the British bird. He returned it and ran, laughing.

Shaken, the snack shop owner actually came out to commiserate and paid for a new lunch. I didn’t expect that. My heart was pounding after that one; I’d left my backpack at the table. Someone had secured it for me. I usually sit with my leg through an arm strap to prevent grabs, but I had apparently been starving and distracted.

An hour later, I turned a corner on my way back to the tube. Two of the guys stood there, and there was this sudden surprise in their eyes as they recognized me. They were standing next to an officer. I yelled “Thief!” and the surprised guys flew down the steps to the tube. The officer started to chase but tripped on the steps nearly hurting himself badly. They were gone. He was shaken, and we talked there for about a half-hour. He had evil things to say about street people and thieves in particular.

These days, I keep a minimal wallet that zips up, on a strong thin chain, in my breast pocket. My advice to others is to keep only a minimum of what you need with you. Use ATMs adjacent to banks, only, and watch the fees– make sure your bank doesn’t stick it to you (thank you, BofA).

Stay in the middle of lit streets. Go where there are people walking your desired direction. Read maps inside places, and ask shopkeepers for directions; buy a little something to make them happy. Plan your route, rather than just idly walking around. Have a checklist in your mind about landmarks around your desired route. Some maps are better than others; try and print them from a source before you go, that speaks your native language and translates things for you. And watch for distractions; tighten up and be wary of your surroundings– even if you’ve had (perhaps especially if you’ve had) some wine or beer to drink.

After we came home from Capetown, our bank statement showed over $3000. charge at a furniture shop there dated 28 days after we left…..it was charged using our ATM debit card. We used our ATM card 2x only at one place recommended by our 5 star hotel. Investigation revealed that somebody actually presented a copy of our ATM debit card at the shop. Obviously, there was a card reader nearby when we used the ATM…Fortunately my husband checks line by line all the items in our bank statement. We only had 60 days to dispute this charge.

Wonderful article!
These are experienced con men who uses a lot of persuasion techniques even a smart person could become a mark and be conned.
Surprise,word play and misdirection is a very effective method usually used by this crooks.

I wonder what happens if you say “Oh, yes, this is my ring, thanks for finding it!” and take it. :)

The pandora warm autumn wind, air mixed into the firecrackers fire taste;