Travel Safety
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Avoiding scams on your travelsFrom here to the furthest reaches of civilization, ruthless con-merchants target gullible travellers. But don’t panic; knowledge is power! Our guide to tried and tested scams will help you spot danger and keep those pesky confidence tricksters firmly in their place. Decoys There are thousands of varieties of this trick from the ‘student’ who wants to practise his English to the broken down motorist or the lone herdsman who claims to have lost his camels. Whatever the approach, these people get your attention and ask a favour from you. You oblige and find your new friend so grateful he (and it normally is a he) invites you to his cousin’s place for a cup of tea or a cold beer. If you’re lucky, you’ll find the cousin owns a souvenir store or a carpet shop where, once snared, you will find yourself subjected to a hard sell of Biblical ferocity. If you’re unlucky, of course, you’ll be led down a dark alley and robbed blind. It’s very difficult to tell a scamster from a genuine would-be pal. That’s for you to work out. The ‘unofficial’ official So you get to the Ministry of Paperwork in some fly-infested foreign capital in order to join a queue - which of course laps the building six times - for an extended visa or some such red tape. Frustrated by the long wait in the noonday sun, you’re only too happy to greet a smartly-dressed man walking towards you saying, ‘I’m an official from the Ministry charged with helping foreign nationals to fill out their forms correctly. For a small fee I will speed up your application’. Relieved, you hand over your fee, passport and paperwork only to see the ‘official’ sprint off hooting with laughter. Taxi tricksters Cabbies all too often turn out to be despicable cads who will happily drive the long way round in order to up your fee. But some are also in the habit of talking new arrivals out of staying at the hostel or hotel they ask to be taken to. Instead, they attempt to persuade gullible first-timers into going somewhere else where, of course, the cab driver will be paid commission. As soon as you hear your driver launch into a story about how the hotel you just named has been destroyed by plague or fire, switch off. Against the odds Beware street games into which members of the public get drawn. It works like this. An old guy challenges passers by to, say, a game of chess. He then proceeds to lose several times in a row, each time losing a bet with his opponent. This guy’s so bad at chess you know you can win. After all, you were captain of the school chess team. So you bet a small amount and, to your delight, you win. Spurred on by victory, you bet half your travelling budget. Suddenly - and, if we may say so, predictably - the old guy transforms himself into a grandmaster and whips you with consummate ease. Loser. He saw you coming a mile off. Femmes fatale Here’s one for the boys. It’s obvious, but it happens. A rather splendidly attractive girl makes a pass at you and before you know it you’re in your hotel room with her pinching yourself to see if you’ll wake up. While she slips into something a little more comfortable you go into the bathroom to check your teeth for spinach. When you come out...she’s gone. And so has your wallet and watch. It was that easy. This type of problem can happen to female travellers as well, of course, but it’s largely a trick aimed at fellas. Card sharks At least if you’re the victim of a femme fatale or an unofficial official you’ll be able to dine out on the story for months. Credit card fraud, however, is less amusing. It’s also increasingly common. Professional thieves can get all the information they need from your card in seconds. They can then return the card to you and spend, spend, spend. You won’t know anything about it till the bill comes through. So the golden rule is: never let your card out of your sight - even when you hand it over to pay for stuff. Also watch out for people looking over your shoulder when you’re drawing cash from ATMs. If you lose your card or someone steals it, call the card issuer in the UK immediately. Stuck in the middle with you This is the oldest trick in the ancient book of scams: pickpocketing. If someone bumps into you - even if it’s an old dear - check your pockets immediately. Remember, too, that pickpockets often work in pairs, one acting as a decoy. Popular red herrings include ‘your shoelace is undone’, ‘could you tell me how to get to the post office?’ and ‘oh - I’ve just dropped my shopping right in front of you!’. The only way to be safe is to keep your dosh in a sly place; get a moneybelt or tuck notes into your shoes. Don’t carry loads of cash around and be extra careful when stuck in a crowd. |
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