Summer is the peak season in most tourist destinations, and the time when scammers make their moves during this lucrative time. Travelers are advised to watch their backs and keep a sharp mind to the happenings that surround them. These are some of the most known scams that seem to proliferate every summer season.
Beware summer and tourist scams
Summer Rental Scams
These kind of summer and tourist scams usually take advantage of tourists who are hurrying up to book an accommodation place for a rush vacation. They are carried away by false advertisements that urged them to make upfront payments for a facility they have not yet seen. They are made to believe that it’s a beautiful and comfortable place to stay until the time they arrived when they find out that it’s just an empty piece of land. The address given can even be a private home that’s not up for renting. The wise thief has gone away and enjoying his time at your own expense. A horrible summer and tourist scam, especially if you are in a foreign country and don’t know how to speak the lingo.
Take Away Scams
This can be a well-planned scam straight out of a detective movie. One wily example is when someone hands you a flyer advertising a particular restaurant that’s ready to serve round the clock, or you find a flyer in your suite. What happens then is you call them giving out your credit card details because they don’t accept cash upon delivery. You’ll be waiting for hours only to find out in the end that there’s no such dining service. With your credit card information on the hand of these scammers, they can shop till they drop with the obligation to pay falling under your name.
Check-In Scam
A scam that is not limited to summer and which normally takes place late at night when you have just checked in at your hotel. It takes advantage of the fact that you are too tired to think wisely. You’ll receive a phone call from someone introducing himself or herself as a Front Desk receptionist and informs you that your card failed. The receptionist will ask for extra confirmation for your account or ask details of another credit card that you could use instead. In good faith, you’ll do so only to find out the next day that you were duped by pretender-scammer and that you were not called by reception at all.
Internet Wifi Scams
Having free wifi excites any tourist for it’s a help against boredom and it allows you to get easily connected with the rest of the world. You unknowingly use it without checking out if it’s safe and secure. Scammers of fake networks are out to find out details of your emails and other pertinent financial data like your online banking details. With this sensitive information possibly passed to another person, you can get the shock of your life being a victim of identity theft in the coming days. Beware of free internet access until you are in a secure location such as an airport, your hotel or official public building like a museum.
Drop and Switch Scams
A summer and tourist scam that involves someone to whom you have handed money, like a taxi driver or a storekeeper, who wants to make some quick cash by putting their quick hands into action. The basic move is dropping your money and telling you that you have given short of the actual amount to be paid (like switching a 20 bill for a 5 or 10). The best way to combat this is to specify orally the amount you have just handed over or getting your eyes fixed to whatever clever moves he or she makes.
Summer and tourist scams are maybe the most prevalent, but you should always keep your wits about you when dealing with handing over any amount of cash.
