When traveling we can experience some of the most amazing experiences of our lives. You could swim in The Great Barrier Reef, or see The Taj Mahal, or enjoy a nice bottle of Chianti in Tuscany. Like wise, one can encounter some serious drawbacks, like loosing your wallet or camera to pickpockets or spending a fortune on a drinking tab that you did not earn. There are many people out there with the sole intention of parting us away from our money. Here are a few of the prevalent scams that you should be aware of and how to avoid them.
One odd scam that is becoming common, is The Broken Camera. A fellow tourist will approach you and ask kindly to take a picture of them with their camera. Seems harmless enough, right? You agree and attempt to take a picture, but to the horror of the other "tourist" his camera breaks. He will start to blame you for breaking his camera and demands that you pay him for a new one. Know that his camera was designed to fall apart the moment you used it and that you actually did not break it. Also, realize that he is counting on you to pay him off to avoid a scene. Do not do this! Stick up for yourself and offer to call the police. This will discourage the would be con artist, or you could simply walk away and the con artist will come to the realisation that you will not pay him and he will move on to the next unsuspecting tourist.
Next, when in London or Paris avoid unfamiliar clubs and bars. There are many bars and nightclubs in SOHO and "Pig Alley" that will extort money from unsuspecting travelers. They do this by either having inside doors with no handles on them and force you to spend a certain amount before they let you leave. Also, there are places where after a drink or two, you will get an outrageous bill that exceeds 200 Euros! When you complain about the bill, they bring over a very large, burly fellow, who offers to rearrange your smile unless you pay "your tab". So to avoid these pitfalls, only go to bars and clubs that have been recommended in guild books or by locals that you trust (hotel concierges are usually trust worthy when it comes to these types of recommendations).
Lastly, when in the Carribean, avoid buying marijuana or other soft drugs. The big scam in Jamaica, is that a guy will come up to you on the beach or in a shopping district, and try to sell you some marijuana. If you buy some from him, he will go and tell a police officer near bye, that he saw a tourist smoking a joint. The cop will approach you and search for the drugs. You then go to jail for possession of an illegal substance, and the dealer will get a small reward for his "tip" to the cops. Thus, the dealer makes money from both you and the cops, while you spend six months in a very nasty jail cell. The moral of the story, don't buy drugs when you are abroad, unless you are in a place where drugs are legalized, like The Netherlands. It is just not worth it!
Hopefully, this will help you avoid trouble on your next trip or at least make you aware of the potential dangers that await unsuspecting tourists.
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