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Travelers Beware: 5 Common Travel Scams
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 09 August 2011, 00:09 IST
Bangalore: It is no secret that tourists are marks for a number of scams. At home it is easy to verify something that may not be valid when you have time and wherewithal on your side. But what about when you are travelling and are scammed? Wherever you travel to, a few scams tend to pop up.
When travelling you get a varied experience some pleasing, others not so pleasant. The number of friendly, helpful people far outnumbers the scammers, but they do exist. Even if you are not a mark for financial scams or too-good-to-be-true travel deals, there are several others ways one might dupe you. So keep this mantra in mind- "if it is too good to be true, then it probably is not true".
It is very hard to prevent being scammed if you do not know about it and you will not always have enough time to weigh the facts. So to help you out, here are a few common scams to watch out for.
Fake Police
Uniform Scams are rampant in a few countries and are usually successful owing to the predisposition of people to place a lot of faith in official-looking uniforms. Sometimes, if you are pulled over, policemen will demand to see your passport and find something wrong with your passport, visa, or tickets. But then they will also suggest your troubles would all be over if you pay them a fine in cash then and there.
Footing your argument and offering to escort them to the station will by and large see the error exempted. Legitimate police will not ask for your credit cards and PIN information, or to see tour jewelry. Understand the notion that criminals are counting on the fact that you cannot tell a fake uniform from a real one. Facilitate yourself by deliberating what the local police uniform and marked cars look like.
