The unsuspecting tourist is always a target
Province
As weather gets warmer and travel season begins to ramp up, so do the efforts and imaginations of street criminals looking to part tourists from their money.
Travel website VirtualTourist.com( http://www.virtualtourist.com)has come up with a list of the top 10 tactics thieves use to scam tourists.
1. Fool’s Gold; France
If you’re walking the streets of Paris and someone appears to have found a gold ring at your feet, congratulate them and keep on walking — don’t buy it.
2. Monkey Business; Bali, Indonesia
Monkeys at Bali’s Uluwatu Temple are notorious for swiping sunglasses and cameras and run into the bushes. Seconds later, their conniving trainer says that if given a few rupiah for bananas, he can get the monkeys to give back the booty.
3. Automatic Theft Machine; Trinidad and Tobago
Using X-Ray film, thieves construct a pocket that slips into the card slot of an ATM, holding it hostage. A bystander then suggests that typing in a PIN backwards will release the card. When the bystander later retrieves the pocket, the victim’s money will be released as well.
4. Postcards From the Edge; Italy
Kids outside Rome’s Stazione Termini have been known to thrust pen and postcard into the hands of tourists and ask for help writing a sad letter “home,” guilting the tourist into handing over some cash.
5. At Your Service; U.S.
Room service charges always go on the credit card the hotel already has on file — but that doesn’t stop some unscrupulous types from asking for info over the phone. Don’t reveal it.
6. A Crappy Thing to Do; Argentina
Should someone on the streets of Buenos Aires try to help wipe
non-existent bird droppings from the back of your shirt, chances are that’s not all they’re wiping off you.
7. Customer Surprise; Bali
A false “Customer Service” phone number posted on a card-swallowing ATM machine. When the victim calls, he or she is asked for the card’s PIN number.
8. The Exchange Game; Zimbabwe
Street scammers here offer tourists incredible exchange rates provided the transaction takes place in a secluded cafe.
9. Front Desk Phonies; U.S.
Hotel guests are awakened by calls from the front desk asking for credit card information.
10. Funny Money; China
The Chinese money supply has a significant amount of fake currency in circulation with much of it ending up in the hands of clueless tourists.
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