The classic traveller scams (and how to outsmart them)

Let me get one thing out of the way first: most people you meet on the road are decent, helpful, and genuinely happy you came. The scams are the exception, run by a small minority who work the same handful of tricks everywhere. Knowing them isn't about distrusting a whole country — it's about recognising a script the moment it starts, so you can smile, say no, and move on.

I've seen a few up close, and I've half-fallen for at least one I'm not proud of. None of them left me broke or traumatised. They left me a little wiser and, mostly, mildly amused. So here's the field guide I wish someone had handed me on my first big trip — the classics, and the calm, boring habits that defuse them.

The taxi that starts the whole adventure

The airport taxi is where a lot of trips go sideways in the first hour. The meter that's mysteriously « broken », the price that triples once your bags are in the boot, the friendly driver who insists your hotel is full but he knows a better one (where he gets a commission). I've had the « your hotel closed last week » line delivered with total sincerity, three streets from a hotel that was very much open.

The fix is almost embarrassingly simple: agree the price before you get in, or use a ride-hailing app where the fare is fixed and the trip is tracked. Know roughly what the ride should cost before you land — a quick search settles it. And when someone tells you your booking fell through, the answer is to call the hotel yourself and check, not to follow a stranger to a « better » one.

« Almost every scam dies the second you can check a price, a route, or a real phone number. »

That's the quiet thread running through all of this, and yes, it's where a working data connection earns its keep. Not as a magic shield — as the boring tool that lets you order a tracked car instead of a random one, pull up the real fare, and dial the hotel's actual number instead of the one a tout scribbled on a card. An eSIM you set up before you fly means you walk out of arrivals already connected, before the first « special price, my friend » even reaches you.

The street classics: distraction, paperwork, and the friendly stranger

Most street scams run on distraction. The duo where one person bumps or spills something on you while the other relieves you of your wallet. The « free » bracelet tied to your wrist before you can react, then a demand for payment. The petition shoved under your nose while hands work your bag below. None of it is sophisticated — it just needs your attention pointed the wrong way for three seconds.

So you keep valuables zipped, split your cash and cards between two pockets, and treat any sudden commotion around you as a cue to put a hand on your bag, not to lean in. Be politely useless to a setup: a firm « no, thank you » and a steady walk break the script better than any confrontation.

Then there's the fake official. Someone in a vague uniform, or none at all, asking to « check » your passport or wallet for drugs, counterfeit notes, whatever. Real police don't need to hold your cash, and you're rarely obliged to hand a physical passport to someone on the street. Keep a clear photo and a digital copy of your documents on your phone, offer that, ask for ID, and suggest sorting it out at the nearest station or with your hotel. Calm and unbothered is the whole defence.

The slow scams: cash machines, menus, and tickets

Some tricks don't announce themselves. A tampered ATM with a card skimmer and a tiny camera over the keypad. A restaurant with no prices on the menu, where the bill arrives at a fantasy number. « Official » tickets for a sight or a transfer, sold at a stall that isn't official at all. These don't feel like scams in the moment, which is exactly the point.

I lean on a few dull habits. I draw cash from machines inside a bank branch where possible, cover the keypad with my hand, and glance at the slot for anything that looks stuck on. I never sit down where the menu has no prices, or I ask the number out loud before ordering. And for tickets, I buy from the official site or counter — usually checked on my phone first — rather than the eager guy out front. None of this is paranoia. It's just refusing to be the easy mark.

What to remember

You don't need to travel scared, and you definitely don't need to treat locals as suspects — the overwhelming majority are nothing of the sort. You just need to recognise the handful of scripts, agree prices up front, keep copies of your documents, never hand over your real passport on the street, and stay connected enough to check the things worth checking. Do that, and the worst scam of the trip becomes a good story instead of a bad day.

— Romain, who once paid for a bracelet he never asked for, and learned the cheap way.