What are some unconventional, or just plain weird, scams you've come across?
>Staying at a hostel in Istanbul.
>All goes well, it's a nice place, good staff.
>Leave, tell them I'll be back in a week after I've travelled elsewhere.
>Get back, stay again, all good again.
>A few days after I've left I log on to leave a review on the site I booked at.
>A review has already been left.
>100% review, with a paragraph saying how great the hostel is and how the "best part about this hostel is the staff!"
>I always use incognito or private mode, so they must have been using a keylogger to steal people's passwords.
>Their whole page is full of these reviews they've written themselves.
>in Istanbul
>late night, take taxi back
>fuck, I realize I don't have small change
>taxi driver pulls the "you gave me only 5 lira!" when I gave him 50
Took his picture and license plate down. Not that it helped me any.
>>918160
Had something similar happen to me.
>take shared taxi (collectivo) to one of the archeological sites in Mexico
>40 pesos for the ride
>first one to exit the van, driver opened the side door for us, I give him 40 pesos in coins
>everyone exits, slowly take out wallets and pay for their ride, we all start walking away (new people I just met while waiting for the ride)
>taxi driver starts yelling that I didn't pay him
>lucky for me, guy I just met was from Spain so he translated for me to tell the driver that I gave him coins
>suddenly the driver remembers...
>girl who was in the van with us had a good laugh at the whole situation
>>918159
>hotel staff are great
>nice enough to type a review for you
>save you time
I don't see what the problem is.
Not quite travel but something to be aware of. Sold some items on eBay. One was an older iPhone 5. Sold on Auction (buy it now). Get PayPal payment. Ship phone. 15 Days later get an e-mail customer wants to return phone, says they decided to get an Android instead. OK. Refund money per eBay Return Policy. Phone comes day later via UPS. Open box and inside is a 17yo broken Tracfone flipphone in a grocery bag surrounded by packing peanuts. Call eBay, Call Paypal. Still no luck 40 days later! Out my money and an iPhone. I am through with eBay. They do not help you if you get scammed. Turns out buyer was a straw purchase scam operating out of Chicago. Scammed numerous others. F--k eBay! F--k Paypal.
>>918208
Why would you refund him. His problem for buyers remorse.
>staying in a hotel near Frankfurt Airport
>visiting some friends in the city
>take the train back to the airport
>hotel is a good 10 minutes walk from the terminal
>decide to take a taxi and pay 4 euros because I'm exhausted
>same time a huge plane of Chinese tourists lands
>jump in a taxi driven by a kebab
>tell him hotel soandso down the road
>gets in an angry mood and speeds like crazy
>shuts off the meter half way to the hotel
>arrive at hotel "20 euros please"
Every time, no matter what, I ride with a kebab driving the taxi they try and pull some shit scam on me.
I'm planning on visiting Rome in the spring and I hear its notorious for scams and pickpockets. I'm kind of scared to go out and check out the nightlife TBH, my italian isn't the best right now and I just feel like I will be such an easy target for scammers.
Any advice for avoiding scam whilst still being friendly and social by yourself?
>>918260
in germany, you can go to the police if this kind of stuff happens.
you did this to yourself, bro.
> ran out of money in India
> work as tourist tout for fake government office for a month before I realize how fucked up the work actually is
> they give people good service but vastly overcharge them and lie their asses off to potential customers
> anyway
> making money my own way
> taking Polish dude on guided tour of Delhi for something like $30
> we're at the Lotus Temple and he decides he wants to eat
> no problem, there's the Epicuria Food Court underneath the Nehru Place metro station
> tell auto-wallah outside of Lotus Temple to take me to Nehru Place, offer 50 rs (30 rs is the minimum and that's what we should have paid, but the Polish guy just gives them whatever they ask for)
> says 50 rs is a rip-off price (Nehru Place is literally the next fucking station; I used to live near the Govindpuri stop off the Violet Line, one more station down), he'll only take us for 50 rs if we go look at some stupid shop
> tell him to piss off
> other auto-wallah makes a few comments in Hindi and laughs, first guy agrees to take us for 50 rs
> drives us less than 100 meters to the Kalkaji Mandir stop
> puts out his hand for money
> tell him to take us to Nehru Place
> starts moaning how inconvenient it is to go that way (whatever)
> suddenly remember I know some Hindi words and that the other auto-wallah was telling him "take them to Kalkaji Mandir, quickly, quickly, and then come back with their money lol"
> start yelling at him to take us to Nehru Place, say I'm not paying him if he doesn't bring me to the place I wanted to go
> he keeps refusing, puts hand out for money
> pull out phone and show him that I've dialed the 100 number for police
> suddenly stops acting like such a hardass, says sorry, sorry, I only want 20 rupees now
> tell Polish guy to give him 1 rupee
> walk 10 minutes to Nehru Place
Can we just agree Istanbul taxi drivers are some of the scummiest people in the world?
I almost got into a fight with one once when he drove me to outside the airport instead of around the Bazaar.
>in Japan
>in kappabashi kitchenware town in Asakusa, Tokyo
>oh cool, look at how cheap these chop sticks are
>pick up like ten sets
>that will be 10,000 yen please
>but they were labelled as 50 yen a set
>get out
>im sorry but -
>get out of my shop
>>918668
80+ euro
lmao
>Vegas
>need a $5 cabride to Hard Rock Hotel to pick up our rental
>hang around outside the hotel waiting for a cab to show up
>dude in a black car with neat looking interior pull up and asks where we're headed
>feel it's a bit weird but just go with it cause fuck the sun and 40C
>like a 4 minute drive
>20 bux please!
>uuh..
>yeah, this is a limo
>no plates or driver ID indicating that it's a taxi/limo
I felt cheated, but my silent swedishness just accepted that I've been tricked and payed his smug ass.
>clench fist in pocket and walk in
>>918721
paid
>>918668
That's what you get for being foreign in Japan.
>>918721
That one was unethical but not quite a scam; black car/"limo" services, frequently only semi- regulated (he probably had a decal with a number on it somewhere on the back of his car, but not necessarily a special plate) aren't metered and charge a lot more than cabs. Should have asked how much before getting in.
>>918721
I've taken a limo before, but only paid normal cab fare. As above, if they won't use a meter negotiate before.
>>918510
Except thats not how that works. Even with some revved up autism no one memorizes every law in a foreign country
>>918726
First day on this board and you all sound like scumlords that hop from place place by being a seedy little cocksucker tbh. Go fist fuck yourself with steel wool you cunt. No one deserves to get tricked when they entertained the thought of buying a SET of chopsticks from a shop.
Who needs ten sets of chopsticks. Thats about $50USD not bad for one customer buying a ridiculous amount of chopsticks
>>918823
One fucking dude and you put a blanket judgement on everyone else? You're the one who is a piece of shit for generalizing like that.
Fuck off.
>>918823
We have only one guy telling this. We don't know if he saw the price wrong (it could have been the price of another product) or it was the price of the pair, not the set or even that you only get that price for the first set. It doesn't makes much sense to sell a product for an absurdly low price for no reason and we lack context.
>>918839
>10,000 yen chopsticks
>>918208
Not travel related, faggot. If you wanna blog, do it elsewhere. And
>F--k
Where do you think you are?
>>918277
>Any advice for avoiding scam whilst still being friendly and social by yourself?
Bring a knife. Srs.
>>918521
I wish I had your confidence when I get conned.
>O-okay.jpg
>>918191
Haha.
The keylogger and stealing my passwords was more the point.
>>918260
>hotel is a good 10 minutes walk from the terminal
Let me guess, you took the taxi at the front of the rank and didn't tell him where you're going before getting in? Of course he's going to be pissed off and try to over charge you.
He was probably waiting in the taxi cue for half an hour so he could get a long fair, not some 4 minute drive.
Video related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ_bywNRfNs
Not scam related but wtf is organ mafia? I mean is this shit real or just urban legend? Thinking to doing backpacking on balkans and middle east and im scared as shit because of this rumors.
>>918260
I was also at Frankfurt and Hamburg airport. Almost all drivers were sand niggers or kebabs. Why is German so full of non humans?
>>919160
>Why is German so full of non humans?
They nearly succeeded removing them back in the 30s/40s but that just left room for worse types to arrive and replace them in the 70s/80s.
>>919160
>Business in Germany is in overdrive in the 50's, 60's, and 70's
>Shortage of workers due to the war
>Someone thought it was a good idea to import Turks to fill in
>hotels.com flight delayed till the morning, winter fog - airport is like a ice palace cold.
>call them for closest hotel, its 2am, philly
>first flight out is 7:30 am
>Only hotel is 45 miles from airport, and $119 pre-paid for room at shit tier at some no-name motel.
>walking to taxis after paying via the phone... see hotel attached to airport
>wth, ask if they have a room. They do
> hotel.com - never again.
>canceled and fought got my money back.
>>918159
>Be in train from Budapest to Bratislava
>Using Eurail pass
>Hungarian conductors come up to me and ask for my pass
>Show it to them
>Say it's not filled out correctly in very broken english, even though no other train conductor has said anything about in 2 months of frequent train travel
>Try to charge me 50 Euros as fine
>Tell them I have no Euromonies even though I do
>Give them the remaining 1600 florent I have
>They scoff and walk off
I learned that hungarians don't even want their own currency. They can be shady as fuck too.
>>920264
edit: Forint
>>919177
>just left room for worse types to arrive and replace them in the 70s/80s
Looks like we better get back to work then ;^)
>Be in Rome taking pictures
>Have a neat ruck-sack I bought from a small woman earlier on
>Have everything in there
>See young kid sitting down, foot in a pool of blood
>Run down to help him
>He grabs my hands
>Yank them away
>Look to my side in time to see gypsy cunt start stabbing my rucksack
>He hits my bottle of anti-septic liquid
>Shit sprays into his eyes
>Cunt flails about and falls over
>Bunch of white teenagers rush over and put this cunt into bin
I literally didn't know what to do.
> First time in Japan, Travelling Alone, 20 years old.
> Catch a taxi from Shinagawa to Ginza at 4 am
> Chat it up in broken Japanese with the driver
> he seems cool.
> Charges me 7000 yen.
All my friends told me it shouldn't have been more than 4000.
I fucking hate that trains stop running.
>>920305
That's was a $75 dollar taxi ride at the exchange rate... I was livid but couldn't even argue... Its 4 in the morning he coulda shanked me and nobody woulda noticed till morning.
>>920306
>he coulda shanked me and nobody woulda noticed till morning.
Suuure anon, a taxi driver would rather murder you than not being able to scam you. Jesus.
Also, something everyone here should do is ask how much they demand to a destination before hand.
I easily managed to agree on a reasonable number with a Serbian taxi driver 03 in the morning and he didn't know any English.
>>920303
>>920311
Always ask price first. Also rember license plate and taxi details in case of anything
>>920303
Into bin? What happened after?
I had my bag lifted 1 hour in Buenos Aires
>Arrive in BA completely shattered after an 18hour ordeal from Iguaçu (fell asleep in a bakery in Concordia)
>walking down Ave. Indepencia looking for a hostel.
>big target painted on me in the form of a massive ass backpack and black day bag
>feel bird shit land all on my bag and arm
>fucksake, take bags off
>old moustached grampa looking dude comes over indicating in the trees about a bird
>puts his black bag down next to mine
>pulls out water and tissues giving them to me to clean myself off
>zips up his bag and picks mine up and walks off behind a transit van that blocks my view of the streets.
>wait
>what?
>FUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKK
Some lad called Sergei helped me look for him to no avail then took me to the police station to become yet another statistic as a scammed gringo. Didn't lose anything of monetary value just presents and a diary of 20+ months. Now I'm used to travelling with just one bag.
>>920462
Also had some Bulgarian dude in Lima try to groom me to eventually scam me up when I eventually got my bank card back. He was too inconsistent with shut he'd do and say so I never trusted him but went along with it for a bit.. Smoked loads of his weed ha
>>918159
When I went to Skopelos, Greece, a guy tried to sell me his hotel for 2 million Euros.
I declined.
>>918277
Avoid all gypsies. Seriously. I'm not usually one to jump on the /pol/ master race parade but gypsies hanging around rome are usually pickpockets or scam artist.
Some specific scams you should be aware of
>don't give money to beggars
There's usually a second guy waiting to see where you put you're money so they can take it.
>don't answer the door at night in hotels.
They'll probably say they are workers or managers. Just call the front desk and keep your door locked.
>don't let people give you free shit
They'll demand money after. I had friends fall for this flower girl schtick in athens. They give you a flower saying its free then won't leave you alone until you pay them. Same thing with black guys handing out bracelets.
>>918721
>my silent swedishness
What is with Swedes and being absolutely cucked and fucked by minorities
>>920462
This is the mustard trick I talked about in the BA thread.
>>920303
>>Bunch of white teenagers rush over and put this cunt into bin
Awesome.
Fuck gypos.
only a stupid nigger would come up with this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/beware-holiday-scam-tricks-100-bill/story?id=27051115
>>920516
What exactly stops people from taking it off before getting in their cars or just driving off with the money?
>>920590
It would be hilarious to see the nigger running trying to recover his investment
>>920593
It's a fake $100 Bill... are you seriously this dense thinking a niggas gonna put his own $100 up on a strangers car?
>>918721
Did you at least give him a tip?
