Of all the people who’ve undeniably benefitted from the explosive expansion of the internet, travellers can perhaps lay legitimate claim to continuously benefitting the most. The ease with which information about destinations, accommodation, and other travel-related services is accessed has its down-side however, because this is some fertile breeding ground for big city tourist scammers and their scams. Not all of these scams play out online however, but the internet does play a very important role, if only for the scammers to expertly clone information that is otherwise freely available to potential tourists.
Discount or Special Promo Scams
As long as major attractions such as casinos exist, discount and special promo scams will also be around. These big city tourist scams which can get very elaborate usually take the form of someone claiming affiliation with a local or regional casino or hotel and then offering you some sort of discounted deal or special promotion. Some scammers go as far as printing very official-looking coupons or tickets, which are supposed to offer you more gaming value for the money you spend, like perhaps getting extra credits to play your favourite slots machine or even some extra credit for a free drink, free meal or a free night’s stay at the said casino’s hotel. To avoid casino-related and other discount scams like these, click here for bingo online special promos you can take advantage of directly from the source. Going directly to the casino’s website in this way is the best way to avoid casino scams.
Going directly to the original service provider’s website is in fact the best way to avoid big city tourist scams in general and if any special offers cross your path, a simple phone call or quick email is all it takes to verify its legitimacy and offset any risk of falling victim to some very deceptive big city scammers and their scams.
Counterfeit Currency and Fake Goods
Tourist hotspots attract tourist-scammers like bright flowers attract worker-bees. One of the associated scams to look out for is that of being handed counterfeit money, which is something that usually happens when you’re being handed some change for something you purchased. This can be anything from buying a souvenir to paying for a taxi or tuk-tuk ride. Speaking of souvenirs, this opens up a can of worms within another can of worms because tourists can also be duped into paying lots of money for what are essentially some worthless goods. Some common sense and vigilance needs to be applied to avoid both scenarios, keeping in mind that it’s very easy to fall victim to these carefully crafted scams.
If you’re going to buy any goods or pay for any services, best do so with the exact amount of money those goods or services costs. Avoid the need to have large bills changed. With regards to the fake goods scams, a bit of research is in order. If for instance someone tries to sell you an ornament maybe, which they claim draws its value from the fact that it’s from the Chinese Xin Dynasty era, alarm bells would naturally sound since that ornament would more likely be in a museum somewhere and not in the hands of a street-seller, available at a “special price just for you.”
