You’ve been scammed

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Title – You’ve been scammed
Source – The Sunday Times
Date – 17th February 2008

It is one of the most common problems faced by travellers, the scam, rip off, con artistes, being over charged… to cut it short being taken for a ride by clever locals.

Some people dwell on it and let it affect their whole trip and their whole impression of the people in the country they are visiting, others unfortunately have no choice but to change their plans as they find themselves out of pocket, but in the most part sensible people accept it and move on, a little poorer, but also a little wiser.

Learning from other is a great way of avoiding the more common scams, but it would take a lifetime to learn them all and as people get wise to one scam another is born; to the point we have to accept it as reasonably unsolvable. But we also have to put it in perspective, most travellers will at some point during a long trip feel they have been hard done by or ripped off.

I have travelled widely and on each trip could probably recount at least one time I have been ripped off; the cab driver who strangely had no change; the bottle of water that seems to cost twice as much when I buy it as the local buying it in front of me in the queue; the fakes that cost a fraction of the real thing yet are still a rip off when I know what I could get them for and a real rip off when I get home and they shrink, fade and break; the tour guide who I spent hours negotiating with and who seemingly didn’t understand that a day trip means more then two hours on a boat with a hole in it; the boat we were told it was a safe time to leave in yet we found ourselves stuck in the middle of a tropical storm just an hour out to sea. Then there are the more complicated scams involving gem stones, drugs and other black-marketering that seems rife in some countries.

Avoiding scams does sometimes seem to be a full time occupation, but don’t let it ruin your trip, accept it as part of the experience and if it starts to grate on your nerves think back to your life at home; for me the solution is simple, whenever I feel I have been ripped off I think back to the cost of rail travel or a pint of beer at home and start to feel better. I may have been ripped off but actually what was most hurt was my pride and that is easily fixed.

The worst rip off I ever fell for was in Surrey (UK). I comfort myself that the many times I have had bits of equipment stolen or paid too much for products and services have not actually ruined a trip, but enriched a few locals and helped me avoid these scams in the future. During our Gap Year & Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops we examine the scams you might come across and the best ways to avoid them and how to react when you are caught out. The key is to try your best to avoid them, accept that they happen and move on when you are the 'victim' and not let it affect the rest of your trip or from taking future trips.


Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com