Probably all travelers know the issue. You travel to a country and once you are there, you are just getting scammed after people see that you are not from there.
In many places you are just going to be seen as a running ATM, here you will get some tips from me about “how to avoid being scammed while traveling”.
Appearance
Appearance is one of the most important things you can take care of. Of course they will know that you are from a country with a higher income just from looking at you, you will not change that. It is still possible to look less like a target.
- Don’t wear jewelries
I guess this one is quite obvious. When you run around with a nice watch or show your expensive phone, you automatically attract scammers and thieves. - Don’t wear nice clothes
In general it is not only accessories, it is your whole appearance. I don’t want to tell you to not dress up nicely, still with less nice clothes you probably still be less in their target. I often have a dirty shirt on, or one with holes.
Next Step
You tried already to avoid the scammers by the appearance, but there is not so much you can do about it. That was just the soft skills, now the real deal is starting, you are getting approached and now the hard skills are necessary.
Behavior
The behavior is probably the most important thing, to avoid being scammed during traveling.
- Be nice, but direct
They always do the same thing, everyone’s a little bit different, but it is always the same. They try to be friendly, ask you where you are from and then they find something you guys have in common, “oh my cousin lives in Germany!”
Just tell them: “Nice to meet you, but I don’t have time to talk. I will meet my friend” and walk away! - Ignore
Sometimes you find yourself in a situation in which you know people just want your money and not for something you need, or to the price you want it.
It is more likely the rude way of dealing with it, but often it is efficient, just simply ignore and walk away. Often they scream at you or walk with you, but just walk away, it is working out well most of the time. - Scam them
When they offer you a service and you tell them “I don’t want it” they say “oh it’s for free don’t worry” just make the fun out of it and take it, in that case it is good to not have money on you. You should also keep saying the question “it is for free right” and say stuff like “I don’t have money”. Take the stuff and leave after.
I’ve done it a few times and they were pissed, but maybe they learned from it. At the end they offered to do it for free, it’s basically their fault. (this one is the least recommended one)
Location and general
We talked a lot about how to actually deal with scammers. Why end up in situations like these in the first place? Why not choose a location where you can avoid being scammed during traveling, because less scammers are there?
- Avoid touristic places
Scammers are usually in places where there are tourists, so it is also quite impossible to avoid being talked to.
Go to places where most likely locals are living their life at. - Be with locals
That is probably my favorite plan of all, because when you make friends with locals or use Couchsurfing you automatically are less likely to be targeted by them. Often locals just know it better and this brings us to the reason why. - Language
When you speak the local language, or learned some things about it. It is also less likely to be scammed, because they see you a little bit as something better than a normal standard tourist. Of course when you travel like me to every country in the world. You can’t learn all languages, but you can learn some words which help you in daily life.
Summary
When speaking honestly, you probably find yourself again in a situation, in which you will be scammed. It usually starts at the airport and finishes at the airport again.
You can still learn to deal with it, the mentioned things are just some ways of making the vacation a bit more enjoyable.
For myself it is still some ongoing hustle I am faced with. The one scam last year which annoyed me last year was at an airport in Indonesia. It happened where they were selling me a sim card, without internet and connection and anything, so it was useless. So not even inside the airport you are safe from scammers.
Let me know in the comments what your best tactic is and when/where you were scammed the most.
So how do you avoid being scammed during traveling?
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