3 Useful Tips for Travelers to Save Themselves from Scams
If you will be traveling this year, it’s a good idea to understand how not to get trapped into the small scams, never mind the big ones like trying to sell you an agency tour or a timeshare property, and how not to buy those things out of innocence.
You don’t want to be one of those people and spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on something you cannot even take full advantage of. To learn more, continue reading.
Once you are wise enough to travel knowing how to tackle such situations, It’s a grand adventure to fly worldwide.
But to prevent scams during your travel, the best approach is to be as prepared, informed, and aware as possible.
Enjoy this podcast from The Expat Money Show – JohnnyFD who talks about moving from the USA and living in Bali and Thailand.
1. Study the Usual Scams of Your Destination
You are at risk when you are a tourist in another country just because you’re a little clueless, nervous, and unaware of how things really work there.
This ambiguity causes you to become more vulnerable to unscrupulous individuals trying to take advantage of you. Travel fraudsters notice this, and they build their traps to leverage on it.
Among the most useful things you can do is merely be informed of the scam in the first position to avoid getting scammed. As soon as the scammer lies on the ground, if you know how a common scam works, alarm bells will start ringing.
2. Don’t Accept Random Help
This one is a bit more general, and some of you may perceive it as a senseless tip but trust me it is not as foolish. The scam usually starts with someone approaching you. They might give you some quick travel advice or invite you someplace, but be very cautious in this condition.
Why did they approach you out of many other people around there and what would they have by giving this supposedly “helpful” recommendation to you?
They may sell you something you’ll never need or rob you off or maybe misguide you to somewhere, which will benefit them. Be attentive to your surroundings and learn to read people before deciding to go to a foreign place.
3. Understand The Situation
By getting some advanced information about what you are doing, you can stop many scams and extra costs, so that scam artists can’t continue to convince you of anything that is not relevant. Understand what it could cost in advance if you are buying anything.
Let’s take an instance here. You are a holiday lover and you have bought a Bluegreen timeshare to spend quality time with your loved ones, but somehow, you cannot make the most out of it. And now you keep wondering how to get out of a Bluegreen timeshare but there seems to be no way out.
To make wise decisions, learn everything about the venture you are about to encounter. The store hours, the guidelines, and whether you need to pay any “taxes” or “fees” or not. This way, you can tackle situations like these effectively and can stay on the safer side.
Conclusion
While it is excellent for most people you encounter, no matter how far you go, there will always be a possibility that someone there will be deceptive to cheat you, steal from you, or dupe you.
It doesn’t indicate that you stop roaming and all the fantastic opportunities it has to bring. Not everyone is out there to fool you and, with a little information and common sense, you can easily foil most travel scams.
