This was published 13 years ago
The wonderful world of liars, cheats and thieves
The world is full of people looking to get money from tourists through scams or theft.Credit: James Alcock
I used to be quite civil about unsolicited marketing calls. "I'm sorry, but no thanks, not today." Then I got a bit more serious: "Can you please ensure that this number is removed from your list because we have never bought anything from anyone over the phone".
Nowadays, sometimes more than once a day, I wait five seconds – long enough to establish the caller is a young Filipina from Manila – before shouting: "P—s off!"
If you send me an email and I don't know you, the subject line had better be about something specific to my work or it's instantly deleted.
In case you hadn't noticed, the civilised world is being attacked by an epidemic of lying, cheating and stealing. It used to be an amusement you'd encounter only while visiting America, when "taxes" would mysteriously appear on a purchase item only after you'd agreed to buy it.
Now it's institutional. Banks, supermarkets and fuel companies just couldn't believe their luck when they put down roots in Australia. "You can do what you like down here," they tell their mates in the northern hemisphere. "No rules. It's marvellous."
Of course, there are some rules, which is why we invented the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Just as well for travellers, too, as the ACCC has come down hard on airlines and other travel sellers.
It's now pretty much illegal to lie about ticket prices and "optional" add-ons that aren't optional at all. And you can no longer load up a customer with an unfair contract full of incomprehensible legalese in the small print.
The ACCC, as Chris Vedelago reported in Traveller at the weekend, keeps an eagle eye on scams in general and those that affect travellers in particular.
Most recently, the ACCC has noted the emergence of email scams targeted at travellers. But it's a different world when you leave home and actually begin travelling: the ingenuity of scam artists around the world is appalling and/or amazing.
Traveller's Check got hundreds of responses about a year ago when we invited readers to list the behaviours of street thieves and other tricksters working the tourist beats, chiefly in the big cities.
If you've been travelling in the past year, we'd like an updated report on the modus operandi of the urchins, cab drivers and professional thieves trying to separate tourists from their money. What type of scam activity has emerged in the past year that you haven't seen before? Nominate the places you think are hotspots for each particular activity. Have you been the victim of a scam where would-be swindlers have got inside your laptop? Share your counter-scam strategy if you reckon you have a no-fail solution.
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.