Crafty crooks have learned that one of the easiest places to harvest identity data is a hotel room. Never leave anything lying around that may contain personal information. Just like any other valuable (passport, cash, jewelry, etc.) lock those documents in the room safe or your luggage. Identity theft also proliferates online. If you communicate personal financial information via email on a public computer, always verify that you have signed out of your email program completely before leaving the computer.
Money-changing scams can range from minor annoyances—inflated airport commissions and lousy hotel rates—to more serious troubles like receiving wads of banknotes that are no longer in circulation. Then there are the money changers who simply take your money and run. The lines might be a little bit longer, but banks offer the safest surroundings. Better yet, use the ATM when you need local currency—they typically offer the best, and latest, exchange rates. Though you should check your bank's policy about overseas fees beforehand.
Resort fees are those pesky extra charges that some resorts slap onto your bill, often without telling you beforehand. The fee often covers amenities that you may or may not use—and that many travelers expect to get free—like parking, fitness room access and morning newspapers at your door. Like a nasty virus, the habit has leapt from Hawaii, to the mainland destinations like Las Vegas and Florida. Avoid the shock—and a vicious argument at check-out—by asking about extra fees when you make your reservation.
Cabbies are experts at spotting whoever's fresh off the boat (or plane or train) and has no idea where they are. Scams can run from “forgetting” to turn on the meter to taking a much longer route than necessary from pick-up to final destination. Avoid the ride from hell by sticking to certified hotel or airport taxis. If that’s impossible, try to follow your route on a map and question your cabbie about why he or she is taking a way that may not seem logical.
Your fellow passengers are the threat at airport security areas, especially those on the lookout to lift other people’s iPods, cellphones and laptops. Some terminal crooks work solo, others in tandem. Avoid the risk by keeping an eye on your personal items all the way down the X-ray belt and insisting that your luggage accompany you for any secondary screening. And make sure your items pass through the metal detector before you do.
One of the oldest tricks in the travel scam catalogue is a tour package that advertises one thing and then subtly tricks or tempts you into something else that either costs more or delivers less. Make sure that what you are paying for is exactly what you’re going to get upon arrival or check-in. And get it in writing.
Just because a hotel lies on a tropical island doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near the beach. The same goes for “close to the city center” hotels that are out in the sticks and “airport” hotels that are miles from the terminal. Before you book, run the address through MapQuest or Google Earth, or check out a guidebook to see exactly where the hotel is situated.
Counterfeit Gucci bags may not be harmful to your health but a growing number of counterfeit products could be. Among the cheap but dangerous fakes being offered gullible travelers are pharmaceuticals laced with everything from motor oil to highway paint, electronics that can explode or catch fire, and phony luxury brand shampoo and perfumes swimming with bacteria.
Your mother should have told you that there’s no such thing as a free meal, and that goes with holidays too. But the temptation remains, those enticing offers that arrive on the office fax machine or via email. They look too good to be true because they are.