Tourists, beware!
1. Fool's Gold: France
If you're walking the streets of Paris and someone appears to
have found a gold ring at your feet, congratulate them and keep on
walking. The ring is a plant and the person who pretends to have
found it will use just about any sob story to get you to buy it off
them.
2. Monkey Business: Bali, Indonesia
Proving that thieves don't always come in human form, the
monkeys at Bali's Uluwatu Temple are notorious for swiping from
tourists everything from sunglasses to cameras and then running off
into nearby bushes. Seconds later, their conniving trainer, dressed
as a temple official, appears to report that if given a few rupiah
to buy bananas, he can coerce the monkeys into giving back the
booty.
3. Automatic Theft Machine: Trinidad and Tobago
Using X-Ray film, thieves in Trinidad construct a pocket that
slips into the card slot of an ATM, holding it hostage. A helpful,
and observant, bystander then miraculously appears to suggest that
typing in a PIN backwards will release the card.
Unfortunately, when the bystander later retrieves the pocket,
the victim's money will be released as well.
4. Postcards From the Edge: Italy
Kids outside the Stazione Termini have been known to thrust pen
and postcard into the hands of tourists and ask for help writing a
letter 'home.' They then dictate a story of poverty and hunger so
disturbing that said tourist is often guilted into handing over
some cash.
5. At Your Service: United States
The bottom line with this scam is that room service charges
should always go on the credit card the hotel already has on file.
If the waiter or waitress who delivers your food demands cash or a
card, the egg on your plate is soon going to end up on your
face.
-- REUTERS
