# Why do "Tourist Scams" seem to be everywhere but the United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288 "2018-07-20T19:18:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/41 "2018-07-23T16:20:33Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Those regulations won’t help someone who doesn’t speak the language well, doesn’t know where to complain if something goes wrong, or what kind of documents are acceptable. The last time I took a cap at Philly airport, that thing wouldn’t have passed inspection in most countries (I could see the tarmac through the floor); dude tried to charge me twice the posted standard fare. But that’s the thing in the USA. A large number of the people travelling are from the US, speak the language obviously, and know the ropes regarding things like cabs, police raids, lost items, broken bottles, etc. Many foreign visitors too speak English. So it’s a lot harder to pull a scam that relies on naivete about local language, or customs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/42 "2018-07-23T16:51:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I was thinking about mentioning that one. There’s a few of them in New Orleans, as I recall. Anyhow, the answer I knew was a little more poetic: “You got your shoes … on your feet … on the street … in New Orleans!” When I have a grifter in New Orleans begin the shoe patter, if they seem cool I stop them and explain that it’s not my first visit to NOLA. Then I invite him/her to join us for a drink. We’ve had some good times having a conman as a tour guide. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/43 "2018-07-23T17:15:49Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > You’re looking at an English language website directed at Americans going to other countries. A website in Mandarin, or Hindi, directed at Chinese or Indians traveling to the US would list different scams. That brings up an interesting question, then. I know we have foreign Dopers on here. What do your tour guides warn about when visiting the US? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/44 "2018-07-23T17:50:50Z")
For Spain, the biggest thing I keep seeing (there seems to be a campaign going on right now) is: make sure that you get specific medical insurance covering both repatriation expenses and any medical treatment you need in the US. Please take into account that most “worldwide” travel insurance excludes the US. Make sure any conditions you already know you have are specifically covered. Avoid going to the doctor there unless you’re bleeding badly. Make sure you have enough supplies for twice your stay of any medication you normally take, and prescriptions for anything for which you get one. Speak with your doctor beforehand, because there may be medications which need a scrip in the US but not in Spain, or which are approved under different names, or approved in one country but not the other. When you land there and as soon as you switch on your cellphone, you get a SMS with the ‘on duty’ phone numbers for all our consulates. What to do if you are stopped by a cop. In Spain we normally would get our license without being told (it’s the first thing the cops ask for); in the US that can get you shot, or at the very least yelled at. Irritated cops aren’t healthy for those around them. Do not assume that cops will be your friends. If you are the victim of a crime, call your consulate (see SMS) and let them call the cops for you. Most of the minor advice is about dealing with legal stuff, from going through Customs to drinking age, and targeted towards specific audiences. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/45 "2018-07-23T23:50:03Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Ok then, why do tourist scams seem to be everywhere but Australia? Even in Melbourne, you take a chance when you take a taxi to or from the airport. I don’t say it’s a major risk (it’s a straight frun from the airport to the CBD, and the worst your likely to get is somebody on his friends license who doesn’t know any other destinations). but I had one taxi driver (!) tell me that, on coming home from visiting relatives in Greece, he was taken on a long ride 🙂 He paid what he thought was fair, and offered to call the police. And I’ve had a driver with a “broken” meter going to the airport 🙂 He charged me a fair rate: I assume he was cheating his owner. * * * I saw a Brit. TV program documenting tourist scams in cities around the world. The talked with a guy ripping off tourists in Turkey. _He had been self supporting and living off the streets since he was 8_ I think if you start that young, you probably aren’t living in the USA. * * * But I did get my shoes “shined” in Times Square, and my wallet stolen at security screening in D.C. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/46 "2018-07-23T23:53:57Z")
You also get the guys selling their rap CDs in Times Square. They target tourists, ask them their names, and if they answer with their name, the guys write it on the CD and then try to intimidate the tourists into paying them $$ since now their name is on it and they can’t sell it to someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/47 "2018-07-24T01:21:57Z")
From New Zealand, and if going to the US we definitely get the advice about travel insurance. Big warnings about how any medical treatment costs a bomb and the NZ Embassy or consulate can’t help with money. > [@Nava](#): > > When you land there and as soon as you switch on your cellphone, you get a SMS with the ‘on duty’ phone numbers for all our consulates. That’d be handy. I get ones from my cellular provider that say roaming charges may apply and do I want to buy a roaming pack? And, not a scam, but some places in California seem to only accept US or Canadian DL for ID for buying alcohol. Buying a couple of bottles of wine in a supermarket in Modesto, they almost would not sell it to me because the only ID I had was a NZ passport. I think it’s store policy, not the law, but it’s a pain in the ass. I’m in my early 60s for goodness sake, not just out of university. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/48 "2018-07-24T10:07:09Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Why do “Tourist Scams” seem to be everywhere but the United States? Let me correct your spelling for you, it’s a bit off there. “Why is the United States so rife with “tourist Scams?”” There. Much more factually accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/49 "2018-07-24T11:07:07Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > The “tourist scam” that concerns me most regarding the United States is the old gun-in-the-face trick. You are more likely to experience that in Brazil, than the US. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/50 "2018-07-24T11:52:13Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Even in Melbourne, you take a chance when you take a taxi to or from the airport. Oh I don’t doubt that there are scams all over the world. I was just wondering, given that **Dallas Jones** thought that the US of A wasn’t listed as a scam country because GUNS, what reason he might have for Australia not being listed as a scam country. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2018, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/51 "2018-07-24T12:55:36Z")
> [@Kiwi\_Fruit](#): > > That’d be handy. I get ones from my cellular provider that say roaming charges may apply and do I want to buy a roaming pack? It can be a bit of a pain in border areas, but yeah, it’s handy. You can even dial directly from the SMSs, and the person in the other end will speak your language (including the I’mcompletelyfreakedout version) and the language of wherever you are (including legalese, medicese, etc.). Your Foreign Office may have some suggestions form or something, I’m not sure what did it take to set it up but it’s got to be linked to the same program that sends the other SMS from your provider. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/52 "2018-07-26T11:17:39Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Ok then, why do tourist scams seem to be everywhere but Australia? Maybe there are but we would not be targets as we (assumption) sound Australian and maybe don’t go to the tourist traps? There are so many scams operating out of the Gold Coast nothing would surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/53 "2018-07-27T08:37:30Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Oh I don’t doubt that there are scams all over the world. I was just wondering, given that **Dallas Jones** thought that the US of A wasn’t listed as a scam country because GUNS, what reason he might have for Australia not being listed as a scam country. The scammed tourists get eaten by giant spiders before they report the scam. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/54 "2018-07-27T10:57:25Z")
> [@Delicious](#): > > The scammed tourists get eaten by giant spiders before they report the scam. The scammers in Australia are too busy bragging about how amazing Australia is they forget they’re scamming tourists in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288/55 "2018-07-27T11:04:31Z")
Does selling timeshares to elderly visitors count as a tourist scam? That happens in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tourist-scams-seem-to-be-everywhere-but-the-united-states/818288.md?page=2)