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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You are more likely to experience that in Brazil, than the US.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Does selling timeshares to elderly visitors count as a tourist scam? That happens in the US.