Giving your driver or shop owner rupees and waiting for change, just for him to say you only handed over Most times, in a scam like this if you involve people on the street the driver will turn honest very quickly. When taking photos or certain people or animals like cows that are dressed up or elephants on the street , someone nearby is expecting a tip.
Or follow these kids to the store where they want pens for school! The milk scheme is popular everywhere. The beggars and kids have deals with the stores and will return the product when you leave. Only one thousand rupees! Fake train ticket offices. These are tricky and happen all over the world but just use you best judgment. This was the worst one that almost happened to me in Delhi and made me want to punch a biatch! This one is cute. Pay me or I will curse your whole family! Pay Rs and walk away. Are pre-paid taxis at the airport always the best deal?
Bombay, Delhi, and Bangalore all offer pre-paid taxis at obscene prices. The driver will then meet you outside and will use his meter! Follow your GPS for shortest route. Get a receipt if you pay upon arrival at a hotel. I have had a couple of places try to make me pay again at check-out swearing I never paid. This goes for more than hotels really; any tour you go on or anything you pre-pay for, get a receipt. If at check-in to a hotel you agree on a set price to pay later, get it in writing. Someone coming up to you saying they want to give you directions, or help you find something, is going to ask you for money after.
If you want a guide, go for it, but work out a price ahead of time. Even airport employees will do this! It will save you money and prevent anger issues. Just use your best judgement. If you get to your destination and you KNOW the amount you should pay because you take it often, just give that much. If you hire a driver for the day and leave your bags in the car, first off take photo of the license plate and his information in the car. When you rent a bike or car, take photos of the damage already there and show them.
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Know that you take a chance of the renter stealing his own bike from you and then making you buy a new one. You could lock it up. We did rent bikes in Hampi and one tire blew- they made us pay 3, for a new tire. Click here to purchase. If you want to go with a group tour, there is one company I recommend: Lots of my readers have used them and loved their trips. Hospitals in India are not above the small scams.
WARNING: 20 Common Tourist Scams in India - Hippie In Heels
These are expensive even in India. Before your trip do yourself a favor and get travel insurance. You can go ahead and get the tests done that they suggest without worrying you are being ripped off or worrying that you actually do need the test. You can submit the claim later and get your money back. In this post are affiliate links, meaning I get a small percentage of sales, but all opinions are my own!
What a helpful post, seriously! Your blog is a great resource for everyone who wants to travel to India! OMG we ran into sooo many of these while travelling in India. It was so hard my first few days, I had traveled many places other than India, but this was before I knew about travel blogs and such- I had no clue what to expect and I spend 3 days just fuming mad in Bombay before I started to get used to things. Learnt so much, great article! Who would have thought.. So many great tips Rachel. Can you clarify 3?
If you are in your own car, you just drive past. I do it all the time actually. I arrived at After 2 hrs of this, I refused to get out of my rikshaw and only then did they take me to actually buy books. Thanks for this Rachel. Such a good read as usual. Im glad you stood your ground- you really have to in India! The rickshaw drivers sometimes can be so frustrating! Great post — we certainly ran into a few of these on our trip! This is so helpful.
Visiting India is in my near future and this makes me feel so much more relaxed about it! I will definitely be bookmarking this to review before I go. I have never thought of that! So great Rachel, and so fascinating to see which scams are the same all over the world! I hate when drivers do what you mentioned! A must read for anyone heading to India! I should have pointed out, they run these scams on Indian tourists just as much as western ones.
Number 4 and 7 were deff new to me. Probably cheaper to arrive with some pre-paid pencils and what not from home. I was planning on visiting Varanasi, deff would be careful with people coming up and trying to have a random conversations about the sights and locations and all. Varanasi is one of the places you have to be very careful. My friend I Was with at the time got pickpocketed at the train station!
WARNING: 20 Common Tourist Scams in India
Some of things happened to me too and dealing with all of the drivers is such a pain in the ass. Not all of them are scammy, but most unfortunately are and will try to make extra penny from you. I just went along the street and he followed me yelling and demanding more. I walked and walked till he finally came and took what we agreed for.
Ah, yes Varanasi was the place I found the meanest drivers! Thanks so much for the tips.
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And I rarely lose my cool! The milk and pens scam is sad! This is a great ultimate list, and I feel like every country has their own version of a taxi scam. It is the saddest scam the milk and pens. Well done again, there are some new scams in place now, will write about it shortly and tell you: Yeah let me in on those scams! I was reading about the touts hiding trolleys in new mumbai terminal lol, so silly! It works now; I hardly ever have problems. Wow this has really put me off going to India!
It would really upset me to be scammed. I hope my other posts make you want to come here: Rachel, I am from India and I have traveled all my life with family and friends in India. I agree with all the above mentioned scams and say it happens everywhere and to everyone Indian or non-Indian. My parents always told us about any scams they or some they knew had to deal with or some that they read in newspapers. If you are travelling from outside India, I would suggest finding someone from India in your country, somebody who you think could give you best idea about India, and discuss your concern with them.
I have helped many of my US friends this way. We stay in touch on phone or Facebook or emails while they are in India. I do the same when I am travelling to any other country or a different region of India. We spent our first afternoon roaming around and got caught in We thought a local was being helpful, but he was steering us to a place for shopping. We eventually ignored him only to be told by another local of the same place. The second local being from a department store. We went to a CCCI place, seemed a bit shady and empty. I have a booking made at hotel. Most often, hotels will send someone if you ask even complimentary.
I have a few tips for visitors to India to make your visit less cumbersome. Get a SIM as soon as you land — try to get Airtel and also check with the staff in the outlet — how to get free incoming while roaming out side the mobile circle area — there are schemes such as Rupees 10 for 2 days of free incoming while roaming. Preferably come with a smart phone — with GSM capability and do web search and store all numbers in the phone along with notes, etc. Also carry a V, round pin charger 5. Wear a proper loose fitting light color shirt and full trousers — this will reduce a lot of problem — more revealing the cloths the more rich the tourist — this opinion is somewhat prevalent in many places.
Always wear sun glasses — this way you can observe the person, without that person reading your mind through your eyes. Medical shops are the best place to buy things — they nowadays sell milk, bread, jam, biscuits, etc. Establish contact before you land itself — get a friend in hotel itself — so, that person can guide you better in terms of how to reach any place fast, cheaper mode of transport, time, etc. Today most of the State bus timings, booking counters and their locations are published in the Internet and in some you can also do online booking.
For Rail, one can book online. Carry an ID other than Pass Port — carry many photo copies of your pass port — only when it is absolutely necessary take out your passport. Thank you so much Rachel. Wow so many things to keep an eye out for. And all the yelling. Very entertaining and tempting. I started a business precisely to avoid having people get scammed like this and prevent great drivers from getting a bad rep because of the bad apples. Thanks — Arjun Founder. Police are the biggest scammers in India!
Its most likely that they will help you as you may donate to them or maybe you are a believer. There is a sense of brotherhood. Be a Roman in Rome. He just tells some nonsense , some fairy tales.
Take pictures , use a high quality camera. Remember in some places you have to pay for going with camera. They can probably keep this as an entrance test: If you go to the temple you will get extra special attention from the staff there. Its all for your money. Use the Queue that ordinary Indians use. If you want to come to India , you have to be like a Indian to survive. It may be difficult to give up luxuries but its an Adventure: A terrible scam is for young street girls to carry opium fed babies around just to stir sympathy to gain maximum baksheesh.
Human trafficking is real and will never stop until the money stops. Begging is a business. The baby has been purchased and is drugged so that it does not cry or feel hunger. It is a comfort to know that India has massive public feeding stations all over India and anyone needing a meal is never denied. Be firm, look away shaking your head no to this dreadful scam. I had a similar bike episode in goa, where the stand was broken and after a half hour of heated argument we had to pay , I am sure i would have had to shell out the cost of the tyre too if it burst, but 3k is a bit higher, the next time we can get the cost checked online.
Well and a lot of patience to handle the scammers. Thanks for all the tips and great info. Definitely helped in improving my BS meter: They have always been too far away and too expensive to fly and get hotel: Travelling get in India for 3 months. Biggest scam in Delhi. Travel agent who organised trip round Rajasthan for 30 days. We payed through the nose to India tourism. The organisation was awful. It should have taken the hassle out of the journey but caused more hassle than we would have encountered if we had organised ourselves.
In addition our driver wanted to divert us to every massage parlour, emporium weaver, local guide etc etc where we received an additional hard sales pitch which just added to the stress of the tour. Do not touch these deals with a barge pole! You may encounter some people in Connaught place who tell you that you are being watched by scammers and to avoid these people you should go with them to be safe. This may even involve a police officer who hands you are card to establish his identity. India is a place of extremes. You encounter the best of people and the worst. Im afraid its inevitable that you will be scammed i think i could write a book now however its important not to beat yourself up about it.
Put it down to experience, let it go and keep a sense of humour if you can. You will learn very quickly how to avoid further scams as you go on. Absolutely — great description. Thank you for sharing! Yes, i was targettted by this agency called Perfect Holiday Travel. A runner on the street told me that my sleeper class is dangerous, and offered to refund if i wish to upgrade by going to this place.
Thankfully I took out my hp and checked, and saw bad reviews. Anyway it was way out of my budget. On my way down as I was leaving, another guy on the ground floor called me over to persuade me again. I finally agreed on a usd or rs package for 14 days, which only included hotel stay and overnight 3rd AC trains. I wanted to pay by credit card as i didnt bring that much cash with me. I thought ok, that seemed fair. Then another guy came and asked for gst tax. I insisted no, otherwise I shall cancel the whole package.
He asked for cash for the gst, which was about Sure, my travel package were reflected on my credit card statement, but not the GST which I paid in cash! Which means they could easily pocketed that gst amount! I will ask for the receipt when i return to Dehli next week, else I will lodge a police report. Do I stand any chance of getting my gst back? What if I report to my embassy or police?
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I have been travelling for years and I still find ways to lose money much to my annoyance!!! I am researching domestic flights at the moment for an upcoming India trip , and even respectable companies are not adverse to scams. I attempted to book a cheap airline ticket from Calcutta to Dimapur for r with indigo directly online. You are left without a confirmation and out of pocket ,and a message will pop up saying you will be refunded in working days. I wish I had been warned! The problem is that all the airline and travel internet sites are stoneage in design…I think it is a deliberate ploy to extract cash from customers.
For people that have booked expensive flights and packages it can be a nightmare! You are often left with no alternative other than buy more expensive flights on the spot or you face a cancelled holiday and exhorbitant cancellation fees. I am now faced with long train journeys.. It is a sad state of affairs…not just for tourists but for Indians too who have been treated so badly most of the complaints are from Indians online I just want to warn tourists to be aware that while there are many cheap budget flights, the booking and payment processes are very backwards, and you will probably be left without tickets and out of pocket.
Sleep easy and take the train instead…. I have not heard of this so thank you for sharing. I hope that it can help other readers not have the same issue! Nice post very helpful: But forgot the people at the jewellery shops that sometimes scam people: Thank you for notifying us. The page you are attempting to access contains content that is not intended for underage readers. This item has not been rated yet. This book will help you to avoid embarrassing mistakes and prepare you to feel confident in unfamiliar situations. Content in this book includes Indian social customs, their perception about Western women, their religion, what motivates them, travel scams targeted at Western tourists and of course what not to discuss with Indians, etc.
Mr Subodh Gupta was born and brought up in India and lived there for about 35 years. Mr Gupta has been interviewed by various TV channels and his views and articles appear regularly in magazines and newspapers in India and the UK. For more details please visit: Log in to rate this item. You must be logged in to post a review. There are no reviews for the current version of this product Refreshing There are no reviews for previous versions of this product.
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