A WOMAN has revealed the common scam that affects tourists staying at holiday resorts – and how to avoid being caught out.
One woman, who works as a travel agent, warned on a Facebook group about an interaction she had with a local after leaving her hotel resort.
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She wrote: “He greeted us enthusiastically and asked if we remembered him.”
Saying the name of the hotel, he claimed to be their waiter the night before.
He said to them: “I served you last night at dinner. Don’t you remember?”
However, she later explained how they were conned into a ‘cheaper tour’ by him, as well as taken to his friends shops and intimidated into buying things.
Read more on travel scams
They then realised that he was never a staff worker, but pretended to be by knowing their hotel from their wristband, which are often given to tourists staying at all-inclusive resorts.
She warned on the Facebook group: “Always turn your wristband inside out when leaving the hotel.
“Scammers use them to target tourists and overcharge you.
“Each hotel has different coloured bands, so these scammers know exactly where you ‘re staying.”
While the issue took place in Tunisia, this is likely to happen at other destinations as well.
Having recently been on a trip myself to Cape Verde, I also noticed this trend.
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After arriving in one of the towns, a man came up next to us saying he “say us at the hotel” the night before, before trying to entice us to the shop.
It was only later I realised that my wristband was on full show.
The travel agent ended by giving top tips from the hotel staff on the group.
Others shared their stories of it happening in other destinations too.
One man who was on holiday in Cancun said: “My wife and I were out and about when a fairly well dressed man walked up all smiles saying “Hey I know you guys from the (resort) how’s it going? Remember me? I was your server” and tried to start making small talk, asking how my stay was.
“He was trying to see if we were going out drinking, saying he knew some cool places.”
Another wrote: “The locals basically have the wrist bands memorized.”
One commented: “Amazing how quickly that scam stopped when I covered my wristband.”
How to protect yourself from scams
BY keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting caught up in a scam:
- Firstly, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it normally is.
- Check brands are “verified” on Facebook and Twitter pages – this means the company will have a blue tick on its profile.
- Look for grammatical and spelling errors; fraudsters are notoriously bad at writing proper English. If you receive a message from a “friend” informing you of a freebie, consider whether it’s written in your friend’s normal style.
- If you’re invited to click on a URL, hover over the link to see the address it will take you to – does it look genuine?
- To be on the really safe side, don’t click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.
- Be careful when opening email attachments too. Fraudsters are increasingly attaching files, usually PDFs or spreadsheets, which contain dangerous malware.
- If you receive a suspicious message then report it to the company, block the sender and delete it.
- If you think you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its online fraud reporting tool.
Here is another holiday scam to be aware of this summer.
And we’ve explained everything you need to know about a common jewellery scam abroad.
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