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Common Travel Scams (And How To Avoid Them)

Travelling is great. Getting ripped off is not.

Sadly, part of exploring the world is having to be wary of, and learning how to avoid common scams. Shady locals sometimes pray on those who are obviously tourists, trying to make a few extra bucks in an unsavory way.

First thing first -- make sure the fact that you're a tourist isn't glaringly obvious. That means not walking around with a huge paper map or wearing a big camera hanging around your neck.

Secondly, get to know the common scams that can happen at your location.

Take Paris for example. There's a few common scams that have now become legendary and they all occur close to the main tourists spots like the Act De Triomphe, along the Champs-Elysees and at the Eiffel Tower, of course.

One is that someone will stop you and ask you if you dropped a ring. When you say 'no', they offer to sell it to you for a very cheap price. Of course the ring is not gold (or of any value) at all, so don't go buying jewellery of seemingly friendly locals.

Another common one in Paris is gypsies asking if you'd like to sign a petition. This scam works by getting you to stop and sign at which point they ask for money, making confused travelers think the moneyh is for a donation. Sometimes at this time pick-pocketing can occur, too.

If either of the above scenarios happen to you, do not stop -- keep walking.

Of course, there's countless other scams that are specific to certain locations, so jump on Google and familiarise yourself before you arrive at your destination.

For some more common scams that can occur anywhere, check out the below infographic.

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