5 CRAZY Travel Scams to AVOID in 2024

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I am disgusted at the different travel scams around the world that I’ve seen.

The more tourist scams I learn about by reading from comments from people like you, the more it makes my blood boil.

And also please share any travel advice and travel scam stories below in the comments to help others avoid them!

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🔴 H E L P F U L V I D E O S 😎 :

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🟠 C O O L S T U F F :

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🟢 T O P R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S :

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🔴 C H A P T E R S:

0:00 New Travel Scams
0:22 The Airbnb "Tech" Scam
3:00 The Ex-Tour Operator Scam
6:23 The Search Engine Interference Scam
6:49 Free Anti-Scam Cheatsheet
6:59 The SIM Scam
8:44 The Social Media Stalker Scam
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🟣 A L I T T L E A B O U T U S

Heyo! Mitch and Day here 👋🏼

We’re just your typical American-Colombian couple determined to live every second of our precious time here on earth to the fullest. After a 10-month solo backpacking trip through South America, I (Mitch) stopped in Cali, Colombia to take salsa dancing classes 💃🏻. I only planned to stay for a couple weeks, but God had other plans for me. I met a cute Colombian girl (Day) in class, those couple weeks turned into a couple years, and before we knew it...we were married 👰🏻🤵🏼

Now we’re traveling the world full time as digital nomads, supporting ourselves by working online 👨‍💻👩‍💻

Our goal with these videos is to inspire you to step outside your comfort zone, give you an inside peek at our crazy imperfect lives, and show you that you don’t have to be rich to live an extraordinary life...all you need to do is make the choice!

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[kristentaylor]

That's why you should have a safe word with loved ones when traveling. Let them know if anyone calls saying something terrible has happened and they need money, if they don't give the safe word, hang up and if possible, block the number and let everyone else in the circle know that a scammer called, then call your loved one and let them know what happened. Could be they were hacked and they need to take some precautions.

[danieladeamici]

Watching your videos is never a waste of time.

[DestinationTimeshare]

Unless you are visiting unsecure websites, there isn't that much to worry about with WiFi. Websites are rather secure and SSL encryption prevents anyone from really intercepting your internet traffic. The data isn't transmitted in plain text.

[KTzu]

Thanks for all the research that you do. I enjoy your channel! I travel a lot also and I have studied scams for years and I still learn new things from your channel.

[finally]

That almost happened to me with a government service. I don't remember what tipped me off. I'm just glad that I caught it before entering my personal information.

[just-nz]

Saw on our travel Facebook group so many people went to incorrect Vietnam Visa website. Scammed big time. Costing more money and leaving the person with no visa

[CityWise_Travels]

The worst travel scam is going to the wrong destination, aka the one you don’t like

[dkeith-fchn]

Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Albania.

[ElCid_]

I got burned by the fake Air France "Customer Service" number when I googled it from Sicily last year. Luckily they scammer actually did make the changes to our reservation for the mandatory $300 fee. There were so may warning signs I missed-- It was the middle of the night when I noticed our flights had been canceled so I panicked a bit and called (after a glass of wine or two...). I did dispute with Chase but what a PITA.

[Chicoeltrini]

Often these scammers don't game the system to have search results appear at the top but actually pay Google outright to bump their search results.

Also if you call a toll free customer service number and the simply answer "Reservations" or "customer service" without stating the name of the company... Know that you are speaking to a scammer

[lmbarnes]

Lately some websites detect I am using vpn and don't let me log in unless I disconnect from vpn.

[jordibarguno]

The whole Sim card thing I dont understand. In the USA comapanies like TMobile, Google Fi offer free roaming data to 100s of companies. I have never had data issues.
I also have a vodafone Spain Sim which also gives me 100s of countries with free data. Its 2024 in most cases you dont need a travel sim anymore.

[HR-wdcw]

The one rule that would help avoid this is to just do your research in advance. Know the risks and know what to look for (how to spot) a fake tour or whatever. I never book those things on the fly unless it's one that I've used before (like the Big Bus tours in major cities, those are legit), but most things I book ahead of time and only after doing quite a bit of research (I've heard of people getting scammed or mislead about tours to the Statue of Liberty -- Liberty Island I think is what they call the area) where they will go to the island but the ycan't get off the boat, so they just sail around it which is not how some of these are advertised. I think the only issue I had once was a cancelled tour due to weather but I was refunded (and it was a legit tour company and I had my refund within 24 hours).

[TLhike]

My client was a famous musician fools tricked his grandma she sent 25k to these scumbagz same scam!!!! I Just got caught in an instagram fake account for socks for F sakes. Luckily i didnt get charged called company and they said yup well know scam. Jesus its tuff out there. Luv channel!

[mrlogboy]

People that call and say I’m stuck in a jail or your relative is stuck in the jail and they need money. There’s a simple workaround. Among your family members, you set up a a passphrase a or a codeword. And for us, we’ve done it with different individuals and yes, don’t pick stuff like your dogs name your favorite place to go stuff like that. It has to be very unique like antiquing in Orlando. And yes for somebody very elderly ones we have wrote it down and they’re not to say it and stuff like that. No system is perfect but this is a way to just add a second level verification like we do with our bank numbers and all that stuff when we go online.

[Gadfly]

They probably figured how to hack through VPN 😮 just turn off wireless and use cell signal

[fredsands]

Great video as usual. A couple of points, one, I regularly use physical sim cards when traveling. I just pick one up from a sidewalk seller in Colombia. It always works when I load it. I then take the number to a Gana booth and pay for some internet. 20 mil or about $6 will last two weeks. I don't see how I could get scammed as credit cards never enter the picture. It's all cash.

Secondly, I tried an esim once but it didn't work on arrival, which defeated the purpose I bought it for. I got it going eventually with customer service. It was some work, sending them screenshots and changing access point names and whatever. But on my next trip I will try the company you recommend and see if it goes better. Thanks!

[cathyospinaaa]

Yeah they were going to charge me more if I paid cash so I paid credit card but it came with the subscription. Good thing it sent me an email letting me know of the next payment so I was able to cancel before I was charged the extra month that wasn't needed

[jeh]

Why would anyone buy a sim card in a foreign country using a credit card? CRAZY!
Pay cash, top up with cash and if you think that you have been scammed by the original seller, get it check out.
I don't use global sims.
90 countries, always buy local sims from the providers outlet or 7/11, never had a problem.

[PipiArgenti]

lol, I was robbed in New York.. so that wasnt very smart either?