Top 3 Scams to Watch out for While Abroad

Beware of The Friendly Stranger

Yahoo! Suggests you beware of any overly friendly strangers that come in contact with you. One populare scam in Paris in Rome starts with a very friendly man approaching you, and tying a bracelet around your wrist. He then demands that you give him money. You have two choices, you can say “no” and risk him yelling that you are stealing his bracelet, and causing a scene, or you can pay him to avoid a disaster. 

Beware of Free WiFi

The Huffington Post warns travelers to only connect with wireless networks that are affiliated with hotels and airports. Hackers are able to set up fake networks and then gain access to your usernames and passwords. Huffington Post also recommends that you bring your own hotspot with you, and using encrypted sites. Encrypted sites start with “https” and the “s” stands for secure. 

Beware of Someone Cutting You in line at The Airport

The DailyMail describes this scam as one that takes place right before you pass through the metal detector at the airport. You place your belongings on the conveyor belt and someone gets in front of you. The person often has to pass through the metal detector many times because they forget to take off their shoes, then they forget to take off their belt, etc. Meanwhile, someone on the other side has picked your belongings up off the conveyor belt and they are long gone.