7 Tips to Avoid Travel-related Scams Before Your Next Trip

7 Useful Tips to Avoid Facing a Scam While Travelling

A travel scam can not only result in a financial loss but can also ruin your entire trip if not avoided on time. There have been many incidences where tourists get duped during their overseas trips. Therefore, it becomes imperative to know about these travel scams and avoid them while on your trip.

You should purchase domestic travel insurance to cover yourself from any monetary losses that you may face during your domestic trip. You should also buy a travel health insurance policy to stay financially protected against any medical emergency while travelling abroad. Apart from purchasing travel insurance, here are 7 tips that you can follow to avoid travel-related scams and make your trip worthwhile:

1. Be Alert While Booking

One of the most important tips to follow is to not pay unnecessary charges while making bookings for your trip. There are many travel-related scams that happen online when you make online transactions. Before taking up any travel-related offer online, cross-verify it from the particular airline or hotel.

Therefore, stay vigilant whenever you make online payments as you can fall for such travel-related scams and lose a lot of money.

2. Know Travel Fares Beforehand

When you are in a new city or a new country, you are mostly unaware of the local fares for transportation. A lot of times drivers take advantage of this and charge travellers with exorbitant fares. Therefore, make sure to always research the transportation rates, such as cab and bus rates, before starting your trip. You can ask an authorized person or your hotel staff about the local fares and get a basic knowledge of places you are planning to travel, before hiring any vehicle.

3. Avoid ATM Scams

ATM scams are a common type of travel scam that can lead to huge financial losses. Your card can be a victim of ATM skimming when you swipe the card in a third-party ATM that you can find in a new city. These ATMs look like real ATMs but are less protected and so, it becomes easier for scammers to perform an ATM fraud.

The best way to avoid ATM-related scams is to use your ATM in reputable banks with high security. If you have a chip card, make sure to use chips instead of swipes. Moreover, you must also inform your bank about your trip so that any fraud can be detected at the earliest. You can also buy domestic travel insurance before your trip so that you can stay covered against any unexpected losses while travelling.

4. Exchange Cash from Reliable Sources

There may be times when you require foreign currency while travelling abroad. In such cases, you may require to exchange your domestic currency with the foreign one, which can also result in currency exchange scams. To avoid such scams, make sure to exchange currency with an authorized currency exchange outlet or bank.

It is also recommended to exchange your currency in your home country before you start your travel. Also, try to avoid accepting cash from sources that you don't trust.

5. Hire an Authorized Travel Guide

Hiring a travel guide can also cost you heavy if they are not authorized. A fake guide may fool you by showing insignificant places and charging huge amounts for their services. They may also take you to shopping markets where they have tie-ups with the shopkeepers in exchange for some commission.

Thus, make sure to hire a tourist guide from an authorized agency so that you do not fall for such scams. You may have to pay more for their services but can avoid such fraudulent scams on your trip.

6. Research Your Stay

Hotel scams are also common when you are travelling abroad especially when you book for these hotels online. There are many instances when these online service providers or agents fool travellers by charging exorbitant rates for bookings, food menus, and other amenities. Moreover, fake hotel websites can also dupe you into getting your bookings done.

To avoid such scams, make sure to research your stay before you start your travel. Take some time to check whether you are on the right website URL and not a fake vendor using the hotel's identity. You can also call the hotel or travel company to confirm their actual website. Also, before making any booking payment online, check whether the internet connection is secure or not.

7. Beware of Overly-friendly People

You may also find over-friendly locals who offer you to show places around. Such locals may actually be scammers looking for information that they can use to fraud you. These fake locals usually offer advice that results in you paying for something that you otherwise wouldn't. They may also fraud you into buying something fake at higher prices.

If you find any local being unusually friendly to you, stay alert and make sure to not fall into their traps. Be slightly wary of the people around you and use your judgement when trusting any stranger. Also, cover your trip under travel health insurance to avail medical assistance in case the encounter leads to any physical injuries.

Wrapping Up!

Travel scams cannot only cost you money but can also hamper your travel plans. Therefore, you should follow the above-mentioned tips to avoid facing a scam while travelling. Moreover, to protect yourself against such unanticipated travel scams, you can buy domestic travel insurance to cover you against any financial emergency that may arise during your trip. You can find multiple travel insurance plans on websites like Policybazaar.com where you can also compare them and buy the one that fulfils your travel requirements.