How to deal with scams ?

philip007

Hi folks,

So just what is the best or preferred way to deal with a scam or a suspected scam. There are so very many scams.

I have heard via IM that one main scam is the entrance to Delhi train station. The main entrance through the middle appears fine however if you try to get into the station via the side entrance a burley and bogus security officer tells you your ticket is not valid and you need to buy another one !

A lot of scams revolve around autorickshaws and taxis.

There are just so many scams to mention. Yes I am aware that
1 dollar or 1 pound is worth more to them than me - yes I know I can afford it - yes I know they are poor, however it is a question of degree.

When travelling through Vietnam last year for 1.5 months I actually calculated the total cost of potential scams for my wife and I. We were accosted about 15 times a day each for about 1 to 1.5 dollars a time. After 1.5 months we worked it out that had we been generous or accepted the scams for the small amounts, then total cost over 1.5 months would have been an additional plane ticket !!!!!!!

This then puts the argument "they are poor and we are rich by comparission" into perspective.

How many people who book their plane ticket to India would be happy to pay for an additional ticket just to pay for the scams !!!

So just what is the "best" way to deal with con's in a respectible yet firm way without getting into a physical situation ?

Any info is very much appreciated.

Philip

Nick-H

You said it!

Browse this site! You'll find everything from overcharging auto drivers, who are just one of life's nuisances, to gem scammers who are serious criminals.

It's all here already: please don't expect anybody to write it all out again on this thread.

JuliaF

agree with Nick.

I've never heard of this. And not sure if you mean Old Delhi or New Delhi or another Delhi station.

There are security guards as you go onto the platforms, rather ineffectual in my opinion, but they are there for a valid and obvious reason. They might check your bags, but not tickets I think (but open to correction on this). Anybody else ignore them.

I'm not going to get into a long-winded post about how to deal with taxi drivers accosting you etc, it's all been dealt with elsewhere.

This has also been mentioned elsewhere, and also in guidebooks I expect, but no harm repeating: The international tourist booking office is upstairs in the main building in New Delhi station, ignore anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

OceanTragic

This was written about in IndiaMike about New Delhi station, not Delhi station. But then again someone managed to get into my wife's backpack whilst we were getting out of Delhi station, so you've got to watch it.

camelgirl

Yup! We've all written reams about this problem. Take some time to search "scams." And don't let it ruin your trip by thinking too much about it!

For every scammer their is someone wonderful who will go out of their way for you!

__________________
My selected India photos http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...r/7030/cat/500

Nick-H

I have an uncle who has just died, leaving a considerable fortune in various bank accounts, that for the most obscure of reasons, can only be accessed through the help of someone in Australia.

I am a person of modest requirements (don't believe all those shopoholic rumours) and there is more than I could spend in several lifetimes. I'd be very happy to give you 50% of the money when it is released.

There are, because of my uncle's enemies, certain problems in accessing this cash. Nothing that can't be overcome with the help of an Australian friend.

There is a small problem. I cannot even get into the banks without considerable quantities of Toblerone, and it must be the giant 500gm variety.

If you could see your way to letting me have 200 of these toblerones (the ordinary milk-chocolate ones), then I am sure we will be rich within months.

Wildhorse

True, but a lot of scams can be avoided if you keep your wits about you and use common sense. Everywhere.

machadinha

On the New Delhi Railway Station/tourist office there situation, kindly refer to http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/tou...bureau_idx.htm .

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

Haylo

Few things which will save you from falling foul of many scams:

1. If it's sounds too good to be true, it is.

2. Nobody who is out to scam you is actually going to knock you on the head and steal your money. Those are robbers. The only way a scammer is going to get your money is if you take it out of your pocket and give it them. Before handing over money think to yourself "Is this service / these goods really worth this much money to me?"

3. How likely is it really that the hotel / restaurant / shop I'm trying to get to has only just today been burned down / gone bust / closed for refurbishment / is inaccessible due to a riot?

4. Who is telling me this information and could they have an alterior motive?

__________________
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful - E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

camelgirl

Haylo is right on all counts!

But sometimes this caution backfires: A few years ago we were headed to Mumbai by train from Delhi with a 1/2 way stop in Bophal. We had a hotel name from our guidebook & insisted the taxi take us there. He insisted the hotel was no longer there. Yeah, yeah, we've heard this MANY times before, JUST TAKE US!!!

He did. The hotel WAS NO LONGER THERE, it had been fixed-up as a medical clinic. The driver must have thought we were really dumb not to listen to him & this one time, he was 100% right!

Haylo

Ah, but how do you know that the medical clinic he showed you really did used to be the hotel? I know, I have a nasty supicious nature...

You're absolutely right though, lots of people are genuine and honest, it would be a shame for someone to go through their travels thinking everyone is out to scam them. I have only had people behave perfectly honourably towards me, though possibly that's because I don't hang out in tourist areas - not because I'm snobby about tourists but because my partner lives in a nice residential area of Delhi.

Nick-H

Nobody scams me for a couple of hundred Rs any longer, not even once a month.

It moves to a whole other game when you live here: banks have made me Lakhs of rupees poorer, and builders... just dont... mention... builders!

camelgirl

We had the address & made him take us! We got out and asked because we also were suspicious! He was right.

Haylo

I'd have done exactly the same as you. I bet he laughs to himself every time someone asks him to take them there, because he knows they'll assume they're being scammed!

Have to say though, that you had a lucky escape. If a hotel actually managed to go bust even after being listed in a guide book, it must have gone SERIOUSLY downhill!

Brisso

Had the same experience in Rajkot - kind of funny really. I thought I was being scammed when I was taken to an up-market business man's hotel and insisted I was taken to the place I had originally asked. It was an empty building - I was still too stubborn to be taken anywhere else and sat for an hour or two to consider the options.