Travel Smart: 5 Travel Scams to Avoid This Summer

Protect yourself from travel scams this summer with practical tips and real-life stories that will empower you to travel safely and confidently. Have you ever found yourself in a foreign city, unsure if the cab you're about to get into is legitimate? Join me as I recount my own experiences with booking scams and fake taxis, sharing the red flags to watch out for, like unexpected payment demands and unauthorized drivers. I'll guide you through the essential steps to verify suspicious requests and contact details, ensuring you're always a step ahead of potential fraudsters.

But that's not all—ever wondered if those enticing discount travel services are too good to be true? We analyze the potential pitfalls and hidden costs associated with services through vacation clubs. Learn how to protect your credit card information abroad, the benefits of using credit cards over cash, and tips for safely exchanging currency. Most importantly, I'll teach you how to trust your intuition as your best travel companion. Empower yourself with these insights.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Avoid Travel Scams
• 9:57 Avoiding Travel Scams and Fraud
• 16:12 Trust Your Intuition for Safe Travel

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello sister travelers. Well, here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are at the peak of summer vacation time it's almost July 4th and lots of people are going away here in the Northern Hemisphere. So what does that mean? Besides having more crowds to deal with, delays possibly on your flights, or even cancellations, there's something else. I want you to be on a watch for Scammers. There's lots of them out there. Especially now, with so much travel happening, it's going to be happening more frequently. So I want to make you aware of five scams that I think are something to help you in your travels. They are everywhere and even the best of us can fall prey to them, and some of the scams are even specifically targeted for certain groups of people like women, us over 50, right, we could be targets because of that. Now, the Federal Trade Commission said in 2021, there were nearly 54,000 reports of travel scams, adding up to 95 million in total reported losses. So let's not be one of those statistics and listen in for some ways to avoid some of these travel scams. Welcome to Solo Travel Adventures for Women 50 and Older. I'm Cheryl S, your host, solo travel advocate, freedom traveler and coach. This is your passport to adventure.

Speaker 1: 1:42

The first travel scam I want to share with you actually happened to me very recently. It has happened to me at least twice. I have avoided it because it was sort of those red flags and my intuition, of course, that prompted me not to fall prey to this. But it has to do with when you're booking accommodations. Particularly, the two incidences that I had were through bookingcom, and now, if you're booking with a hotel, you're not going to likely have any issues. These happen typically when it's either a smaller establishment maybe it's an individual that has posted something you know whether it's a room or someplace just an individual posting for accommodations, because this is kind of my situation. So the first one happened. Well, last year I was trying to book accommodations for Costa Rica and I did it through bookingcom and then, you know, within a day or two, the place reached out to me, I think, email or text, I can't quite remember. I think it was email and was demanding, even though it said in the booking that I had till, I don't know, two weeks before my trip to cancel and I would not be charged until then. And I always keep a credit card on file in my booking app and they were like demanding payment right then, and they were wanting me to do it through you know, some of those apps, whether it was Cash App or PayPal or something like that and I emailed them back and said, hey, that's really not what I understand the process. I certainly am not going to pay. It was several months in advance. I was trying to book this and you know I'm not going to pay, since that's not. You know not how I want to pay, first of all, and secondly, I don't need to pay until much later. You know, according to the website and I'm glad I didn't I actually said I was going to cancel because and I'm glad I didn't I actually said I was going to cancel because, you know, this is not really in my mind, was not proper, and they got belligerent, they got really nasty and emailing me back. So I definitely know that that was a scam in them trying to get money or I don't know, maybe when I got there I wouldn't have had a place, who knows? Right.

Speaker 1: 4:28

And then this other one is very recently I did book again through bookingcom, through for my Rhode Island trip and again I got an email. It was a weird email and it didn't even look like it was coming from the actual establishment, the accommodations place, and what you can do. And what I did in this situation was actually I found the company's phone number online and then call them directly to make sure. Again, understanding, you know, because it was saying oh, your payment didn't go through, your credit card is expired or whatever, but my credit card is not expired on that app. And also, the same thing, I'm not to get charged until July 5th, and this was back in June. They were trying to collect payment. So you know, reaching out and making sure, you know directly reaching out and making sure that, a, I want to make sure I have my accommodations and that, b, that it says for this particular one it said that the place will handle payment at the establishment, meaning like once I arrive, then I could offer payment. So, again, red flags don't fall prey to that. So you want to call them back, maybe to verify. Make sure you look up the number, don't just read out what they called you for or texted you with. Look it up, make sure you're calling the actual number of that place to confirm. And you know, because that can happen, scamming with booking accommodations and then you don't want to be left not only with you paying this and then actually, when you get there, you probably won't even have accommodation. So that's happened. I have not fallen prey to that, thankfully, but just be aware that that is happening. So just look out for that.

Speaker 1: 6:23

Number two fake taxis and I will have to admit this was I wasn't quite, you know, on top of my game, but some of it had to do with my travel partner was also not aware, and in Paris was also not aware, and in Paris we got pretty much we got scammed with a what was not a taxi, but we thought he was a taxi. And so this happens a lot in some of those larger airports, international airports, and they can see tourists a mile away. I hate to say it, especially us Americans. We just stand out right and so we look kind of lost. And so they you know they have oh, I'll take you, you know taxi, but they're not legitimate taxis and they might even have a fake little meter in their car that may or may not run either. So be aware of that. So what I recommend in this case and now, I don't see this happening in the US airports Mostly people, when they arrive at a US airport, they are usually taking a ride share or maybe a public transportation, or they're being picked up. So I have not seen this happen in US airports, but I have seen it happen. I saw it in Paris. So ways to avoid that Now there are some airports, like I recall when I was in Lima, peru, they had a designated area where you could walk out to, of course, the side, you know the sidewalk, and all the taxis legitimate taxis were lined up and they were pretty particular about you know whoever was first, that's who you went with, like they kind of did it in order of you know when the taxi arrived in that little bay area and so you took according to you know who was there first kind of thing, and that was kind of monitored, and so you took according to you know who was there first kind of thing, and that was kind of monitored.

Speaker 1: 8:24

And there may be other airports that do the same thing in foreign countries. So just be aware. The other thing you can do to avoid this is to you personally arrange it yourself, whether it's a ride share, public transportation, or you call the taxi yourself and you arrange, or a shuttle to meet you at the airport, so that way you know it's legitimate. So don't fall prey to the fake taxi people there, because they will charge you more. They charge you way more, by the way, all right.

Speaker 1: 8:57

Number three beware of vacation clubs, where you have to join for discounts, and then even some third-party booking agencies you need to be careful of. I would say to avoid this. Do your research, do your internet search, check Better Business Bureau and check to see if they even have a legitimate website. Some of these companies that are, you know, maybe fake I'll just say fake just maybe have a Facebook page and they don't actually have a website, and so it's a little disconcerting when that happens. And also vacation clubs, you know they make you think that you're getting discounts, when actually, a lot of times, whatever they're offering is you can get it just as cheap by booking it on your own. Just be aware that they're not always legitimate. There's an example, for example.

Speaker 1: 9:57

I subscribe to a weekly email from TravelZoo, which is great. It tells you all kinds of discounts that different places are offering, but these are again third-party travel agencies or whatever. They are not sponsored by TravelZoo or they're not vetted by TravelZoo. So TravelZoo actually tells you hey, these are just some deals. We found discount things, and there are some that want you to join their vacation club to get the discounts. And just look at the name of the company. Do your research, do some asking around around Word of mouth sometimes is the best place to find legitimate travel agencies or clubs, but most of them are. You know they're going to just scam you. There's going to be a lot of hidden costs, so be aware of that. For example, you might see a really good deal but it doesn't include airfare and most of them actually don't. So but just be aware that there's going to. They're going to probably nickel and dime you. So I don't use vacation clubs. I have had people that have actually used some of those deals from from TravelZoo but and have not had a problem. Where have some have right? So or they can't get their money back, and that's the scam right. You pay this money and then there's nothing. They don't provide the actual service.

Speaker 1: 11:23

Number four is just general credit card fraud, and what I mean by that is that a lot of times, after we've used our credit card in a foreign country, somehow I don't know how you know, through the internet, dark web thing someone realizes you used it and so then they reach out to you, whether it's a text or email or a phone call, and they want to do a verification call. Now you have to be careful. This may actually be truthful with your bank, all right, or your credit card company, but the best advice is to. One example that I had seen is you know someone had used their credit card at a hotel and then within a few hours they got a phone call saying they were the hotel and that there was an issue with their payment or their credit card, and so they wanted to re-verify that over the phone. And in that case you would just hang up and if you're at the establishment, you go downstairs and just make sure that's legit, right, and or you call back right, so that you are knowing you're calling the correct number. Now your bank may want to do a verification. I have heard internationally sometimes this can be a little bit of a pain if you are not planning to use, say, your cell phone plan or your data plan. There are some ways around that. There's some sort of Google verification that can be done to bypass sort of that whole international texting or phone calling that your credit card company might actually be trying to do so that your card doesn't get frozen right Because they might think you are someone else has gotten a hold of it in another country.

Speaker 1: 13:17

Now some credit cards don't require you to call in advance. It's always maybe just good practice. Let them know so they put a note on your account that you are traveling. Some don't require it. I always like to call just in case, again, having that note on my account, so that they, when they see a charge come across from another country, they're not likely going to, you know, block it or prevent it from happening. So just be aware of that. That can happen. I love to use my credit cards when traveling because if there is an actual fraudulent or scam charge, it's easier to dispute that charge and to get it removed or let the credit card company handle that, and then it's not really out of your pocket. So consider that when you travel, a lot of places are going cashless as well. So you know, yes, having currency is great, which is my next point.

Speaker 1: 14:14

Point number five If you are exchanging currency in another country, make sure you are aware of what those currency looks like. The bills look like, what they, how much they equate to in your currency. You know when you transfer it over what should be the rate? Because a lot of times these currency places are going to shortchange you. They're going to miscount money and make you think you have all your money. They may even present counterfeits to you. So be savvy, be knowledgeable. You know, know what currency you're exchanging, what it looks like and how much it equals to yours, so that when they you exchange it and count it out, it it looks correct. I often have a local bank or currency exchange place locally that I go to, and the nice thing about this place is it carries a bunch of different types of currency. But whatever I don't use and if I come back, they allow me to exchange it back to my US dollars, I think for a small fee. I like that too, because then I really can trust them and know that my money is being exchanged correctly. You know when I'm in a foreign country there might be that language barrier. And again, just keeping the knowledge in your mind about what it looks like, atms are good if you're trying to get cash in a foreign country A lot of people if you have the ability to use an ATM, that way you know you're going to get the correct currency out of the ATM machine. So it is summer.

Speaker 1: 16:01

Maybe some of you are already traveling or planning to travel soon enough, but I would love for you all to be safe from any of these travel scams, for you all to be safe from any of these travel scams In general.

Speaker 1: 16:12

As I have said before, as women we have some great intuition. Anytime you feel these red flags, so to speak, kind of almost make you pause, then it's also a chance to sort of find out if this feels right or not, if this is legit. So take a moment, don't jump into things, especially if you are feeling hesitant about the situation, and just use your intuition. Ladies, we have great intuition and it will serve us well, especially when it comes to travel scams. So get out there, have an adventure, but be safe. Hey, sister travelers, did this podcast inspire and encourage you or move you to get out there and travel? Wonderful, there are three ways you can thank me. First, one is leave a written review for the show on Apple podcast to share the show with your sister travelers, your friends, your family and three subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode. And thank you again for listening to the show. Sisters, be fearless, take the leap and get out there and have an adventure.