Scams To Avoid

In any trip that I plan when going overseas, I always look online for things that I should try to avoid or things I need to be on the look out for.

This trip is no different. After much reading and watching YouTube videos, there seems to be a trend of things that are often mentioned.

• Fake scams

– Firstly, China is the home of fake knock offs, so if the item is not being sold in an official name brand store then it is best to treat the item as fake. Secondly, electronic equipment like computers and USB’s do not trust at all unless from official stall.

Another fake scam is the homeless scam which is were people pretend to be homeless with a disability in order to persuade money from you. There is also the fake monks as well to be aware of. So maybe it is best to leave those ones alone.

• Taxi scams

– There are two types of taxi scams. First is the fake taxis. They will attempt to pick you up outside of their taxi then take you to your destination and severely over charge you. Best strategy is to get a taxi from a taxi rank stand or use Didi (Uber).

The second one is when the taxi driver claims that you have gave them a fake note which is actually real. The taxi driver will keep the fake note and ask you to pay with real money. So you end up paying twice. This is becoming more rare but still happens.

• Pick pockets

Apparently, pick pocketing is a big thing in China. To be honest I am not surprised because of the over crowding and everybody being super close to each other, it would be the perfect opportunity and situation for pick pockets to work their magic. One suggestion was zipped pockets and just being cautious.

• Cutting the line scams

Another scam that is used is when you are waiting in a long line, someone will offer to help you jump the queue and show a quicker way in. This is a major clue that they are scammers. Avoid them and just stay in the line.

• The Teahouse Scam

In this scam, the scammer, usually a young lady will approach a single person to try and start up a conversation about learning and practising English with them. They will then invite them to a tea house where the English speaker will receive an extremely overcharged bill. If the English speaker suggests a different place then, the lady will object and be insistent on going to this one place. This is one way of knowing that this is a scam in play.