
Top travel scams in Africa
Merzouga romance scam in Morocco
9 4How it works: Situation: This is Morocco’s version of the bedouin romance scam in Jordan. Opening: Targeted at women, “call-boys” at Merzouga will pull out all the stops in wooing…
Read more…Camel and horse (caleche) ride scams in Egypt
8 1How it works: Opening: Claiming a camel ride/horse ride can help you enter attractions via a secret entrance and save on the entrance fee. Claiming that you can get closer…
Read more…Cheap safari tours in Kenya
8 0How it works: Opening: you may encounter street touts or “beach boys” going by the title “Captain” offering you cheap safari tours. Scam 1: they play on the late entry…
Read more…Drink spiking in South Africa
8 3How it works: South Africa has one of the highest reported cases of rape, and much of it is due to spiked drinks, with Rohypnol commonly used. Besides sexually assaults,…
Read more…Papyrus scroll museum scam in Egypt
8 0How it works: Opening: your driver recommends and brings you here, or a street tout claiming to be an Egyptologist/head of a Papyrus institute offers to show you how papyrus…
Read more…Taxi scams in South Africa
7 3How it works: Version 1: official taxis have meters but some may refuse to use it and charge you an inflated flat fare. Version 2: if the meter is used,…
Read more…Familiar face scam in Tunisia
7 0How it works: Opening (one of the oldest scams in Tunisia): Scammers will approach taxis which drop off passengers to ask the driver from which hotel he picked you up…
Read more…Fraudulent tour operators in Tanzania
7 3How it works: Situation: According to the Tanzania Revenue Authority, only 517 formal firm out of 1,401 tour companies complied with the law in 2018. This means there’s a 63%…
Read more…Taxi scams in Morocco
7 0How it works: Version 1: charging an inflated flat fare instead of using the meter. Version 2: claiming fare is for each person rather than per vehicle; jacking up initially…
Read more…Hell’s Gate National Park scams in Kenya
6 0How it works: Scam 1: you can rent bikes from the park, but your driver claims that you can’t and so brings you to another overpriced bike shop where he…
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