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Top travel scams in Oceania
Car break-ins in Australia
6 0How it works: Although Australia is not renowned for petty crime, car break-ins or smash and grabs do occur especially if you leave your valuables exposed in your car. In…
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Kangaroo essence in Australia
6 2How it works: Kangaroo essence pills are claimed to be made of the testicles and penis of kangaroos and is promoted to tourists as a product for sexual enhancement. However,…
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Event ticket scam in New Zealand
6 0How it works: Version 1: many cases of fake tickets being sold for highly popular events which tend to sell out (e.g. past concerts for Bruno Mars, Pink, etc). Version…
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Timeshare scam in Australia
6 1How it works: Situation: you may encounter timeshare salespeople at major theme parks – they will dress up to look like park staff. Opening: they approach, claim that a certain…
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Fake monks in Australia
6 0How it works: A fake monk will hand you a charm, seemingly for free, then ask for a donation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw0kW6G2Hvc Places to beware: Sydney What to do: Decline. Real monks…
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Farm job scams in Australia
6 1How it works: Situation: in Australia, there are a couple of scams to look out for especially for backpackers and migrant workers seeking farm work. Variation 1 (fake job listing):…
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Car break-ins in New Zealand
5 0How it works: There have been cases of car break-ins, where parked rental cars with exposed valuables/bags were broken into. Places to beware: Queenstown Rotorua: Kuirau Park, Okere Fall Wellington:…
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Sob story scammers in Australia
4 0How it works: In late 2018, social media exposed a 49 year old woman who was found staking out carparks across western suburbs of Sydney with her sob story scam….
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Vacation apartment scams in New Zealand
3 0How it works: Version 1: fake websites with stolen property listings requesting for payment via bank transfer. Version 2: fake listing on legitimate sites. Places to beware: Anywhere What to…
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Unlicensed tour operators in New Zealand
3 0How it works: Opening: there are unlicensed tour operators which target Chinese tourists with low priced tours on Chinese apps. Set-up: once hooked, they exploit these tourists’ lack of English…
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