If you’re booking tickets to Bali soon, you may want to be wary of an infamous scam that’s cost Aussie tourists thousands.
A vacation in Bali sounds like the perfect option right now – after all, it’s summer. But before you book those tickets, you might want to be wary of an infamous scam in the popular tourist destination that’s quickly becoming a nuisance for travellers.
Sharing their experience on a local group, an Aussie recounted that the latest way to scam unsuspecting tourists out of their luggage and money involves cleverly engaging them in a conversation about currency exchange. Scammers pretending to be fellow travellers approach tourists and ask them for help in calculating how much their foreign currency might be worth. While the tourist is distracted, they swipe luggage and wallets.
“Yesterday I was in a bar on Legian and the older Indian couple approached me with $US2,” the tourist wrote in the group, as reported by news.com.au. “They walked into the bar and put his money on our table. Asked me to explain how much it is.”
The poster recalled that as she tried to help the couple, the wife kept her eyes on the poster’s friend’s bag. “They are out and about again. I just started yelling security and received the death stare from the man. They took off pretty quickly. The bar staff hid in fear. Lucky I had previously read about their scam.”
Her story was met by similar accounts from many others, including suggestions for what to do to avoid such situations. While some suggested simply feigning ignorance, others shed light on how else the scam might play out.
“Ask to see Aussie coins! If you get your purse/wallet out they snatch it and run and have their people waiting on motorbikes or in cars to drive off fast. Thankfully we read about it in here so said ‘no coins’ and walked on.” one commenter said.
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