travel forum - robberies & scams

I was in Rome and a Gypsy threw a baby a me in order for my hands to be free. then she tried to take the stuff in my hands. I couldnt believe it!

2009-02-19 / follow alexisdoll / report abuse

ok, in the midst of tears i want to share my worst experience although i promised to myself not to ever talk it anymore. portugal, algarve, villamoura. there's my brother a friend and me - all eager tripwolf users and feeling home alone with their laptops iphones and navigation tools which is why we decided to take all those fancy stuff with us - and don't call me stupid now.it's 12pm, we are approaching a crowded but small parking lot of a restaurant and get ouf the car in order to check out the scenery of a bay called "paradise beach" - so we get down some stairs take some pics (yes, i took my canon eos400d with me) for like 10 minutes and then return to the car and drive off. all of a sudden i realize that my bad, which was hidden under the front seat is not there anymore. my bro tells me what's wrong with me - "why do you keep misplacing your stuff". well, then i have a whiteout - i can only recall my bro and matthias the other friend screaming - fuck fuck fuck i can't find mine eather - all was gone.pretty much everything of the cars interior which wasn't nailed down. 3 laptops (including a 3 week old new macbook pro), iphone, garmin navigation, 2 watches, sleeves, credicards, wallets, passports - so pretty much everything except for my cam and my brothers ATM card which he carried in his pocket.ok, again, in the midst of tears I promise - again - this is the last time i talk about this and never answer questions "why the f*** did you take all those things on a 1 week roadtrip to portugal?".

2008-11-01 / follow lzinnagl / report abuse

Be very wary on the buses in Peru. They are known spots for having luggage stolen. Oddly, the safest place to put your bags in under the bus as the company claims responsibility for those. Of course, you always want to keep your valuables on your person. And I mean literally on your person--not on the floor, not in the overhead bin, and not crammed between you and the wall. Keep them on your lap. My friend learned this the hard way when his entire backpack containing a laptop, camera and cellphone were stolen out of the overhead bin of the bus from Lima to Ica.

2008-10-28 / follow MaThurrell / report abuse

my worst travel experience was taking a train to Budapest. i decided to take an early train (5 AM) in order to take full advantage of the day in budapest. of course on the way i fell asleep...once i woke up i saw my laptop bag next to me and didnt think anything about it...once the train reached its end station i got up and wanted to leave. at this point i picked up my laptop bag and realized it was a bit lighter than usual...."Did i forget my laptop at home? " - i first thought to myself. then i realized that not only did my laptop get stolen but also my mini disc player and digital camera. of course i reported it to the police and they told me that this happens about 7 to 10 times a day just in budapest alone...

2008-10-28 / follow nico / report abuse

another really annoying thing (but also hard to avoid) is getting ripped off by taxi drivers in bangkok. one day i arrived at kao san really early in the morning and we wanted to go to the airport. as we had learned the days before we told the taxi driver to put on the meter (to avoid getting ripped off…). so he did and then he took the longest and most expensive (you have to pay extra for using the highways) way to the airport. we were really late so we just paid and didn't argue, but for everyone else i'd recommend threatening to call the tourist police… this certainly worked on ko lanta when they sold us a bungalow which turned out to be the wives' & children's home-tree house above the bar…

2008-10-28 / follow lea / report abuse

I agree with Adena - always go with your gut feeling. When something feels sketchy, it usually is! One typical trap that I have witnessed various times in South America: "artificial crowding". You walk through a street market, and suddenly it is very crowded, a small traffic jam of people forms around you, forcing you to bump into other people. Sometimes that's just 4 or 5 pickpockets working together to distract you and to get access to your bags and pockets unnoticed!

2008-10-28 / follow sebastian / report abuse

This may be a strange one...since I didin't see it pan out - but a WARNING for some.When I was traveling through Agra, a few men would come up to me and ask to borrow one of my earring because they just loved the pattern and wanted to draw them (i lost them in nyc and they are my favorites!! :( but any way) I thought it was strange, but even more strange when more than a few people asked the same thing. I simply said no, no, no...I'm not sure why they wanted it, but it felt sketchy! Go with your gut!

2008-10-27 / follow adena / report abuse