Avoiding Street Scams

Ten years after the fact, I'm still embarrassed by how I got scammed by a street urchin in Jamaica. He approached our car as a photographer and I were stalled in traffic in Montego Bay and said, "Hey, you're going the wrong way. It's me, from the hotel." He talked his way into the car, chattering about how he worked at the hotel where we were staying and had seen us there, showed us how to get out of the traffic jam, but then led us into a seedy neighborhood, grabbed a bag of drugs from a guy who ran up to the car, tried to sell it to us, got kicked out of the car, and demanded payment for his expert tour guidance.

I couldn't believe then, and still can't believe that I was dumb enough to fall for the "I work at your hotel" scam. And that I willingly let him into the car. It only cost us ten dollars to get rid of him, and he didn't rob us blind, slit our throats or get us arrested, so it was a cheap lesson. It was the only time in twenty years of travel writing that I've been scammed or felt threatened in another country.

I realized recently that lots of travelers have stories like this. My friend Kevin still feels bad about getting scammed in Amsterdam a few years ago. Walking down the street, a guy bumped into him and walked away, but then minutes later Kevin was surrounded by four guys demanding money. Why? The guy who bumped him showed hands covered in white powder and claimed that Kevin had made him spill his drugs! Kevin gave him ten dollars to go away and still feels bad about it. The next day, another guy bumped into him and tried the same trick, and Kevin told him to get lost.

What can we do about street scams? Oh, you know the usual tips: Be aware, don't leave purses open, don't look like a tourist, stay away from seedy areas. But to all these I'll add this one: It happens occasionally, it catches you completely off-guard, you can probably afford to lose ten bucks but can't afford to get beaten up or stabbed or carted off to jail. So fork the money over. And don't feel so bad about it; it happens to the best of us.