A WOMAN has revealed the common scam that affects tourists staying at holiday resorts – and how to avoid being caught out.
One woman, who works as a travel agent, warned on a Facebook group about an interaction she had with a local after leaving her hotel resort.
She wrote: “He greeted us enthusiastically and asked if we remembered him.”
Saying the name of the hotel, he claimed to be their waiter the night before.
He said to them: “I served you last night at dinner. Don't you remember?”
However, she later explained how they were conned into a ‘cheaper tour' by him, as well as taken to his friends shops and intimidated into buying things.
They then realised that he was never a staff worker, but pretended to be by knowing their hotel from their wristband, which are often given to tourists staying at all-inclusive resorts.
She warned on the group: “Always turn your wristband inside out when leaving the hotel.
“Scammers use them to target tourists and overcharge you.
“Each hotel has different coloured bands, so these scammers know exactly where you ‘re staying.”
While the issue took place in , this is likely to happen at other destinations as well.
Having recently been on a trip myself to Cape Verde, I also noticed this trend.
After arriving in one of the towns, a man came up next to us saying he “say us at the hotel” the night before, before trying to entice us to the shop.
It was only later I realised that my wristband was on full show.
The travel agent ended by giving top tips from the hotel staff on the group.
Others shared their stories of it happening in other destinations too.
One man who was on holiday in Cancun said: “My wife and I were out and about when a fairly well dressed man walked up all smiles saying “Hey I know you guys from the (resort) how’s it going? Remember me? I was your server”; and tried to start making small talk, asking how my stay was.
“He was trying to see if we were going out drinking, saying he knew some cool places.”
Another wrote: “The locals basically have the wrist bands memorized.”
One commented: “Amazing how quickly that scam stopped when I covered my wristband.”
Here is to be aware of this summer.
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