I remember writing a post a few months ago about a "Sextortion email for breakfast." Since then I have received quite a lot of those emails so they do not scare me anymore, but the first time I received it, it felt kind of scary. Why?
Because the composers of the email actually used your real email address, and also passwords they got from hacked websites and so on, and thus they had an actual chance of making a 100% hit as they wrote your email address and password, and based on those, they had been spying on you. Well, there are for sure people who have been tricked by these emails, but hopefully, most people understand that it is a scam, and they are not tricked.
Source: Pixabay
But, it isn't just in the online world where people are tricked and fooled of their money. It can happen everywhere, and if you have traveled the world a couple of times, you have for sure heard some stories by now. For example, taxi drivers are people who know a lot about tricking you! Most taxi-drivers are completely honest (luckily), but there are some examples. For example, you have those taking you on super long extra rides, just in order for the taximeter to reach a much higher level than it normally would if you would have been taken on the original way.
Then you have those who simply come up with prices along the way, and suddenly a ride that should have been 10 Euro, will cost you 40-50 Euro, with no extra explanation added. Sometimes they might claim it was because of your dirty shoes, or because of your luggage, or because you smelled bad and they need to clean their car extra afterward (the last one just came from my imagination, I have never actually heard about it in use)... but the point is, there are lots of people tricking you if they can!
Some of the tricky drivers in Budapest
In Budapest, we have quite a lot of such "smart" drivers But, often they trick you in a very polite way, making sure that you only discover much later that you have been fooled. How can that be done? It is really easy! What they do, is that they give you wrong change back, and since most people just throw the change into their wallet without checking it out, they will only discover it later. But, not only do they give you the wrong change, they give you the wrong currency. So instead of giving you 10,000 in the local currency, they give you 10,000 in some other currency that has no value at all. And if you inspect the bill as you get it from the driver, you see 10,000, smile and believe that everything is okay... at least until you try to spend the bill in some other store.
You also have the occasion in which you ask the driver for advice, and then they take you to the most expensive place in town, simply because they are paid a lot from that night-club to bring guests in their direction. Now, that isn't 100% tricking, and most people know it as an unwritten rule that you shouldn't ask taxi-drivers for such advice. But stil...
What just happened in Krakow
This isn't really such a bad thing, but still - it isn't completely fair. Lots of people arrange with their airport transfer sign Krakow before arrival, simply to get a fixed price and have a driver waiting for them. I know a company only arranging with Mercedes transfers in Krakow and all their drivers are suited up and nice looking. Upon arrival, they stood waiting for a group and took them to the hotel with no trouble. But, hotels and those working in the hotels earn money by arranging with airport transfers for their guests. So, when a guest has fixed their airport transfer beforehand, they are "kind-of" losing money they would have earned if they had arranged with the transfer for their guests. So, what just happened?
The guests were waiting in the lobby of the hotel when a driver approached them and said he was there to take them to the airport. So far, so good... only that he wasn't dressed as nicely as he should have, and he was driving an old Opel. But, since the driver approached them and called them by name, they trusted him and were taken to the airport and paid the set fee (which the driver also knew about).
But, the original driver (dressed up nicely and coming with a Mercedes) waited for the guests, only to discover after a long time of waiting that they had already left. What had happened? It was probably someone working in the hotel that knew the name of the guests and the company that was to take them to the airport (and thus also the fixed price). He, therefore, called a driver and told him the name of the group he was to approach and the fee, and thus the guests were taken to the airport, but not as originally planned.
This isn't the worst scam, because the guests got to the airport, and they paid the same fee as planned... but still, it is incredible to see how people trick people everywhere, not only on the Internet but also in the real world in all sorts of ways.
Do you have an experience you remember well?
Have you ever been tricked, mugged, or fooled in some other way that made you pay extra, either while out traveling or maybe online? I would love to hear all your stories, and maybe we can learn something together as we read each other's experiences.
Thank you for reading!