Vacations are meant to be fun, but for some travelers who get scammed out of their hard-earned money, they can become a nightmare pretty quickly.
This has been the case for some travelers planning a vacation in or visiting Cancun recently.
They were victims of three growing scams in Cancun, but fortunately, there are ways that tourists can avoid these scams when visiting the destination.
Read on to find out what these scams are and how to avoid them.
Vacation Cyber Fraud
One of the most common types of scams travelers face, not just in Cancun but when planning a trip anywhere, is vacation cyber fraud.
This scam works when an individual or group of individuals offers travelers vacation packages for a very attractive but unrealistic price.
The traveler then purchases that package only to find out that they handed their money over to a scam artist who never even had anything to sell to begin with.
How To Avoid It
It may sound easy in theory to avoid this kind of scam, but it happens more often than you might think.
The main thing to remember, even though it may sound cliche, is that if an offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
If you’re thinking about jumping on a really good deal when you’re booking your Cancun vacation, take time to verify the individual or company offering it, read reviews, and don’t hand over money without proof of what you purchased.
Fake Websites
Another scam that is common in our digital age, and that’s growing more and more common year after year, is the existence of fake websites.
Fake websites have been detected in Cancun for not only hotels but even the Maya Train.
Some of the most popular Cancun hotels have been victims of this.
Scam artists design these websites to look like the real thing so that travelers who visit them will put in their financial and personal information, which the scammer then steals for whatever purpose.
How To Tell The Difference
It’s not always easy to spot a fake website, but there are a few things that you can look for when visiting any website to book something.
The first thing to look for is any misspellings of words, particularly the company name or words that contain both lowercase and uppercase lettering or symbols.
Another thing to watch for is the website address because if it’s fake a lot of times it will be something random and unrelated to the real company.
Lastly, you can look for a different official site that might link to the company’s website and compare them to see if they’re the same.
Overcharging Taxi Drivers
The most common scam that Cancun tourists face is overcharging taxi drivers.
Taxi drivers in Cancun don’t use meters, and there is no official set rate, so many of them charge what they want.
There have been several recent reports about visitors being charged exorbitant rates, in one case nearly $100 for a 20-minute ride, and this isn’t uncommon.
Better Ways To Book Your Transportation
Fortunately, there are better ways to book your transportation in Cancun that will help you avoid being overcharged.
The first is to only book at kiosks at the airport that display their rates.
The other thing that you can do is book your transportation in advance and prepay for it then you know exactly what you’re paying upfront.
Common Issues
Nobody wants to believe that they can be scammed, but it’s common all around the world.
There’s always someone out there waiting to take advantage of the unsuspecting.
The best way to avoid that is always to be suspicious when it comes to your wallet and planning your vacation, whether you’re visiting Cancun or anywhere else.
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