Your suitcase is packed, your camera is charged, and your passport is ready to be stamped. You’ve fantasized about this day since your college career began, and now you’re finally ready to study abroad in the country of your dreams. But whether you’re admiring the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy or perusing the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, you need to be on the lookout for study abroad scams. Study abroad scams can take a wide variety of forms. From getting mixed up in the wrong travel or hotel accommodations to getting duped by con artists on the streets, studying abroad in a foreign country leaves a lot of room for misfortune. Here are five things to look out for while exploring overseas so that you can get the most out of studying abroad without getting gypped.
Pickpockets
Pickpocketing is common in big cities, so you need to keep an eye out for your belongings. Although Lauren Searles, a senior at Syracuse University who studied abroad in Madrid, wore a cross-body purse to protect her belongings while riding a downtown bus abroad, that wasn’t enough to inhibit the townies’ sticky fingers. “Taking a nap on the bus probably wasn’t the smartest idea, but when I woke up, someone had taken my credit card, license, student ID, and money out of my wallet that was next to me,” she says. You don’t have to be asleep to fall victim to this scam, however. Lauren remembers one of her peers having her iPad stolen out of her purse when it was on a chair next to her at a restaurant. Another one of Lauren’s friends felt a guy’s entire arm buried in her purse while riding the metro in the middle of the day.
Nate Nault, the creator and editor of The Study Abroad Blog, a website that provides advice to study abroad students, has studied abroad twice and recommends clipping or attaching your belongings to yourself while traveling abroad. You can do this with a cell phone holster or a money belt such as this one, or by using your inside coat pockets.
“[Pickpockets] will be around regardless of what part of the world you’re in,” Nault says. “Make sure you take anything that was in your back pockets and put it in your front pockets. If you’re in a crowded area, keeping your hands in your pockets or on top of them is a good way to prevent people from reaching in them without you knowing.”
Programs that don’t give you what you paid for
When Syracuse University junior Olivia Farnham booked a two-week trip to Paris through a travel company her sophomore year of high school, she was beyond excited. She dreamed of seeing the Arc de Triomphe and admiring artwork in the Louvre. It turned out, however, that her fantasies would remain just that. “I was definitely ripped off,” Olivia says. “I never got to see the Eiffel Tower up close like our travel guide had originally said, and we didn’t even stay inside the city of Paris itself, we stayed in an insanely gross hotel outside of the city. The trip was definitely falsely advertised.” The company didn’t fulfill their promises, but they still charged her the advertised price.
To avoid a trip that breaks both your bank and your spirits, Nault suggests a few things to look out for that may signify an illegitimate program. “A poor online presence, lack of information or assistance on the website, no reputation among the study abroad community, poor reviews from previous students—these all point to a program that is unprofessional, or worse, may just be a scam to get your money,” Nault says.
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Getting gypped in a market
Tales about getting scammed while shopping in marketplaces abroad aren’t hard to come by. From being sold knock-offs to paying too much money for an item, getting gypped in a market can take many forms. “Guys working in the market would try and rip you off if they could tell you were American,” says Elizabeth Arens, a senior at Syracuse University who recently studied abroad in Florence, Italy. “They just scream at you, ‘Best deal! Best deal!’ until you take it, even if the stuff is fake. You should also watch out for the…(vendors) who sell knockoffs of literally everything and go after ‘dumb Americans.’”
Unfortunately, if you pay the agreed price of an item and then decide later that you think you overpaid, there isn’t much you can do, Nault says. If you were genuinely misled about buying something supposedly of significant value, such as a purse or an item of clothing, your first step should be to report it to your study abroad office or the authorities. “Confronting the person who gypped you alone will probably lead to an un-winnable argument, or worse, that person could become extremely angry and dangerous,” says Nault. “And don’t be surprised if the stall manager makes a very big scene if you do go back.”
Getting overcharged for cab rides
Often if cab drivers can tell that you’re not a local, they’ll try to overcharge you for rides by taking a longer route than necessary or pretending the rate is higher than it actually is, because they assume you won’t know better. When Anne O’Connell, a junior at Syracuse University, studied in Istanbul this past summer, she and three of her friends took a cab back to their hotel one day because it was raining. The cab ride took 45 minutes longer than expected, and the girls ended up having to pay 95 lira (about $53) to their driver, who did not speak English. “To this day, we’re still not sure what he did, but we think he palmed the 50 lira bill, showed us the money and made it clear that he needed more,” Anne says. “Not knowing what happened or what to do, we had to give him another 50 because we were too scared he would follow us and get mad if we just left.”
Nault recommends getting to know the prices of public transportation (buses, subways, etc.) and cab fares ahead of time, and to travel in pairs or groups if you’re going to use non-public transportation, like Anne and her friends.
Street con artists
It is not uncommon for scammers to pretend to be figures of authority in order to trick unsuspecting travelers into giving them money or other valuables. They also will pose as tour guides or friendly locals who want to help you find your destination, but will then demand that you give them money for their favor.
Lauren remembers hearing about a couple who was stopped by two men who said they were cops asking for their passports. The couple got suspicious because the men did not look reliable, so they kept refusing and eventually the men left them alone. The couple later found out that the men were going to steal the passports to resell them.
Be wary of people in the street offering “help,” asking you to sign something, or requesting that you hand over any valuables. When you’re in a foreign situation, it’s best to remember what your parents told you when you were younger and never talk to strangers.
Being overcharged for drinks
Taking advantage of intoxicated students is common practice in Asia and just about every part of the world, but it’s now becoming a trend in Europe, according to Nault. “Basically, attractive women (in most cases) invite intoxicated students they see out to a bar or club where they are charged an outrageous amount for even just a drink or two. The women, of course, are working for the owner of the bar and probably get a percentage of that money,” Nault says.
To avoid this con, Nault says it’s important to your gut. If the people seem suspicious, no matter how friendly they are being, take a step back and remember what you learned about the society from your pre-study abroad research. Ask yourself:
“Is this standard practice for this culture? Is what I am about to do put me or my friends in danger?” Additionally, if you’re going out while abroad, it’s vital that at least one person in your group of friends is sober enough to use his or her sound judgment and make decisions on behalf of the group. Think of him or her as your “voice of reason” for the night.
Don’t let any of these cheats deter you from pursuing your study abroad dreams, however. Do your research so that you can prepare for the unexpected. Being a foreigner can make you more likely to be a victim of a scam, because con artists think it’ll be easier to get away with it. However, Nault says that “there isn’t really a great way to avoid looking American or like a tourist when you’re in a foreign country.” Instead, Nault highly encourages reading up on the destination ahead of time so that you can take better advantage of your travels and prepare yourself for any other unsafe situations you might encounter. “And do your best not to get yourself into any situations that look like they could turn in the wrong direction. Trust your gut!” Nault says.
Always use caution in whatever you do, and don’t be afraid to be a little suspicious of people or places. Safe travels, collegiettes!