1,959 scams across 24 countries — each with the exact script, the red flags, and the phrase that shuts it down. Drawn from police arrest records, local press, and a year of field research.
Each title is a field-tested scam atlas for a single country — 60 to 190 documented scams across its biggest tourist cities. Sample one below, or read the full book on Amazon.
From Tokyo's ¥130,000 bar trap to Nara's deer problem.
A street hustler offers a "free drink" and leads you into a basement bar. Three rounds later the bill hits ¥130,000 with staff blocking the door. Shinjuku Police logged 190 cases in 2024 alone.
Paris pickpocket rings, Cannes watch thefts, Saint-Tropez beach-club racketeering.
Hamidovic-clan pickpocket teams work upscale Paris restaurants — coats lifted mid-service under fake-name reservations. Per Connexion France and Préfecture de Police arrests.
Roman shell games, Venetian pickpocket rings, Capri's Blue Grotto fee-stack.
Fast-shuffled cups on Piazza di Spagna and around Termini. Plants in the crowd "win" €20 notes to pull you in. Losses €50–300 per tourist; coordinated teams work the stream daily.
Grand Palace "closed today" lies, tuk-tuk gem-shop loops, Koh Tao passport-hostage rackets.
A smiling driver says the Grand Palace is closed for a royal ceremony and offers a "quick tour" — which ends at a gem shop with 900% markups. Tourist Police (1155) logs 50+ reports daily.
Plaka clip-joint bars, Mykonos €836 oyster bills, Santorini's "broken meter" taxis.
A stranger befriends you in Plaka, invites you to a "local bar," then orders expensive drinks. Bill hits €500+; exit blocked until paid. Tourist Police (171) logs 30+ weekly reports.
Noi Bai fake-Grab cabs, Bui Vien 4M-VND bar extortion, Ha Long off-platform cruise fraud.
A fake Grab driver mimics the app interface and quotes 2–3× the official meter rate. Operates in pre-arranged clusters at Noi Bai arrivals. 40+ daily reports to tourism police.
La Rambla rosemary hustles, Sol three-card trile, Alhambra skip-the-line resellers.
A team pins a rosemary sprig to your shirt claiming it's for good luck, then demands €5–20 with aggression if you walk away. A high-volume operation — €100+ daily per scammer reported.
Bali fake-Grab circuits, Jakarta honeypot bars, Ijen Crater guide shakedowns.
An unlicensed taxi mimics Grab's app design and quotes $30–50 for a 30-minute ride that should cost $8–12 on the meter. A high-frequency operation — 60+ daily incidents reported.
Wangfujing "art student" galleries, Bund tea-ceremony 10K-RMB bills, Xi'an jade-quarter loops.
Two young women approach near the subway exit and walk you to a "free" student exhibition that closes with catalog prints at 2,000–4,000 RMB. China Daily has covered the script annually since 2010.
Pearson Uber fraud, Montreal winter parking traps, Whistler QR-sticker parking stings.
A driver accepts the ride, cancels in-app, then demands cash citing a "system glitch." Terminals 1 and 3 are the hotspot. 20+ daily complaints to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Benito Juárez airport sitio-taxi overcharges, Cancún time-share traps, Tulum cenote-road shakedowns.
A laminated "Authorized Taxi" card at MEX Terminal 1 quotes MX$800–1,500 for a ride the official Sitio booth twenty meters away charges MX$250–330 for. PROFECO has issued three formal advisories since 2019.
Sultanahmet shoe-shine drops, Bodrum jet-ski deposits, Cappadocia WhatsApp balloon fraud.
A Turkish man drops a shoe-shine brush ahead of you near the Blue Mosque. You hand it back; he "thanks" you with a free shine, then bills 800 lira. Turizm Polisi has handed out English warnings since 2012.
Brandenburg clipboard pickpockets, U-Bahn fake-Kontrolleurs, Oktoberfest bill-shock.
A team with clipboards poses as petition collectors and surrounds you for a signature. An accomplice lifts your wallet. €50–400 average loss; 25+ daily incidents in Berlin.
Westminster shell games, Oxford St moped phone-snatch network, Fringe ticket resellers.
A three-card monte variant with a hidden betting pool runs on Westminster Bridge daily. Losses average £50–300 per tourist; 20+ regular players rotate the crowd.
Rio Galeão "Special Taxi" kiosks, Lapa caipirinha honeypots, Pelourinho ribbon rackets.
A fake "Special Taxi" kiosk at the airport quotes R$250 for a 30-minute ride the meter would price at R$50. Operating across three terminals; DEATUR logs 100+ daily complaints.
Lisbon Tram 28 pickpocket rings, Vila Nova de Gaia port-tour upsells, Oura Strip scratchcards.
A coordinated team works Tram 28 on the Alfama tourist route. Three roles — distracter, pickpocket, handoff. Average loss €100–400; 30+ daily incidents reported by PSP Turismo.
Marrakech medina “that way is closed” faux guides, Chefchaouen hash-tout police shakedowns, Merzouga desert-tour bait-and-switches.
A man on the edge of Djemaa el-Fna says the route to the Bahia Palace is closed today — festival, construction. Fifteen turns later you’re in his uncle’s carpet shop and he wants 200 MAD ($20). The original route was open the whole time.
Sydney Airport taxi “top-up” demands, Gold Coast Wyndham timeshare 64-year lock-ins, SIXT phantom damage charges — documented from r/sydney, ScamWatch, and state police warnings.
A metered taxi from Sydney Airport into the CBD. Halfway down the M1 the driver mentions a “mandatory airport surcharge” or “tunnel toll top-up” — usually $40–$120 above the meter, demanded in cash before you reach your hotel. r/sydney’s 1,700-upvote thread runs continuously: same script, same airport rank, same off-meter cash demand.
Bogotá “paseo millonario” yellow-taxi kidnappings, Medellín Tinder scopolamine setups, Cartagena walled-city USD-pricing traps — documented from El Tiempo, Semana, and Policía Nacional de Turismo records.
You hail a yellow taxi near Plaza de Bolívar — license plate visible, meter running. The driver stops to “pick up a cousin.” A second man climbs in with a folding knife at waist level. For the next four to six hours you're driven from ATM to ATM withdrawing your daily maximum. The 2025 US State Department advisory names Bogotá's paseo millonario as the leading cause of financial loss for American travelers in Colombia.
Manuel Antonio “park closed” fake-ranger $40 access-fee shakedowns, SJO airport taxi-meter overcharges, La Fortuna ATV/hot-springs bait-and-switches — documented from Reddit, U.S. Embassy alerts, and OIJ police reports.
A man in olive cargo pants with a clipboard waves you down at the trailhead near Manuel Antonio. He says the park is closed today — maintenance, animal-protection day — and offers a private “guided trail” for $40 USD per person. The real park entrance is 200 meters further on, costs $18.08, and is open. SINAC has posted warning signs at the Quepos turnoff for over a decade.
Giza pyramid camel-tout “free photo” setups, Khan el-Khalili papyrus “school” markups, Luxor Valley of the Kings fake-guide tomb lock-ins — documented from Reddit reports, U.S./UK/Canadian Embassy advisories, and Egyptian Tourism Police bulletins.
A man in a white galabiya at the Giza Plateau parking lot offers to take a free photo of you with his decorated camel. He helps you up. Two minutes later, when you try to climb down, he demands $50–$100 USD in cash — and won’t let the camel kneel until you pay. The Tourism & Antiquities Police have posted warnings at the Sphinx and Pyramids ticket booths for years.
Buenos Aires “¡cambio! best rate today” counterfeit-peso swaps, Patagonia tour-operator bait-and-switches, Iguazú “closed today” fake-guide reroutes — documented from Clarín, La Nación, Página/12, and Policía Federal records.
A man on Calle Florida or near Galerías Pacífico waves a clipboard and offers an “¡cambio! best rate today” — well above the official rate. He hands you a stack of pesos that look right at first glance but include several counterfeit 1,000-peso notes. The Banco Central de la República Argentina has posted warnings at the major arrival points; r/argentina threads document the same script weekly.
KLIA2 “teksi sapu” airport-taxi overcharges, Pantai Cenang jet-ski “damage compensation” shakedowns, Genting market-price patin bills, fake MDAC websites — documented from r/malaysia, the New Straits Times, The Star, Bernama, and PDRM advisories.
A man in a polo shirt at KLIA2 arrivals offers “Bukit Bintang? RM 350 cash.” The legitimate Grab fare is around RM 65; the official Budget Taxi coupon counter at Level 1 sells it for RM 84.30. He doesn’t mention either. r/malaysia and r/KualaLumpur log the same script weekly; PDRM has run periodic enforcement at the curb.
New Delhi Station polo-shirt “tourism” rebooking traps, Hawa Mahal rickshaw textile detours, Mumbai dating-app pub-bill ambushes, Goa WhatsApp “fixer” deposit fraud — documented from Reddit (r/India, r/IndiaTravel), the Times of India, News18, Telangana Today, and U.S./UK embassy advisories.
A man in a polo shirt approaches you at New Delhi Railway Station saying he’s with the “Delhi Tourism office” just outside, and walks you through Paharganj to a professional storefront with maps on the wall. Inside, a suited “agent” tells you your hotel booking has been canceled in a system failure, and rebooks you into a $300–$500 package. The hotels on the brochure don’t exist. The real India Tourism office is at 88 Janpath, in a government building.
A master volume of the most-encountered scams across all 24 countries, a calm field guide for the independent traveler over 60, and a port-day defense manual for cruise passengers. All three available on Amazon Kindle and paperback.
Don't be their next target — 30 scams across 24 countries.
The seven universal patterns every scam shares, the exit phrases that shut them down in eleven languages, and the recovery playbook for the first hour, day, and week. The master volume of the Travel Safety Series.
Stay safe, confident, and independent abroad.
A calm field guide for the independent traveler over 60. Refusal scripts you can practice, a family verification system that stops the grandparent-emergency scam, and four printable appendices — including a Pre-Trip Checklist and Companion Planning Agreement.
A port-day defense manual for tourists with a clock attached.
The seven port-day pressure patterns, fifteen port risk cards from Nassau to Istanbul, eight short drills, and a phrasebook in Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Turkish. For first-time cruisers and experienced cruisers whose habits have relaxed.
Volume One is dental tourism. Volume Two is cosmetic surgery and hair restoration. Volume Three is the foundation volume — the decision framework that applies before you've picked a procedure. All three available on Amazon Kindle and paperback.
If a dental quote made your stomach drop, you are not alone.
The buyer-protection guide for the cost-shocked patient considering dental care abroad. Vet a clinic before you deposit, decode a dental quote, recognize sales pressure, and bring home an Implant Passport. No clinic rankings. No industry payments.
This is the book you wish you had before the deposit.
The buyer-protection guide for the patient considering cosmetic surgery or hair restoration abroad. Verify the surgeon and the anesthesia provider, take the 20-Minute Safety Pause before any deposit, and recognize the BBL and DR patterns the CDC has documented. The Five Rules. The Seven Leverage Points.
If you are thinking about healthcare abroad, this book is for you.
The foundation volume of the series — the decision framework that applies before you've picked a procedure. The Procedure Complexity Ladder (Steps 1–5), specialist credential verification by country, telemedicine second opinions from Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, MD Anderson, MSK, and the eight patterns the book recommends against.
Every scam is tied to Gendarmerie, Carabinieri, Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Policía Nacional, or equivalent arrest records and official advisories — not travel-blog repetition.
80 to 360 pages per title. Designed for the flight over, not a rainy afternoon — tight blurbs, named districts, the exact phrase that shuts the scam down.
Every book is re-researched each year. Buy it once; re-download new editions from your Amazon library at no extra cost. Scams evolve — so do we.
A few of the ones we've earned so far.
"The detailed breakdown of 149 real scams makes it stand out from typical travel guides. I appreciate how it focuses on real incidents drawn from official reports, which adds a strong sense of credibility."
"Exactly the kind of book every traveler needs before visiting Morocco. It goes beyond generic advice and dives into real scams happening in places like Marrakech and Fez. The fact that it's based on news reports and official records makes it incredibly trustworthy."
"A thorough and highly practical guide for anyone planning to visit China. Covering 98 real scams across major destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'an, this book stands out for its strong research base and clear, structured approach."
A series of pocket-sized Kindle books, one per country, documenting the exact tourist scams travelers encounter — with scripts, red flags, and the moves that shut each scam down. Written for the flight over, not a rainy afternoon.
Every scam is tied to a primary source — Gendarmerie, Carabinieri, Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Policía Nacional, PSP Turismo, or equivalent — plus verified traveler reports from Reddit, country-specific subreddits, and the local press (Le Parisien, Repubblica, Nice-Matin, Connexion France, and others).
Twenty-four are already live — Japan, Italy, France, Thailand, Greece, Vietnam, Spain, Indonesia, China, Canada, Mexico, Türkiye, Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil, Portugal, Morocco, Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Argentina, Malaysia, and India (the latest). We target one new country per quarter; more titles are in research for 2026.
$4.99 USD on Amazon Kindle. Price varies slightly by Amazon region. Every book is also free to read scam-by-scam on tabiji.ai — the Kindle edition is the curated, offline-ready atlas version.
Yes. Every book is re-researched each year. Buy it once; re-download future editions from your Amazon library at no extra cost. Scams evolve; retired scams are marked, new ones documented.
The books are curated picks from a much larger archive. Every scam we document is also free to read on tabiji.ai — searchable by city, category, and severity.
Explore the full scam archive →