7 Tourist Scams in Nashville

A group celebrating a birthday on Broadway ordered a round of drinks. No prices were posted, and the bartender didn't mention them. The tab arrived at $340 for eight drinks — roughly $42 each for basic cocktails and domestic beers. When they questioned it, the bartender pointed to a small laminated card behind the register listing prices most customers would never see: $17 for a shot of mid-tier bourbon, $25 for an Old Fashioned, $10 for a Coors Light. Nashville was ranked the 4th biggest tourist trap city in the world in a 2026 study with an authenticity score of just 3.8 out of 100. Locals consistently warn on Reddit that they avoid Lower Broadway entirely because of aggressive overpricing and overcrowding.

A tourist found what looked like an official parking ticket on her windshield after visiting Music Row. The ticket was labeled 'Metro Nashville Parking' and included a QR code directing her to pay a $35 fine at www.metronashvilleparking.com. She scanned the code and entered her credit card information. Within days, fraudulent charges appeared on her account. The Metro Nashville Police Department's Fraud Unit issued a formal warning confirming the scam, noting that the fake tickets were specifically placed in the Midtown Hills area covering 12 South, Music Row, and Midtown. The fraudulent website and a linked Square payment account collected both fine payments and victims' financial data.

A shopper at Opry Mills was approached in the parking lot by a group of young people with clipboards claiming to raise money for a high school basketball team. They asked for a $5 donation and showed a Square card reader displaying $5 on screen. After she tapped her card, her bank statement later showed multiple charges totaling over $2,000. NewsChannel 5 Nashville reported that this scam was costing Nashvillians thousands, with scammers using card readers, tap-to-pay, and Apple Pay to process inflated charges. MNPD arrested a 19-year-old suspect identified through surveillance footage and confirmed they had 'a few dozen' people of interest. Police said the scam is happening across Tennessee and nationwide.

A bachelorette group leaving Broadway at 2 AM was approached by a man in a dark sedan who called out one of their names — overheard from conversation — and said, 'Your Uber is here.' They got in. Halfway to their Airbnb, the driver demanded $80 cash, far more than the app would charge, and became aggressive when they protested. Nashville city council passed two bills specifically criminalizing impersonating a rideshare driver, making it punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. The legislation was prompted by multiple incidents involving tourists, particularly targeting groups leaving Broadway bars late at night.

A group bought $40 wristbands through PubCrawls.com for a Nashville bar crawl promising no cover charges and drink specials at multiple participating bars. When they arrived at the designated check-in point, there was no staff and no event. They walked to the first 'participating' bar on the list, and the bartender said they had never heard of the event. None of the bars honored the wristbands, and the group still had to pay full cover and regular drink prices everywhere they went. TripAdvisor reviews confirm this pattern — the company takes payment online but never contacts or coordinates with the actual bars. Legitimate Nashville bar crawls, by contrast, have on-site hosts and bars that recognize the wristbands.

A couple bought two tickets to a sold-out country show at the Ryman from a man outside the venue who showed them a convincing screenshot of a ticket transfer and a receipt from StubHub. They paid $270 each via Venmo. At the door, the scanner rejected both QR codes — the tickets were counterfeit duplicates sold to multiple buyers from the same screenshot. Similar stories regularly appear on Nashville Reddit, where scammers position themselves near venue entrances and target fans who were shut out of sold-out shows. The BBB warns that counterfeit tickets have become increasingly sophisticated with convincing QR codes that only fail at the moment of scanning.

A bachelorette party booked a 'party bus' through an Instagram ad for $200 total. The bus arrived 40 minutes late, the sound system barely worked, and at the end of the ride the driver demanded an additional $300 for a 'fuel surcharge,' 'cleanup fee,' and mandatory 25% gratuity that were allegedly in the fine print of a contract nobody read. When they protested, the driver implied they could not leave until they paid. Nashville has seen a boom in unregulated party vehicles, and a community petition called for stricter regulations. Legitimate operators like Nashville Pedal Tavern are ABC-certified and city-licensed with transparent pricing, but fly-by-night operators exploit the party atmosphere.