Scammers create fake home listings and advertise them as their own. The deals seem convincing and you book the property. However, upon arrival, you may find that the home is already occupied by other guests, leaving you stranded with no place to stay and your money gone. In some cases, scammers don’t even copy existing listings—they simply create new ones with believable images to cheat potential renters.

This is one of the common scams where taxi drivers use various tricks to overcharge passengers. They may take a longer route, use manipulated meters, or refuse to follow the meter at all. In some cases, dishonest drivers take unsuspecting passengers to a secluded area and demand money, threatening to leave them stranded if they don’t comply.

Scammers often create websites that closely mimic legitimate car rental services. Unsuspecting users enter their personal information and make advance payments but never receive a vehicle. In some cases, renters are given already damaged cars and are heavily penalized for damages they did not cause. Other common scams in the US and UK include individuals impersonating traffic police, forcing renters to pay unusual fines, and companies pushing customers to purchase unnecessary insurance or demanding high security deposits in cash.

If you travel a lot, it is important to know where to get your currency exchanged to avoid unfair exchange rates, high fees or fake bills. One of the common tricks scammers use is approaching tourists as friendly locals and saying something like they withdrew extra cash and insist on exchanging it for you. Never trust such offers; simply walk away. There are shady exchange spots that may shortchange you by giving fewer bills and rushing the transaction so you don’t have time to count them properly.

Just like in fake rental listing scams, scammers create fraudulent web pages resembling authentic airline websites and offer attractive discounts. These are phishing websites that are designed to swindle you out of your funds and steal personal information while also selling fake tickets and services. 

It is recommended to always use the ATMs that are inside the financial institutions, or alleys where they have security cameras. Pay close attention to cameras inside the ATM, if the lights are operable or not, if there are unusual stickers or raised keypads. These are some of the signs that might indicate that the ATM has been tampered with.

If you wish to avoid any IDP-related hassles in a foreign country, it is highly recommended that you conduct thorough research in your home country and get it through an official website or office. Many counterfeit websites sell bogus documents that, when verified by the police in the country you're traveling to, turn out to be fake. This can lead to unnecessary legal and financial trouble in an unfamiliar country.

This is especially important if you have lost your wallet, shared sensitive details under pressure, or fallen victim to card skimming. Contacting the bank can help prevent any further financial loss.

If the scam occurred through an  app, report it within the app so the company can help you and take action against the fraudster. 

Keep a record of everything about the scam; payments made, screenshots of chats or anything that seems relevant to present to the authorities. 

In case of loss of important documents like passport seek help from your country’s embassy. 

Being a community-based service, Truecaller relies on user reports to flag spam numbers, filter out messages from scammers, and identify fake companies. This helps protect others from becoming victims of travel and other types of scams.