Travel Scams
Ignore what you see in movies of actresses dressed elegantly with large dangling jewelry at Trevi Fountain or actors richly attired walking towards Termini station without any issues. Travel scams can be in any form and vary from place to place.
Leonardo da Vinci Airport 2019 – Arrived to Leonardo da Vinci Airport after a dramatic flight from Perth to Rome via Doha. Arrived late and exhausted from all the drama. Approached at the Arrival hall if we wanted a taxi. Aware that a taxi ride to our hotel will average between €30 to €35. The driver offered to take us there for €30. Sounds good of a price to miss. Arrived at the hotel and the driver unloaded our luggage but refused to let us have them by claiming that he meant €30 per person per journey. There are 3 of us and therefore, it is €90. Really exhausted and frustrated, we had no choice but to pay him €90 to get him off our backs. What a scam!
Hotel Gioberti, Rome 2017 – On arriving at Roma Termini from the Airport, we had reservations to stay a night at Hotel Gioberti before departing for Pompeii the next morning. Crossing the road with our luggage from Roma Termini to the Hotel, two well-attired men man-handled my father. The first deliberately walked into him, pushed him off balance and walked away. The second walked into him and pretended to push his way through but dug his hands into my father’s jacket for the inner pocket. My father pushed the second man away, left his luggage and wanted to give chase. I was at the Hotel lobby when I heard the commotion. I rushed to grab the luggage and yelled for my father to get into the hotel. Never know if there was going to be a third man to take the opportunity to grab his luggage. Though those men got away with nothing but that experience affected my father.
Roma Termini 2014 – Platform 25 to Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Dragging the luggage to board the train. When queuing to board the train, a man picked our luggage and helped us to board the train. It looked like a pleasant gesture not knowing that he was not associated with any of the train services. As we thanked the man and settled into our seats, he held onto our luggage and demanded for €25. We refused to give him as we did not ask for his help. He threatened to throw our luggage off the train until a conductor intervened and demanded that he disembark from the train.
Travel scammers are real and the experience can be traumatising. Be firm. It is extremely exhausting having to deal with them. However, you need to be alert when away from home and never compromise safety for the sake of beauty or attention. Scammers can also come in the form of someone taken to be nice but later demanding for money.