There are good financial habits that travellers should use. As an example, when they are exchanging large amount of money, they should do it at trusted, major banks; instead of local exchange services. It is also advisable to cash in travellers’ cheques at designated places and use our debit card. It should be noted that some countries have restrictions in foreign exchange trades. Also not all hotels have currency exchange services. If possible, we should pay in US dollars, because it is accepted in many places. In fact, some smaller stores could also agree to accept US dollars, although they usually operate using local currencies.
In general, it is always convenient if we use a real bank, because they perform currency exchange services legally. We should check whether exchanging money with local break the local law. We should also know that this is the most likely way we are getting cheated or sometimes, outright robbed. If the country forbids currency trading outside banks, we could be charged with crime. Also, if we become currency exchange victims, it is impossible to report it, because the currency trading itself has violated the law. That’s the reason why we should avoid private currency exchange in these countries.
Other than possible risks of cheating and robbery, we could also be victimized by pickpockets. Near foreign currency services, there could be pickpockets who are aiming for unwary travellers, so we should be very careful. We should keep a close eye on people around us and be careful of those who slowly approach us when we are trading money. Worse, some currency traders are actually working with pickpockets and they share their gains. Pickpockets know how to choose tourists who carry a large amount of money. Slight of hand scams are also quite common among bad currency traders.
Slight of hand scams are more sophisticated than typical pickpocketing. This method can be used to victimize people who let their guard down. It makes sense for currency traders to count money very quickly because they are very experienced with it. However, they do it so fast that travellers can’t keep up. This is an opportunity for them scam tourists. Slight of hands scam could happen because these people offer great exchange rate. This will lure many travellers. These scammers use trick that’s also implemented by magicians. They could cause us to focus on one pile of money with less value.
It’s no use dealing with these people, because even if we are able to find out; they will beg to get their money back and cancel the transaction. With the rate of exchange rate they offer, these people are losing money, if they do the transaction honestly. To avoid being scammed, there should be at least a couple pair of eyes to check the transaction. We should bring a fellow traveller to make sure that we are being given the amount of money agreed. They money should be spread on the table and we should count it a few times, especially before we put it into our bag.