Regarding the New Delhi Station scam: some of these artists are very convincing. As we approached the station, a man came up to us and offered some tourist advice. Two other men came immediately, grabbed him by the collar, and started to lead him off. They had the demeanor of cops. "That is against the law," one of them said, and pointed to a uniformed man standing nearby. "This way to the foreigners' ticket office," said the uniformed man (wearing a chowkidar's uniform, with no insignia), and pointed in a direction away from the main station building. At this point I realized it was a scam, and proceeded to the station.
This scam was very elaborate, with four participants (not including the ones in the "tourist information centre" we surely would have been led to). Had I not read this board, or the LP book, before traveling, I might have been taken in
-- Steve
Another simple trick is that a tout will pretend to be a ticket controller when you try to ENTER the station to begin with. When you say you don't have a ticket but are entering to buy one he will refuse you entry and - as usual - point you towards an office away from the station. The very simple solution: Ask for his official ID (should always be done when dealing with any people claiming to be of authority). Confronting him with an I-got-you smile rather than with anger is the best approach as it will prevent the situation from turning hostile.
thanks for laughing im laughing now though
relaxing on the beach in goa just chilling the tourist police are investigating
You are in Goa, the problems occurred in other states. I hardly think anything will come of it.
In any case its an education and much cheaper than in, say, a real estate deal. Makes a good story to relate later..
I am glad that i put this thread on just if i saves 1 other person from making the mistakes i made
When we stayed on the house boat there was a older couple who i can only say must have spent over a thousand pounds on trip just to get thier passports back they went to tourist police andnothing was done
i have spoken to them recently and they had had enough of india and went back home to canada and said they will never return to india again sad story but so true adn so many people come a cropper to these types of scams
Well if they'd bought their Lonely Planet and read it, they may have avoided the houseboat scam. I would assume that other travel guides to Kashmir would have issued some warning as well.
Look if someone has your passport and is demanding money, and you are in the middle of a city - where there are police, army, officialese etc, then if you can't find someone to help you get it back, I find that hard to believe unless you must be an exceptionally timid person and a bit stupid too. All you need do was get off the boat, and go and phone your embassy for goodness sake. Surely they would pull a few strings to get the police into gear. I mean a passport is a sacred object and i don't think any government wants one of theirs floating round in the wrong hands. The thing is, neither you nor those older couple tried hard enough to get out of your situation.
But yes, it is sad for those people.
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