Sure, crypto offers some financial anonymity\nwhile also being in the sights of authoritarian regimes that would prefer some\ncontrol over whatever monetary tools are used within and without their borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for most offline transactions, cash is still\nking and there are countless scams to be wary of in your travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I Need A Guy Who Knows A Guy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Exchange rate cons are so common that anyone who\ntravels regularly will know where to find them, which is often at a\n\u201clegitimate\u201d bureau de change in airports or tourist hotspots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Paris, these money changers are everywhere\nand appear to compete with each other while their rates or fees make all of it\na wash in terms of being a sh*tty deal no matter where you go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unless you happen to be a Parisian who knows a\nguy who knows a guy – who knows another guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a profitable visit many years ago, I\nfound myself with a lot of cash that would need to be changed before returning home,\nbut I quickly balked at the exchange rates and fees being offered around the\ncity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luckily, my friend and host was also a frequent\ntraveller and drove me to a little office down a back alley and up some stairs\nnear a side street in an obscure part of the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I couldn\u2019t find that office again for love nor\nmoney but on that day, I saved a large chunk of change for the price of lunch\nand a few card tricks between friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ever since, I\u2019ve always asked local contacts\nwhere the \u201cplace\u201d is to change money and am often lucky to find someone with a\nguy who knows a guy who knows another guy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Macau, we changed our cash at the cage in\nseveral casinos; in Tokyo, a local friend navigated Japanese rules and\npaperwork to get me the best deal while in Ho Chi Minh City. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A friend visited a little apartment where his\ncash was whisked away for 10 worrying minutes until an old lady returned with\nfresh dollar bills that his local contact carefully checked before completing\nthe transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herein Lies A Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The risk in each of these situations is that you\ncould easily be entering into a scam where you can be robbed or ripped off with\ncounterfeit cash so in each of these cases, I (or my friends) relied on a\ntrusted local contact who knew \u201cthe lay of the land\u201d in terms of fraud and\ndeception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not saying that theft doesn\u2019t happen in\nTokyo but there are clear signs whether a business or a procedure is legitimate\nand in Paris, my friend was too important a guy and too smart to be taken in by\n(or to facilitate) this type of con game, so I had confidence in that scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Macau, the casinos change money easily and\nregularly so long as the cash (and the person carrying it) isn\u2019t criminal and\nthey offer better rates than one would find at home, presumably to keep some of\nthat cash on their tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But an apartment in Vietnam with strangers taking\nthe money away before<\/em> they exchange it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cash can be dangerous for all sorts of reasons,\nso when moving it around and changing currency we all need to be careful that a\nfamiliar method in one location doesn\u2019t expose you to scams in another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So sure, my friends and I tend to ask trusted\nlocal contacts where to find better deals but if there\u2019s any doubt – any at all\n– I\u2019d rather line up behind the tourists to get robbed by a clerk with a\ncalculator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across Europe and in many parts of the world,\nfake exchange offices attract transient victims to lose money either through\nbad arithmetic, counterfeit cash, or outright theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In many cities an office isn\u2019t even necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Prague, for example, bogus money traders prey\non tourists near legitimate (though ridiculously expensive) currency exchanges\nand approach people claiming to be from an exchange with preferable rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The scam is simple since it\u2019s easy to spot\nsomeone checking posted exchange rates, highlighting that they must be carrying\ncash and are therefore worth scamming!<\/p>\n\n\n\n So once a likely target is spotted, the hustler\nknows they are ripe (worth taking) but also what they want<\/em> and are\nactively searching for at that exact moment in time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing what someone wants is the con artist\u2019s\nmost powerful advantage and in this scenario it can be all too easy to leverage\nthis information into a quick and easy deception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the scammer needs to do is cut into the\ntourist before they approach the exchange desk and give them a story with\npromises of a better rate and no fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Needless\nto say, many people are quick to jump at that \u201copportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The twist (in Prague) is that these counterfeit currency converters do not trade people\u2019s cash for Czech Crowns but for expired Belarusian Rubles that appear similar to foreign eyes and are (of course) completely worthless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Exchange](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/exchange_rate_machine.jpeg\")
Counterfeit Exchanges <\/h2>\n\n\n\n