1 month ago
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Travel|Help! I’ve Been Ripped Off. I Want My Money Back!
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/travel/scams-fraud-money-back-tips.html
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Tripped Up
Our columnist addresses a case of wire fraud, a credit card scheme and a dubious website — just three examples of the types of reader woe that regularly surface in the Tripped Up inbox.
Aug. 8, 2024, 5:06 a.m. ET
Dear Tripped Up,
I took a 7.95-euro taxi ride in Paris and charged it to my Citi credit card, but the driver refused to provide a receipt, and my card was charged $795.85. Citi would not reimburse this obvious fraud. Can you help? Ann, Philadelphia
Dear Tripped Up,
We booked a $5,500 stay at an apartment in Amsterdam via Vrbo, and soon after, the property owner contacted us requiring that we wire him the full cost of the rental. We were reluctant but had successfully wired money before for a stay in Italy, so we went ahead with it. The owner canceled at the last minute, and the refund he promised never came through. Vrbo is stalling. Can you help? Kevin, Seattle
Dear Tripped Up,
I wanted to enroll my two college-age children in Global Entry, the program run by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, so they could speed through passport checkpoints with me. So I Googled “Global Entry application” and clicked on the top link, which looked at first glance like an official government site. I filled in the forms and was charged $249 per application. When I realized my mistake — the actual government fee is $100 — I asked for a refund and eventually got everything but the $100 fees back. The applications did go through, but these people were super sketchy, and I’m worried about identity theft. Doesn’t Google have an obligation not to promote a fraudulent site? Christine, New York
Dear Ann, Kevin and Christine,
You are all experienced travelers, and yet you were caught in three schemes that, unfortunately, regularly surface in the Tripped Up inbox of reader woe.
The Olympics are underway in France, so let’s start with Ann. The taxi driver took your credit card, overcharged you and didn’t supply a receipt.
In the last few months, I’ve received multiple reader complaints specifically about Paris taxis, but such things happen just about everywhere. In fact, we covered a similar scam in Mexico in June. Doubly frustrating in situations like these is that the fraudsters are individuals or small businesses that are hard to track down, especially in a country where you don’t speak the language. So Ann, like other victims, you turned to your credit card issuer’s fraud department.
