Bali Travel Scams and How to Avoid Them
By: Emily Rutter
Photos by: Elizabeth Rosselle
Bali Travel Scams – Each year roughly five million tourists visit Bali. While the Indonesia island is known for its rugged coastlines, volcanic hillsides and beautiful beaches it’s also known for something else– unsuspecting tourists getting scammed.
Rice Fields in Ubud Photo by: Elizabeth Rossell
Unfortunately some locals will try everything from rideshare drivers asking for more money in cash on top of the fare the app quotes passengers to cab drivers pretending to work for Blue Bird Taxis, Bali’s most reputable taxi company, when they don’t. Another common scam is when you exchange currency, they actually steal some of your cash in front of you, which is what happened to me.
Currency Exchange in Ubud Photo by: Elizabeth Roselle
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My partner Nic and I got scammed without knowing it [until afterwards]. We went to change $300AUD into IDR for a very good rate. The guy said he’d give me $500AUD and “I’ll give you a better deal,” which was reasonable. We counted our exchanged cash in front of him and each other and it was correct and placed it back on the counter.
Nyepi Day Monster in Ubud Photo by: Elizabeth Rosselle
He then asked us for small change so he could make a bigger bill from the exchange that he was giving us. At that moment we both took our eyes off the money and we think he did a sleight of hand and took $200AUD (2000,000 IDR) and hid it in his drawer. We then got the rest of our cash put it in our wallet and walked off.
It wasn’t until the following morning when Nic was separating his cash for another part of the trip that he noticed money was missing. We backtracked our thoughts to everything we did between exchanging the money and getting to our accommodation last night and there was no way we spent that much. Maybe $50 total on some snacks and a taxi.
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I decided to look in my purse and check my exchanged cash as well and that’s then we realized what we think has happened as I was missing the same amount. So please be extra vigilant and never take your eyes off the money for a second, and check twice even three times to ensure you have the correct amount as now we are out-of-pocket $400AUD total between us.
Ubud Farmer’s Market Basket from Permaculture Garden at Moksa Ubud Photo by: Elizabeth Rosselle
Getting money straight from an ATM is one way to avoid this happening to you. Make sure to always count the money back and don’t let them touch it. Also look for slits in the counter where money could easily be taken before exchanging anything. And if you’re staying at a resort and you think you’ve been cheated, tell the security at the resort and they will go with you to confront the person.
Other tourist traps to watch out for: purchasing trinkets from young kids near the beaches. Sometimes they’re forced to stay out of school and sell items to tourists instead, so you’d be perpetuating the problem by buying something, individuals will offer to rent you their motorbike then accuse you of scratching it or taking it back with a spare key, which they don’t tell you so you’ll think it’s stolen and they will then say you have to pay for it and look out for bogus parking fees. Many places are free to park, but some locals will set up a kiosk and charge you a fee when you shouldn’t pay. If you refuse to pay, your motorbike could “accidentally” get knocked over or damaged while you’re away.