A tourist praised the locals in Bali for exposing her to a money exchange scam that she had fallen for too quickly and letting her know that a sizable portion of her holiday money had vanished.
After having a “run-in” with an unethical money changer at a well-known vacation spot in Bali, the South Australian tourist posted about it online. The blatant con seems so prominent that even Indonesian locals know it. However, tourists still fall for it.
The Australian woman jumped back into her waiting car after visiting a high street exchange to acquire some spending money.
She grew concerned after telling her driver what she got up to on her trip. Out of an overabundance of caution, the driver advised her to recount her cash.
“I used a non-authorised user, counted the money three times, and then later in the day, my driver said check money now, and I couldn’t believe it, it was much less,” she posted on the Bali Bogans Facebook page.
Untrustworthy money exchange bureaus use sleight of hand in the scam, which results in less money being transferred than anticipated. Right in front of the consumer, even after it has been counted. According to the comments on the Facebook page, many travellers have fallen for this scam.
After realising that the Australian woman had been stung, the local taxi driver immediately insisted on returning to the exchange.
“[He] drove me back to that person, and told him to give me my money back or he would call the police,” she claimed.
The cashier did not argue or apologise, according to the tourist. “They just gave me my money back and told me and my driver to get out.”
The driver’s quick thinking meant she got her holiday money back. However, many other tourists only realise their wallet is too light, and fallen for this scam just a little bit too late.
It is advised for foreign tourists who wish to exchange money to visit a bank or utilise the facilities offered by their hotel. Ensure that the money exchange merchant is “authorised” and has an up-to-date business permit before deciding to utilise a high street exchange. Another alternative to dealing with vast amounts of cash is to use traveller’s cash cards.
According to the local news outlet, authorities have lately investigated after learning that unauthorised money exchange scam bureaus are a problem in Bali.
Foreign tourists should exercise caution while exchanging significant quantities of money due to spot inspections at the money exchange bureaus in Kuta, Seminyak, and Legian that resulted in the closure of some unlicensed businesses.
Interested in this topic? Check out our other articles from Social Expat:
