Outsmart the scammers

Despite the phenomenal growth of airport security over the last seven years, getting scammed at the TSA checkpoint is still a distinct possibility. Often it’s just a crime of opportunity — somebody who decides on the spur of the moment to snatch your iPod or cell phone from one of those ubiquitous plastic bins. But there are thieves, working solo or in tandem, who make a living off airports. They stand behind you in the TSA line and snatch items from your carry-on as you're passing through the metal detector. Or, they may be in front — one member of the team takes forever passing through the scanner while his or her partner walks away with your laptop that's already gone through the X-ray machine.

There have been several well-publicized cases over the past year in which victims were able to remotely activate the camera on their stolen laptops and identify the culprits. But you can’t rely on stupid crooks.

Steve Lott, head of North American communications for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggests several ways to keep from getting ripped off at airports. “I always recommend keeping an eye on your handbags and carry-ons at all times,” he says. “Don’t go through the metal detector before your bag does. If you require secondary screening, always ask a TSA agent to get your bag from the belt and bring it with you to the screening area. Be vigilant and avoid distraction. And before you leave the TSA screening area, always double-check that your valuables are in place.”

Expensive electronics aren’t the only thing that thieves are after. They can also pocket your identity without you even knowing that it’s been taken. Sifting through items that many travelers leave lying around their hotel rooms — driver’s license, airline tickets, address book, diaries, expense reports or anything else that may contain sensitive personal information — hotel workers and anyone else who gains access to your room can successfully hijack your persona for financial or other means. The simple solution is securing everything with personal information in the room safe or a lockable piece of luggage.

Identity theft also proliferates online. Be wary of using cybercafés or even hotel business centers for commercial transactions involving credit cards, and if you communicate personal financial information via e-mail on a public computer, always verify that you have signed out of your e-mail program before leaving the computer.

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One of the least financially damaging scams is one of the most irritating — the infamous resort fee — that extra charge (normally $20 to $30) that some luxury hotels add for the privilege of using things that should be free or that we are unlikely to use. Although no one is sure who invented the resort fee, it’s often associated with Hawaii and its ritzy beach hotels.

“It’s an easy way for hotels to capture extra revenue from a captive audience,” says Alex Salkever, founder and editor of the Hawaiirama travel news and reviews Web site. “Once you get to the front desk, it’s not like you can turn around and leave.” The problem, says Salkever, is hotels that don’t disclose their resort fees ahead during the reservation process. “A few are good deals,” he adds. “One resort offers kids meals for free as part of the resort fee and that strikes me as a bargain. Most, however, are rip-offs.”

Cyberspace is rife with travel scams. Just this past winter, San Diego college students — planning a summer volunteer trip to teach English to orphans in West Africa — bought their tickets online from a discount airfare Web site based in Delaware. They paid online using their credit cards, but never received an e-ticket or electronic itinerary. By the time they got around to asking for a refund, the Web site had completely disappeared and nobody was responding at the travel agency’s telephone number.

“I don’t understand how someone can do something like this to other people,” one of the students lamented to a local television station, especially when the agency knew they were going to be doing volunteer work “and we didn’t have money to throw away.”

Maybe they can no longer fool all of the people all of the time, but savvy scammers know there are still plenty of travelers out there who they can trip up at least part of the time.

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