Morocco Travel Alert: Top Tourist Scams and How to Avoid Them

A recent conversation on Reddit, titled "What’s the worst scam you’ve fallen for while traveling?", allows us to learn about common traps that tourists, especially those going to Morocco but also to other countries, may face. Taxi overcharging and tricks involving banknotes top the list.

The problem of dishonest taxis seems to be a recurring concern. Many internet users advise the utmost caution. In Morocco, for example, a Reddit user claims that many drivers "tell you their meter is broken and charge you high fees". He recounts: "I literally had to leave taxis because of this, as they always overcharged." A testimony corroborated by another: "Taxis in foreign countries can be a real scam, especially when they consider you a tourist." However, a glimmer of hope is brought by the advent of ride-hailing apps. This same user notes that "Uber has helped things enormously, at least they have good customer service." An opinion shared by another, for whom "Uber and other ridesharing services completely changed the game when they appeared."

Another source of misadventures for unwary travelers: manipulation of local currency. For those discovering Morocco, a good knowledge of the dirham is advised to avoid scams. User "Harperfin" learned this the hard way, explaining that the purple 20 dirham bill (about 1.80 euros) can be confused with the blue 200 dirham bill (about 18 euros). "A waiter in a restaurant scammed me by taking my money, then running out and insisting that I had mistakenly given him a lower value bill. He distracted me by waving the money around and talking quickly," he detailed.

This type of stratagem is unfortunately not unique to one destination. User "NoStructure371" reports a similar misadventure that occurred in the Netherlands. "A similar thing happened to me in Amsterdam. A beer cost eight euros and I gave him 50 euros and the bartender gave me back a two euro coin without it being a big deal, making me lose 40 euros thinking I wouldn’t say anything," he testifies.