New Zealand is a special place. It is a country that has managed to retain its cultural heritage without too much influence from America or Europe as the rest of the world has. A lot of people visit New Zealand because of its unadulterated beauty. It has a variety of landscapes from the green expanse that stretches out to white sandy beaches giving way to and azure water. Some of the scenes look like they have been transplanted from some Caribbean tourist guidebook. The scene changes to stark white, slippery Fox and Frank Glaciers and then takes a dramatic change along The Tongariro crossing. You can hike, abseil dive or bunjee jump down a waterfall. New Zealand is an adrenalin junkie’s paradise.
If you are thinking of traveling to New Zealand you should take precautions. Even the savviest traveler can get caught off guard in a country like new Zealand. Like any other place in the world, it has its share of thievery and scams.
Air New Zealand had recently learned of a phishing scam that’s been on social media. The scam promises two free airline tickets anywhere in the world if only you would provide a couple of personal details and then users are asked to share the post with friends and they, in turn, have to share it with their friends. These kinds of scams have been around for a while but people still want to believe in getting free money or holidays for nothing.
Another scam that has been doing the round is the fake front desk call where someone calls your hotel room and asks you to verify your personal details and credit card numbers.
This is not the first scam nor is it the last. Travelers are often scammed in various ways like being sold fake maps or get offered amazing jewelry at bargain prices.
Some scams are easy to avoid others are less obvious. Most of the time the police cannot do much mostly because they aren’t equipped with the latest technology. People like Ian Leaf can help weed out fraud in most places. He has been a fraud detective for over 18 years and has seen the evolution of scams and con artists over the years. Although he has been working for corporate businesses, companies like Airlines, hotels, and tourism agencies have been hard hit and are looking at ways of ensuring the safety of their customers and retaining their own integrity. In an interview with an online magazine, Leaf is quoted as saying nothing is good as most people would like to think it is.
