The velvet season attracts Russian tourists with still comfortable weather combined with a significant price reduction, and scammers with new opportunities to deceive gullible citizens. In an interview with Izvestia, lawyer Ilya Rusyaev named the most popular criminal schemes and ways to protect themselves from them.
The first method of deceiving tourists is associated with excursions that are presented as exclusive, but in reality turn out to be poorly organized, of poor quality, or simply the most common. At the same time, scammers often offer them at inflated prices.
The second scheme is based on the ignorance of many tourists of the real size of taxes and fees in a particular place. Unscrupulous landlords may charge more than the official resort or city fee. For example, in Sochi it is now 50 rubles. per day, and any attempt to charge a tourist more is a scam.
Various variants of deception associated with souvenirs, local goods and products are quite common. Unscrupulous sellers may offer fakes or inflate prices, some offer free tastings, and then demand money for them.
Managing partner of Rusyaev & Partners, lawyer Ilya Rusyaev advises to be wary of offers that seem “ too good” because they can be a trap. It will not be superfluous to check the information on the Internet, compare prices, read reviews, ask locals. In addition, it is important to require official checks, contracts and licenses to weed out scammers.
“If you suddenly fell into the hands of scammers, you can protect your rights. Keep all documents: checks, tickets, contracts, advertising booklets and other materials that may confirm the fact of fraud or poor quality of services. Write down the contact details of witnesses who can corroborate your version of events. With these data, you can contact the police or Rospotrebnadzor,” the lawyer advised.
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