Beware of “free” tour guide scam

[OneSixtyToOne]

We are currently on a trip to Europe and a new scam has come to our attention that I’d like to warn people about.

 

During our tour with London Walks we were told by the tour guide, who is also one of the company founders, that a group of Bulgarians are advertising “free” walking tours in several major European cities. They take your photo when you show up and that is then sent to their handler for a count of how many people are on the tour. They then get a phone call telling the tour guide they owe $10 a head. The tour guide then gives a sob story about how sorry he is but his boss now wants X dollars and can you please help.

 

Apparently it works because a lady on our tour said she was scammed just last week. Everyone felt sorry for the guy and forked over the money. She thought it was an isolated incident, but it turns out it’s an organized scam with unlicensed, unaccredited people, and what the guide describes during the tour may or may not be factual. What is worse is that it is driving legitimate tour guides out of business. Remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

BTW we have taken three London Walks tours and they are all first rate. I highly recommend them.

Edited September 6, 2018 by OneSixtyToOne

[Cruisen Elf]

Thanks for the heads up! Good to know.