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Scam:

Helpful locals

These scams are based upon the idea of offering you help or advice that is actually deceptive, trusting that you will rely on the scammer's "local knowledge". They usually involve giving advice that results in you paying for something you otherwise wouldn't or going somewhere you don't want to go. Some scams in which a helpful local offers to cut you a good deal can be outright fraudulent — convincing you to buy fake gems for example — but many simply get you to pay for something that you wouldn't pay for if you knew the area better. One of the biggest traps of these kinds of scams is the desire to be polite to people who are polite and friendly to you; and the scammers know this. While you shouldn't become a hard-nosed nasty person, you should receive unsolicited offers of help with polite caution, and when you are reasonably certain that you're being scammed, there's no need to be polite in fending it off: feel free to walk away, yell at the person or yell for help. Another trap is the "too good to be true" offers: they are almost certainly not true.

 Recommendations

Your driver or guide will tell you that the place you're heading to is gone, or if you've booked, that it's no good or too expensive and that he knows somewhere better. While this may be true, it's likely that the 'better' place is giving him a commission for referrals. You could either insist on going to your planned destination or get him to agree that if you don't like his recommendation then he will take you to your original destination. The latter will often work if his commission only depends on getting you to the door, but it's hard to tell what the deal is. If you're worried, just insist on your original destination. In some cases the driver will not drive you to you hotel even if you insist. Sitting with your luggage on the back seat and threatening to get out at a red light without paying usually helps.

Attraction closed

You may arrive at a major tourist destination only to find a very helpful local near the entrance explaining that there's a riot/holiday/official visit at the place you want to go and it is closed. The local will then offer to take you to a lesser known but infinitely more beautiful sight or to a nice shop. Generally the destination is in fact open for business: refuse the offer and go and have a look. Even on the rare occasions when they are telling the truth they may not be as helpful as they seem, so it would be better to pursue your own backup plan.

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