FAMOUS RAMBLA: Barcelona’s famous Rambla is well worth a stroll, but beware
pickpockets and scams – just use common sense.

Sue’s guide to holiday
scams – beware some
may be very deadly

There's no reason at all why you should let safety concerns spoil your holiday. Just use commen sense and you'll go a long way towards thwarting the inevitable thieves. They’ll be looking for easy pickings, so don't make it easy for them. Here's my guide to what to be careful about (if you know of any other holiday scams let me know and I’ll include them here).

PROPERTY
The horrorifying details that emerged from the Alicante court case in which two South Americans were convicted of enticing a North Wales couple looking for property to a villa in Benidorm then murdering them after stealing their bank funds should make anyone going abroad think very carefully, whether on business, on holiday or in search of property.

As far as property is concerned, the message is simple: don’t trust anyone offering a property for sale or rent in a newspaper, in a leaflet or on the internet unless they can prove they are bone fide. If the offer sounds too good to be true, then it almost certainly is.

Ideally, only operate through an estate or property agent with a proper office and even then check their status. Are they members of a professional body? Ask to see their creditation and, if you can, check it.

If you’re satisfied the seller or agent is genuine, then before you buy ALWAYS get a survey done on the property – just as you would if you were buying in Britain. I fail to understand why so many people gamble on the property abroad being perfectly sound – the sun must have gone to their heads. As a result, horror stories abound of new owners being hit with cracked walls, sub-standard roofs, poor foundations, bad drainage, non-existent planning permission, land ownership problems and so on .

A big part of the problem is that people spot their dream property while on holiday and there’s a frantic rush to get the transaction under way before they head home.

Instead, consider renting for a while in your target area so that you can study the local housing market and the locality at your leisure. I know people who have done that in Spain and they are so glad that they did.

HOLIDAY SCAMS
English-language newspapers and expat internet sites are crammed with letters from tourists threatening never to return to this or that place after being ripped off in a variety of ways.

I’m fairly well travelled and I don’t see much to choose between any of the major tourists cities, such as Rome, Paris, Naples and Barcelona. Wherever you go, thieves will be targeting tourists. Often it’s easy because most people seem to leave their brains at home when they come on holiday.

Here are some specific warnings. Most will apply anywhere:

PICK-POCKETS AND BAG SNATCHERS
Before you book, make sure that the hotel or property has a safe where you leave valuables, credit cards and cash so that you need carry no more than what you think you'll want for the outing. Wallets should not be placed in back pockets, even with a button. Bag straps should be worn across the chest to deter snatchers. In crowded areas or on the Metro there's a risk of rucksacks being raided if you wear them on your back.

When eating outdoors, do not place your wallet or mobile phone on the table. Snatchers – often children – will be watching. And when you pay the bill, money left on the table will attract the snatchers, too.

PASSPORTS
In some countries you may be required to carry your passport for identification but check beforehand – UK consulate, for example, or perhaps your hotel or agent may know – to see if it’s OK to carry a photo-copy of the details while you’re out and about.

BIRD MUCK SCAM
You're hit by bird muck as you walk along a street. A kind passer-by offers to help, taking you into the lobby of a nearby apartment block where he hands you tissues and water to help clean you down. BE VERY WARY. Almost certainly, he or an accomplice deposited the muck on you from behind and, while you’re distracted cleaning yourself, he’ll be waiting his chance to rifle through your bag.

PLAIN-CLOTHES POLICE SCAM
Someone stops and asks you (usually in broken English) to help him find his way on a map. After assisting as best you can, you're suddenly surrounded by men flashing police badges (which are quickly put away). A convoluted story will enfold about having been following the man who spoke to you for various reasons.

You may be asked to step into a car for questioning, or go round the corner to a Metro entrance to speak to “el capitan” who has based his survaillance operation there. Sometimes these “officers” talk to “el capitan" on chest microphones. IT'S A SCAM. KEEP SAYING “NO”, REFUSE TO GO ANYWHERE AND WALK AWAY. In a busy street there is not a lot they can do.

A variation of this “badge flashing” scam is to pretend they are “passport control”. Ignore them and keep on walking.

METRO ARM BLOCK‘
On the Metro (or even a crowded bus) be very wary about the bloke who reaches across to grab a pole to steady himself and keeps his arm there oblivious of you. As you're trying to get under his arm in order to get off, an accomplice will have sidled up behind you and, while you're struggling, will be inserting a hand into whatever jacket or rucksack pocket he can find.

In fact, be careful about carrying rucksacks on your back - in a crowded area it'll be easy to rob you. Ideally, wear them in front. Consider body belts (including the ones with a neck cord under your shirt or blouse) or belly bags, rather than bum bags.

THE GIRONA AIRPORT BUS SCAM
In the centre of Barcelona, be wary of Brits who comes up to you and asks if you're British (he'll be very chatty and, after spotting your accent, will almost certainly know something about where you come from). He'll then explain that he's a student and broke and all he needs is a few Euros so that he can take the bus to Girona airport for his Ryanair flight to the UK that day. IT'S A SCAM. If I had a Euro for every time I've heard that hard-luck story I'd be rich. I'll gather there are versions of this scam being worked in other tourist cities.

DON'T FLASH YOUR VALUABLES
The report of a British MP – a Tory, naturally – being robbed of his Rolex watch in a Naples street is instructive (wearing a Rolex in a Naples street, for goodness sake – thieves would spot that a mile off!). Don't flash valuable jewellery. In fact, think twice about wearing costly gems of any sort. And don't pull out great wads of bank notes in bars etc That could attract dangerous interest. It does happen – a Brit couple were recently mugged and robbed of thousands of euros after they did precisely that in a Benidorm bar.

WHERE NOT TO GO
A friend of mine went to work for a few years in Washington. Back in Wales she said she felt far more unsafe on streets in Cardiff at night than she ever did in the US city. I was surprised, after all Washington is one of the world's murder capitals.

But, she said, the point is that while there she knew where not to go but she no longer knew where not to go in Cardiff. The lesson is this, get your map out and check with your hotel or apartment agent about where you can safely go and where, perhaps, you shouldn’t.

THREE CUPS – ODDS ARE HEAVILY AGAINST YOU
You’ll find the three-cups scam operated in every tourist city. The cups are shuffled and you have to indicate the one with the stone underneath. The trick is, as the scam gets going, to allow you a fleeting glimpse of the stone as the cups are shuffled. You slap a few euros down and – hey presto! – you´ve doubled your money. This is dead easy, you think.

The stakes are quickly upped to, say 50 euros. People in the crowd eagerly pass over 50 euro notes and they win, too. They are, of course, accomplices. When you and other visitors try, you no longer glimpse the stone and it becomes a straight one-in-three guess – a 66% chance you´ll lose.

A variation is when all the 50 euro notes have been collected, an accomplice will warn of approaching police. Hurridly, the scamsters collect their cups and race off safe in the knowlñedge that you are unlikely to admit to the police your involvment in an illegal activity.