Forbes Traveler on travel scams

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(Photos of Carter Hotel here.)

Forbes Traveler has an article called "Travel Scams to Avoid" (I'm waiting for the follow-up article, "Travel Scams to Embrace"). Here are a couple of interesting tidbits from the piece. First, the "wad of money" trick:

"I was back in Moscow a few years ago and saw with nostalgia they were still trying to pull the 'wad of money' trick in Red Square," says veteran travel scribe Robert Reid, author of the Lonely Planet guides to the Trans-Siberian Railway, Central America and Myanmar. "Some goon rushes by you and drops a wad of dollars–could be more than a thousand–and another goon steps in and picks it up, offering to share it with you. If you take the offer, the other goon will track you down and demand all of the money. I kinda find it cute that they think it can still work–sadly it probably does."

The other tidbit isn't really a scam; it's a warning about the Hotel Carter in New York:

Unsuspecting travelers can get scammed into rooms only a few notches above a pig sty, places like the Hotel Carter in New York, which recently topped TripAdvisor's list of the Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels in America. A manager at the Hotel Carter–who requested anonymity–said, "We know about the list. We're doing OK. We're still busy," adding, "But we get many emails saying that it's not fair or not true or something like that."

The TripAdvisor reviews for the Hotel Carter make the place sound so horrible I almost want to stay there for the experience:

"Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad hotel. Should this even be called a hotel?"

"CARTER = Completely Atrocious Rooms That Encourage everyone to Run-away (FAST!)"

"Don't Stay Here Unless You Are A Big Risk Taker!!"

"A Disgusting And Repulsive Sess Pit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Twilight Zone"

"Dirty, liar and impolite"

"The hotel from hell"

Travel Scams to Avoid