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A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

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Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#21

Google Street View? A few years ago I saw a social media shared pic of sunrise at Angkor Wat. It was beautiful, these splendid, isolated ruins, peaceful in the sunrise. Being curious about the area, I found the exact spot in Street View. Sunrise even. But then turned around 180 degrees. To find an absolute wall of photographers all capturing the same scene. I can't find that scene now though. But frequently these soc…

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Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#23

Does the proximity of a Hard Rock Cafe count?

Not necessarily. There is a Hard Rock Cafe right next to the main train station and major mall in Warsaw, and I wouldn't call that mall touristic. It's just a nice mall, as far as malls go.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#25
post #20
post #11

Euronet ATMs being a scam is a very americentric view. The world is not /primarily/ designed to rip off tourist. Very evident with this map that just appears to be a differently labeled population heat map.

Not all tourists are Americans. I would expect the average person scammed by these ATMs is an European citizen from a different country. I agree the map kinda sucks, because most of the island of Mallorca is a tourist trap at this point. But you can see how the interior's population centers, like Inca, Sa Pobla and Manacor, have none. For a better example, as one of the replies to the tweet suggests, check using Goog…

Most Europeans citizens use euros so they won't get 'scammed' by euronet ARMs, as the only 'scam' there is currency conversion (and fees if you use an 'out of network bank', so I think if you are at Boa it should be fine)

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#26
post #6

Tourism if anything needs a way to point more people towards the long tail, not to crowd at the top.

How do you stop the cycle of places in the long tail from becoming "go-to" destinations because they're in the long tail, having all the local flavour diluted from catering to the tourism, before being fully gentrified into identikit tourist traps, and being abandoned once they're "at the top" with their original local businesses gone, and trying to cater to the tourists who've all vanished? While those tourists are in search of the finding the next popularity-rising hotspot before the same thing happens to that?

Maybe "tourism" is the problem?

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#27

Does the proximity of a Hard Rock Cafe count?

Not necessarily. There is a Hard Rock Cafe right next to the main train station and major mall in Warsaw, and I wouldn't call that mall touristic. It's just a nice mall, as far as malls go.

I think Hard Rock Cafe exists to keep those tourists away from the other places.

(Though I've only been in one once, when my friend's band played a gig.)

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#29

I had a wonderful trip in Thailand last year by doing two things: 1. roadtripping: I rented a motorcycle and chose a (relatively touristy) destination, but enjoyed the trip to get there over several days, during which I designed my own itinerary and stopped to look at the countriside and visit small towns. 2. I designed the itinerary while avoiding Lonely Planet and the like. By now everybody uses that and goes to th…

Yeah, strangely google (and more local tools like Openrice or Tabelog) is much better for finding good spots. Locals are more discerning, but if you don't speak the local language it can get difficult. Travelocity is almost the opposite since ratings are almost directly proportional to the ability to interact with (English speaking) foreigners.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#30
post #11

Euronet ATMs being a scam is a very americentric view. The world is not /primarily/ designed to rip off tourist. Very evident with this map that just appears to be a differently labeled population heat map.

Even as a European I can confidently say that Euronet ATMs are complete, utter scam and they have a tendency to show up in most scammy tourist areas to prey on foreigners.

Even here across southern Europe they always start popping up in areas that usually have other seedy businesses preying on people. Lately they don't even show their brand and colors anymore... only showing foreign languaged "ATM" sign with no bank logo.

Avoid them like the plague.

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