You may remember when I talked about my experience of fraud and scam in my February 2021 blog post that in summer of 2019, I became victimised of taxi scam in Paris, France.
For those who aren’t aware, long story short: the guy (taxi driver) approached me at the station, asked me if I wanted a ride. Given I was going for Uber, I said yes. Next thing, I was conned and victimised by the scammy rogue taxi driver. Fare price was ridiculously €75 (£70).
Here is a full story version in case if you want to know more.
At least when I returned home from France, I went to my bank (Barclays) straight away to report it as fraudulent & quickly, the money was refunded back to my account.
No wonder the taxi car I went on the ride didn’t had the taxi meter & the taxi sign. I would had gone for Kapten or Uber. In fact I was really going to book Uber for the ride before that person (rogue taxi driver) did approached to me.
When I informed the reception at the hotel that it had happened to me, one staff member told me that he “knows” some people who do operate in the dodgy business of fraud & scam & that he’ll do his own investigation in order to report rogue taxi driver to the French police.
The taxi fare from Gare Du Nord station to the hotel (which I was staying) should had been around €10 - €16 (£10 - £16). Instead it was too much expensive fare price. £70 (€75) for the journey which was less than 10 minutes from the station to the hotel, it was not a proper fare price.
I could had took the picture of the car number plate of the rogue taxi driver who conned me to pay two exact same amounts of €75 (£70) & reported to the French police. Instead I decided not to because i didn’t want my 3 day holiday in Paris to be overshadowed by taxi scam. So that’s how my time in Paris was mostly trouble free, it was unfortunate that had happened especially after me being out of the station from the Eurostar train that took 2 hours from London St Pancras to Paris Gare Du Nord. I loved the journey by the way. Next time when I come to visit Paris or any big European cities that has many tourists visiting there like Barcelona or Rome, I have to be street wise before that sort of thing like taxi scam happens to me which I will have to do my best not to be in that situation again.
Whether is in London, Paris, Barcelona, New York, Tokyo or any city in the world, make sure you booked for a taxi cab that is not going to rip you off with rip off fare prices that is not genuinely normal price. It is about the destination & how long will journey take (length of time = duration). Example: if I want to go Camden Town & that I am coming from Barnet with taxi cab, I would want to be sure that the fare price is reasonable. Reasonably normal price because nowadays, people would book the hail and ride apps like Uber instead of the expansive black cabs in London for a cheap fare & I occasionally use the hail and ride apps (the likes of Uber, Free Now formerly Kapten, Bolt and Ola). Not ordinary cabs like black cabs.
So my recommendation is use any reliable cab that is not going to rip you off, look for reasonable & cheap fare & use ride and hail app like Uber (if you want to). Never allow any potential rogue taxi driver to take the advantage of you even if he/she asks you with question whether you want to go on the ride or not. You make your own decision accordingly & not have to fall for any potential taxi scam.
And if you are not going to use a hail and ride app (the likes of Uber), make sure that the taxi driver & the cab has the taxi meter so that you know to pay for the fare price (as long it is not expensive).
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