Date of Scamming Experiences : 28 - 30 Jan 2017
There are many things that could go wrong during a vacation but nothing mars a holiday more than being scammed by the locals, resulting in a constant worry of what more you could be losing or the bad things that might happen next.
You simply cannot trust the people you rely on for help and hospitality.
And my first visit to Ho Chi Minh City was a crash course on the myriad ways one could be scammed, especially by the taxi drivers.
 |
My 9D8N
Vietnam trip spanned Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hanoi. During the
course of my research of the 3 cities, I came across a lot of warnings
about the dishonesty of taxi drivers and cab scams in the various
cities. I thought I was well-informed and prepared. But I was wrong.
There
are other tactics that were not spoken about which I will share in this
post as a matter of direct, personal experiences. Not something I've
read about, or heard from, but actual incidents that happened to me. |
I spent 4D3N in Ho Chi Minh City and can't help feeling I'm nothing more than a wallet on legs. From the moment I arrived at the customs to getting a cab to the city to various experiences in patronising businesses as well as street encounters, the whole city just came across as being very money hungry.
Here are my experiences with the money scams that I encountered in Ho Chi Minh City...
Custom Officer Asking for Ang Pow Money
I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on the first day of Chinese New Year (28 Jan 17, Saturday). While getting my passport cleared at the customs, the immigration officer kept
saying something I couldn't decipher while he cleared my entry into the country. He kept repeating himself and when I continued to have a blank expression on my face, he opened a drawer next to him and blatantly waved a collection of about seven pieces of S$10 notes. There were other monies of different currencies in the drawer.
That's when I realised hes asking him to give him "
ang bao" (red packet) money because it is Chinese New Year. I just smiled and waited for him to
stamp my passport and left without acceding to his request for money. My friend who is Malay and got his passport cleared by another immigration officer did not experience that.
If you visit Ho Chi Minh City during Chinese New Year, or possibly during any other major festive periods, just be mindful that the immigration officer might take the opportunity to ask for money. Just smile, wait for the immigration process to be completed, take your passport and leave.
Taxi Coordinator Asking for a High Flat Fee for a Ride into the City
Outside the airport, we wanted to take the metered taxi to the city centre where our hotel is. A coordinator who's helping passengers get cabs told me that it is Chinese New Year, all the cabs go by fixed rate and not by meter. He asked for a flat fee of 250,000d. (approx. S$16). This is the taxi coordinator, not even the taxi driver. What if we paid this coordinator and get on the taxi and the taxi driver still charge us a metered fare?
 |
| When you
exit Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat International Airport, turn left to get a
public taxi to your hotel. There are touts offering taxi rides inside
the airport but those will ask for a flat fee that will be much higher
than a metered fare. |
From online sources, estimated fare from airport to the city centre is about 140,000d. I didn't believe the coordinator so I asked a Vietnamese who's also waiting for a cab next to me if it is true that it's a fixed rate. He said no, the taxi should go by the meter. The coordinator promptly walked away and we got on a cab who used the meter to take us to our hotel.
So if you encounter a taxi coordinator asking for a flat fee, ignore him. Check with a cab if it is using meter and get on. As a general rule, use only the green
Mai Linh taxis or the white with blue and dark green
Vinasun taxis.
 |
Taxi company to take in Ho Chi Min City - Mai Linh Taxi (green).
Tel : 38 38 38 38 |
 |
Taxi company to take in Ho Chi Minh City - Vinasun (white with red and dark green logo).
Tel : 38 27 27 27 |
I've taken both Mai Linh and Vinasun and the drivers use the meter. But be careful of copycat companies who use these taxi company colours but are not by them. The copycats may use the same colours (especially the Vinasun colours) or similar looking logos.
While drivers from these two taxi companies are generally trustworthy and use the meter, that does not stop them from not giving exact change or going a long way to clock mileage so they can earn a higher metered fare. And that takes me to the next scam...
Taxi Driver Did Not Give Exact Change
On reaching our hotel, the metered fare showed 118,000d. Less than half the price that the coordinator asked for. But our driver turned around and asked for 200,000d. I said no. Unfortunately, I do not have smaller notes as I've just arrived in HCMC so I gave him 200,000d. and asked for change back. He gave me back only 50,000d. instead of the correct change of 82,000d.
Before I could ask for my exact change, he promptly got out of the cab and unloaded our luggage.
Driver Stole Handphone
The worst of the experience was when we took a cab to a further district. We made the mistake of not sticking to Mai Linh or Vinasun taxis as we couldn't get any. After walking around quite a bit, a taxi driver called to us near the Ben Tanh Market area and we boarded his cab. I can't recall which taxi company it was but it's neither Mai Linh or Vinasun although it is mostly white in colour.
When we got on the cab, the meter showed 100d. I immediately wanted to get off as I thought the driver is charging me a starting fare of 100,000d. But he assured me it's only 10,000d. So we took the cab and when we reached our destination, the meter showed 188,8880d. We were shocked and confused about the fare as it couldn't have cost so much since the journey was barely 15 minutes. So the driver clarified by taking a piece of newspaper over to explain the fare.
The newspaper covered my friends bag. He explained that it's only 18,000d. We gladly paid him 20,000d. and he kept the change. We thought we were in luck to have taken such a cheap ride. 20,000d. is roughly only about S$1.30. Immediately after we got off the cab, as a habit of checking our belongings, my friend realised that his handphone was gone. He placed it in the front pocket of his bag and the driver has distracted us with the confusing fare, newspaper and stolen it.
Driver Went a Big Round to Get Higher Fare
When we headed back to the city centre, we took a Mai Linh taxi and the driver went off on a tangent road, attempting to make a big round instead of the direct road that leads to our hotel. Thankfully I've been following our journey on Google map and asked him why he didn't take the direct road. He said he saw the address on our hotel's card wrongly, but I doubt it. The fare came up to 90,000d.
The scary thing is that we encountered all the above money scams all in a single day!
TIPS WHEN TAKING TAXI IN HO CHI MINH :
1. Take only Mai Linh or Vinasun taxis
2. Use Uber instead of the public taxis
3. Invest in a local SIM card and turn on Google maps to track your journey
4. Take a photo of the driver's license displayed on the car's dashboard. If the taxi driver doesn't display a license, it is most likely a scam cab. Get off.
Dishonest Motorcycle Taxis
The four-wheeled taxis aren't the only ones that will potentially scam you, the motocycle taxis will do that too.
I went to the Reunification Palace for a visit but it was closed during lunch time. As I exited the ticketing office, a motorcycle came up to me, offering to take me on a tour around the city sight's such as the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon and other sights for US$5.00.
 |
| The Reunification Palace is closed to visitors during lunchtime from 11:00am to 1:00pm. |
I declined the offer saying that I'll just walk to the Notre-Dame Cathedral as it was just across a park at the opposite end of the Reunification Palace. I pointed right ahead across the park to where Google Map showed me the location of the cathedral is. The motorcycle driver immediately said no, that that is not the cathedral and that he will take me there.
I smiled, declined his offer again and walked off. I crossed the road from the Reunification Palace towards the park, cut across the park and rising before me after the park's tree foliage cleared was... you guessed it, the Notre-Dame Cathedral! It took me under 5 minutes to walk from the palace to the cathedral.
Another motorcycle scamming incident was when we headed out to a club for a drink. It was about 2am when we left and there were no taxis in sight on the road. A little drunk, we had no clear idea of our location. After walking for a while, a motorcycle came up to us and offered to take us back to the hotel for 150,000d.
As it was late, we were tired and a little tipsy, we agreed to the price thinking we were far. However, we actually weren't that far from our hotel. The bike ride lasted only around 5 minutes. If we had taken a cab, the fare would've probably been around 50,000d. Our bad for agreeing to such a high price.
Coconut Con Artist
Other than the transport scams, there's another high level scam around the outside parameters of the Reunification Palace. This is the coconut seller scam, which belongs to the highest grade of conning.
As we were making our way to the War Remnants Museum, we walked past a coconut seller. He walked alongside us and engaged us in light banter, asking where we are going and pointing us the way (even though we didn't ask as I was using Google Map). Then he said his
coconut burden is very heavy and asked us to try. So we had a feel of it, posed for some photos and returned it to him.
 |
| We saw many people posing with the coconut seller's prop and there were a couple o them operating in the area. |
Taking back his coconuts, he went on his way without trying to sell us anything. This is where the psychology game sets in. We felt bad for him and the fact that he wasn't trying to sell us anything and yet so friendly made us decide to buy drinks from the seller.
So we caught up with him and I asked him how much for one. Before he even answered me the price, he already split open one fruit and stuck a straw in it. He was about to open another one when I stopped him That's when he told me the price. Each coconut costs 50,000d. (S$3.20). At a restaurant, one coconut costs about 20,000 - 30,000d.
That's when we realised he's a high level type of scammer. So we paid for the expensive coconut drink and take it as fees to learn yet another lesson about the scams in HCMC.
 |
| Pay no enough in Singapore. Come holiday also must work part-time as coconut drinks seller. But I promise I won't scam you. LOL. |
The scams we encountered were total holiday mood killers. It was such a damper when my friend's phone got picked and the police weren't of much help, telling us to go from one station to another to lodge a report until we gave up.
This was my first visit to HCMC and the more I ventured
into city, the more I felt ripped-off and can't wait to leave. I've
never felt like this before for any other place. It will definitely be the last time I come to this scam city of Vietnam.
