Female solo traveller reveals the common scam happening in Venice
A female solo traveller has shared her experience with an alleged scammer in Venice - and has warned others who may be targeted.
In a post shared to the subreddit r/solotravel, the user wrote: 'I was almost scammed last night and tonight I failed to intervene soon enough when I saw the same thing happen to another solo female traveller.
'I feel terrible, so I am making this post to hopefully prevent others from being caught in this scam!
'This happened two nights in a row outside Venezia St Lucia station.
'A young woman, blonde, with backpacks and a camera might approach you, pretending to be in a rush and needing to get home to her young daughter but her phone has died.
'She’ll say it’s her first time solo travelling and will eventually ask for a small amount of cash, which she will promise to pay back.
'She might ambush you with a lot of words at the start and claim to be in a time crunch and that she’ll give you her contact details so she can pay you back.
'Do not give it to her! Just say you don’t carry cash and she’ll move on.'
A female solo traveller has shared her experience with an alleged scammer in Venice - and has warned others who may be targeted (stock image)
She added, 'From what I’ve seen, she tends to target other young women who are sitting by themselves by the canal.
'I almost went back to give her the cash because I couldn’t find anything online about this scam, so I’ve decided to post here. And has anyone else encountered her?'
The post has been upvoted more than 800 times and has prompted discussion in the comments.
One comment, which has been upvoted 654 times, reads: 'I feel like that would be common sense anywhere that if a stranger approaches you asking for money and says they’ll pay you back.
'Not everyone is a bad person, but unfortunately, the way the world is nowadays, you literally cannot trust anyone.
'Especially someone that’s running up to you and approaching you like that.'
'This is certainly not unique to any city or any country,' wrote one user.
'When travelling solo, you are an especially attractive target.
The Entrance to Venezia St Lucia station is pictured
'Just don’t engage. Don’t say anything. Walk away and put some distance between you and that person.
'Be especially aware of your surroundings and the people around you, as they may be working with others.
'Don’t make yourself an easy target by worrying about being impolite.'
However, other users were more sympathetic.
One wrote: 'Sometimes I think of it like even if it is a scam, someone is probably struggling pretty hard to be in the position of having to scam tourists all day.
'At the end of the day, even if you may have given money to someone who lied, it probably still helped them.
'A good alternative is to offer a meal or groceries instead if you can't help with what they need, but don't want to give cash.'
According to Action Fraud, travellers lost a total of over £11million to holiday fraud last year, with people losing an average of £1,844.
Reports showed 6,066 incidents of holiday fraud last year, with July being the most active month for reports, according to Action Fraud data.
Holidaymakers lost a combined total of £11,183,957 in 2024, which is comparatively less than the £12.3million lost in 2023.
Despite the drop in reported losses, the average loss per victim remains at similar levels, with £1,851 the average in 2023 and £1,844 in 2024.
British travellers should report scams to Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre.
