Just a reminder about some common Mexican scams, some of these recently heard to be thriving on Cozumel;
The silver coin scam ; somebody such as your cab driver, tour guy, beach vendor, etc comes up and asks if you want to buy some real Mexican silver 'ounce coins' at a discount price, because he needs money for medicine for his ailing grandmother etc...silver ounce coins are a pretty good deal if you like coins and buy them from a Mexican bank when available, but the cab drivers version are likely not silver. If it sounds too good to be true then it's probably not true...Same for gold chains, jewelry, medallions and gold coins...
The police breathalizer scam ; you've had a beer or two at one of the bars on the island and are driving your rental car back to the hotel, you get pulled over and asked to blow by the cop...the result is .09 or something just over the legal limit, which could imply a night in jail, fines, impounding the vehicle etc...or says the cop we can make this problem disappear for about $200 usd's...Don't drink and drive, because even half a beer will get you blowing over the limit, the machine is rigged, you can argue this one down to maybe $200 mn if that's all you show the cop that you have...you should always carry your real money separate from your 'bribe' money. ;) ... Or You could just ask the cop for the ticket if you want to get a lawyer, spend some of your days going to court, then going to a bank to pay the fine, then going back to court to get your name taken off the violation list so that you can get your vehicle released from the impound lot after you pay like $500 mn storage charge and maybe another $500 mn towing charge plus the rental on the car didn't stop...Lol, your choice... ;)
Fill the car with gasoline scam ; you drive up to the gas station pumps and get inundated by kids asking to wash your windshield, in the meantime the pump attendant starts filling the car except he didn't zero the pump, so you get to pay for your gasoline and the previous car's gasoline as well...forget about the windsheild kids, get out and get to the attendant, check that the pump is starting at zero and ask for a specific amount like $100 or $200 pesos. A locking gas cap is really great to help control this situation.
The rental car gastank scam ; you rent a car and gas gauge reads 'full' but it only has half a tank or less...you can ask the rental place to top up the car right there with a jerry can or ask for an attendant to go with you to double check that it's full, just in case... ;)
Just a minute we need to take your credit card to the backroom to check it scam ; be prepared for your card to be photographed and huge charges to your credit card when you get home...I mostly pay for things with cash. You can also phone the credit card company before the trip to limit your liability for credit card ripoffs while traveling. If you need to pull cash from an ATM go to a bank, preferably during bank hours...there are a number of scams and ripoffs associated with ATM's that don't have security cameras. Hotel ATM's are usually OK though.
Getting short changed scam ; lol, we all know that one...don't hand over the bill until the teller counts the change or say what the denomination of the bill is... 'cien' for $100 mn for example as you pass it to the teller, or pay for the item with exact change. $100 mn bills look almost like $1000 mn bills, so don't get confused. USD bills are OK to use and accepted but you'll always get screwed on the exchange rate, expect to lose at least 10% and probably more like 20% buying power if you like USD's.
cheers,
Flygt
