Destinations › India › Delhi › Scams
Delhi, India
19 reported scam patterns travellers run into in Delhi, what they look like, and how to sidestep them.
Card skimming at street cash machines, and cards taken away from the table to be processed at tourist-area restaurants.
Men presenting as police or tourist police asking to inspect a visitor's currency for counterfeit notes, and removing some of it during the count.
Multi-day tour packages sold by agencies presenting as official, taking payment in advance and delivering a downgraded vehicle, hotel and itinerary — or nothing at all.
Touts approaching arriving passengers inside the airport terminal offering taxis, working on commission and quoting several times the prepaid or app fare.
Drivers and touts insisting a visitor's booked hotel is closed, full, flooded or unsafe, and redirecting to a guesthouse that pays them a commission at a higher rate.
Drivers steering passengers to gemstone, carpet, marble and handicraft emporiums on commission, often after a detour presented as a shortcut or a wait for traffic to clear.
Auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers refuse the meter, quote fares 3–5x the real price, or claim a pre-booked hotel is "closed" to redirect to a commission hotel.
Fake "tourist information" centers near Connaught Place and railway stations look official — well-dressed staff, official-looking signage — and sell overpriced tours or fake tickets, sometimes claiming genuine attractions are closed.
Change returned in torn or withdrawn notes that other vendors will refuse, leaving the visitor holding money they cannot spend.
Pashmina, silk and handicrafts sold as export-quality or hand-woven at prices matching that claim, when the stock is machine-made and worth a fraction of it.
Self-drive car and scooter hire where damage already present is invoiced on return, with the deposit or a held document used as leverage.
Men presenting a printed 'certified guide' card at the major monuments, offering a short tour that ends at a carpet or handicraft showroom well away from the site.
Market vendors sell counterfeit goods or "gemstones" pitched as valuable bargains but worth a fraction of the asking price.
Pickpocketing in crowded markets like Chandni Chowk, metro stations, and at festivals.
Fake railway booking offices near stations claim official IRCTC bookings are unavailable, then sell tickets at a large markup or ones that are entirely fake.
Collectors with clipboards and laminated documents working monument queues and restaurant entrances, fundraising for a school or orphanage that cannot be verified.
Restaurants in tourist areas add unlisted charges or round bills up without itemization.
Aggressive demands for large cash donations at religious sites.
Uninvited "bag carriers" at the airport grab luggage and offer transport at a "good price," then charge well above the going rate.
