Destinations › Vietnam › Hanoi › Scams
Hanoi, Vietnam
18 reported scam patterns travellers run into in Hanoi, what they look like, and how to sidestep them.
Card skimming at street cash machines, and cards taken out of sight to be processed in tourist-area bars and restaurants.
Bills in Old Quarter bars carrying drinks and covers that were not ordered, with staff gathering at the table when the total is questioned.
Motorbike hire where the passport is taken as collateral, then held against a bill for scratches or engine damage that was already present when the bike was handed over.
Agencies trading under names and shopfronts closely imitating well-reviewed operators, selling bay cruises and mountain treks that run to a much lower standard than the one sold, or do not run at all.
Taxis painted and lettered to closely imitate the established metered fleets, running meters that climb several times faster than the legitimate rate. The imitation is the point: the livery is what earns the fare.
The 20,000 VND and 500,000 VND notes look similar; a vendor may swap a tourist's large note for a small one and claim it was given short.
Unmetered taxis (especially outside the Old Quarter) use rigged fast-running meters or quote inflated flat fares — stick to Vinasun, Mai Linh, or apps like Grab/Be/Xanh SM.
Day trips and transfers sold through accommodation desks that are resold on to a third operator, arriving as a longer, more crowded journey with stops added for shopping.
Restaurants and street stalls displaying no prices at all, then setting the total at the end according to who is paying it.
Drivers meeting arriving passengers and steering them to a guesthouse that pays a commission, described as closer, cheaper or better than the one actually booked.
Cyclo or motorbike-taxi drivers quote one price before the ride and demand a much higher amount on arrival, sometimes claiming the tourist misheard.
Impostor "Sinh Tourist"-branded operators (exploiting lax trademark enforcement) sell bus/train tickets for substandard service, sometimes with unexpected overnight stops at overpriced hotels.
Taxi or hotel touts claim a tourist's booked hotel is "full" or "closed" and redirect to a different, commission-paying property.
Donation collectors with laminated documentation working the Old Quarter's restaurant and hotel entrances.
Men attaching themselves to visitors around the lake and the older temple sites, narrating unasked and presenting a fee once the walk is finished.
Market stalls selling counterfeit branded goods at tourist-inflated prices.
Street shoe-shiners in the Old Quarter grab a foot and start polishing an already-clean shoe before the tourist can object, then demand payment.
Pickpocketing in crowded night market areas of the Old Quarter, sometimes by children.
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