Tourists in Rio de Janeiro are being warned about a growing scam where beach vendors overcharge customers using card readers. One British woman was charged £590 for two slices of barbecued cheese after a vendor added two extra zeros to the payment terminal. Another British man paid £1,500 for a kebab, and an Argentinian tourist was billed £3,000 for a corn on the cob.
The scam typically involves the vendor showing the correct amount on the card reader, then secretly altering it before the customer taps their card or phone. Some vendors thrust the reader at the customer's device to complete the payment before the total is checked. Victims are often unfamiliar with the local currency, making them less likely to notice the doctored sum.
UK consumer protection offers limited recourse. Unlike authorised push payment fraud, face-to-face vending scams are not automatically refundable. Victims must provide evidence of overcharging, such as a receipt or invoice showing the agreed price, to claim via a chargeback scheme. Pending transactions cannot usually be reversed, according to the Financial Conduct Authority.
In the case of the British woman, her bank Monzo initially advised her the pending transaction would be returned, but later said authorised payments cannot be reversed. After contact from Guardian Money, Monzo refunded her as a goodwill gesture, stating that the incident was a buyer/seller dispute rather than fraud because she had authorised the payment.
To avoid being scammed, holidaymakers are advised to pay mobile vendors in cash or to insist on holding the card reader themselves to insert or swipe their card, preventing last-minute price alterations.
