Tourist Scams in Dubai: 10 Common Tricks and How to Avoid Them

Dubai is considered one of the safest cities in the world, and you don’t need to worry about street robbery here. So tourists aren’t robbed. They’re persuaded. Politely, with a smile and very convincingly.

I take guests around the city every week and I hear the same stories: “we only stopped for a second”, “he was so nice”, “it was cheaper in the ad”. Below are the ten schemes I come across most often, and what to do so that your holiday stays a holiday.

1. “Can I have a second?” at a mall kiosk

You’re walking through a mall when someone at a kiosk smiles at you: “Can I have a second? You have such beautiful hands / hair / eyes!” A minute later there’s Dead Sea salt scrub on your hand, five minutes later a straightener has done half your head, and fifteen minutes later you’re holding a set that is “70% off, today only”.

The cosmetics themselves may be perfectly fine. The problem is the price and the pressure: “the last set”, “just for you”, “let me talk to my manager”.

How to protect yourself: don’t stop if you weren’t planning to buy. A polite “No, thank you” and a step forward isn’t rude. If you do buy, ask for the final price before you hand over your card, and take a receipt.

2. The “Italian designer” and the free jackets

A classic. An elegant man comes up to you: he’s a fashion designer from Italy, just back from a show, he has some jackets left over and wants to give them to “such a stylish person”. Sometimes he even “recognises” you. His car is full of bags of “designer” clothes. And at the end of the conversation it turns out he has “run out of petrol / his card isn’t working / he has to pay for storage”, and could you help with some cash. The jackets are never worth what you end up handing over.

How to protect yourself: strangers in the street don’t give away designer clothes. Not a single banknote, not a single transfer. Just walk away.

3. The “taxi” in the arrivals hall

At the airport someone may come up to you asking “Taxi? Taxi?” and offer something “cheaper than the queue”. The price of that ride can easily grow later, and the car isn’t registered in any system.

How to protect yourself: go out to the official taxi rank outside arrivals. Or book a car in an app: the RTA’s own S’hail, or Careem (Hala Taxi), Bolt, Zed and Yango. As of October 2026 the minimum taxi fare in Dubai is 12 dirhams from the street and 13 through an app, and you can pay by card. I’ve covered all of the city’s transport in my guide to the metro, taxis and the nol card. And if you don’t want to deal with the queue after a flight, book a transfer.

4. The “cheap” desert safari with extras on the spot

The ad promises a safari for next to nothing. Then the camel ride costs extra, photos cost extra, drinks cost extra, and the “transfer” turns out to be a shared bus doing a two-hour loop of hotels.

How to protect yourself: ask for written confirmation of what the price includes: transfer, dinner, drinks, show, camels, sandboarding. Compare the programme, not the price. I explain how to tell a good safari from a conveyor belt in my desert safari guide, and the options I trust are in the safari section.

5. The Gold Souk: weight, purity and the making charge

Gold really is a popular buy in Dubai. But the price of a piece isn’t just the grams: a making charge is added, and that’s where the arithmetic can get creative.

How to protect yourself:

• check the hallmark on the piece: gold jewellery in the UAE must be hallmarked, and the hallmark confirms the purity;
• know the purities: 24 carat is pure gold, 22 carat about 91.7%, 21 carat 87.5%, 18 carat 75%;
• compare the price per gram with the official Dubai Jewellery Group rate: on 11 October 2026 it was about 505 dirhams per gram for 24 carat and about 385 dirhams for 18 carat (it changes every day);
• ask for a receipt showing the purity, weight and making charge;
• don’t be surprised if you’re asked for your passport: it’s an anti-money-laundering requirement, not a trick.

You can challenge a disputed purchase through Dubai consumer protection: 600545555.

Pay by card and check the amount on the terminal screen before you confirm: there is less room for a “mistake on the bill”. Photo: European Commission, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

6. Tickets from strangers

A sold-out concert, a tournament final or New Year at the Burj Khalifa, and “last tickets” appear on social media straight away. You transfer the money and the tickets never arrive. Or they arrive, but the same QR code has been sold to five other people.

How to protect yourself: buy tickets only on the event’s official website or from the official seller named by the organiser. No transfers to a private person’s card. I collect event listings and links to official sales in my events section.

In spring 2025 a guest told me that her friend had tried to order “Dubai chocolate” cheaply from a seller she didn’t know, and 1,000 dollars were taken from her card. Since then I regularly remind my followers that scammers most often “sell” chocolate, places at the breakfast with giraffes, and concert and theme park tickets. Don’t buy any of these from people you don’t know. When giraffe breakfasts are sold out months ahead, the number of scammers only grows.

7. The “free gift” for 90 minutes of your time

You’re offered a dinner, a safari voucher or a “free night”, and all you have to do is listen to a short presentation. The short presentation lasts three hours, and at the end you’re pushed very hard to buy ten years of holidays, a club membership or an “investment”.

How to protect yourself: if a gift requires a presentation, it isn’t free. Don’t sign anything on the day of the presentation, and don’t pay a “small deposit to lock in the price”.

8. Cards and ATMs

Skimmers on ATMs and people watching you type your PIN are a problem all over the world, and Dubai is no exception. But more often it’s simpler: a “helper” at the ATM who will “show you how to withdraw”, or a terminal that is suddenly carried off “to the till”.

How to protect yourself: use ATMs inside banks and malls, cover your PIN with your hand, don’t accept help from strangers and don’t let your card out of your sight. Turn on notifications for every transaction. For limits, fees and which cards work, read my guide to money and cards in Dubai.

9. A text about a fine, a parcel or a prize

“Your RTA fine is unpaid”, “your parcel is waiting for delivery, pay 5 dirhams”, “you’ve won the UAE lottery”. The link leads to a site that looks very like the real one and asks for your card details. There are calls too: a polite “official” asking for the code from a text message.

How to protect yourself: the UAE government clearly advises against opening unknown links in text messages. The RTA reminds people that official organisations never ask for confidential data by phone. Check fines only on the official site or app, typing the address yourself. By the way, the UAE lottery is open only to residents, so a tourist “winning” it is a sure sign of fraud. More on what is and isn’t allowed in my post on casinos and the lottery in the UAE.

10. A flat “below market price” from an ad

A great flat by the sea, cheaper than the neighbours, and an owner who is “abroad right now” and asks you to transfer a deposit so it “doesn’t get taken”. The flat doesn’t exist, or it belongs to someone else.

How to protect yourself: don’t transfer money until you’ve seen the flat and signed a contract. Check the agent’s licence through the Dubai Land Department (on its website or in the Dubai REST app): the check is free for everyone. How renting, contracts and Ejari work is in my post on renting an apartment in Dubai.

What to do if you’ve been scammed

1. Money taken from your card. Call your bank straight away, block the card and dispute the transaction.
2. An emergency. Police nationwide: 999.
3. Online fraud. Report it through the Dubai Police eCrime platform, the Abu Dhabi Police Aman service (8002626) or the UAE Ministry of Interior app.
4. An unsafe situation in Dubai. The Dubai Police Al Ameen service: 8004444.
5. A shop, market or service. Complain to consumer protection at the Department of Economy and Tourism: 600545555. Keep the receipt, photos, messages and the car’s number if it’s about transport.
6. Something left in a taxi. Report it in the S’hail app or through the RTA feedback form: you’ll need the time, the route and how you paid.

And don’t give up if you’ve lost something. In summer 2025 I left a backpack with my laptop and iPad on the pavement outside Dubai airport and only noticed at boarding. We filed a report, showed the police where the backpack was on the location tracker, and 10 days later Dubai Police called: they had found it, with everything inside untouched.

The rule that works everywhere

If something is too good, too urgent or too personal, stop. A good deal in Dubai won’t vanish in five minutes, but a scammer will vanish exactly five minutes after you pay.

How I can help

I arrange airport meet-and-greet and transfers, and book safaris, event tickets and restaurant tables with partners I trust, so you don’t have to choose from ads. And on my Dubai sightseeing tour or a walk through Old Dubai with the Gold Souk, I’ll tell you where and how to buy without surprises.

This isn’t legal or investment advice: rules and prices change, so check them before any deal.

Checked on 11 October 2026. Sources: UAE government portal u.ae, Dubai RTA, Dubai Jewellery Group, Dubai Land Department.