Differentiating tourist scam cases: towards a taxonomy of deceptive schemes

Contradictions and complexities in the study of tourist scams can potentially be overcome by developing a more organised taxonomic account of these essentially deceptive activities. Using a key-informant survey of 78 strategically selected stakeholders and a multidimensional scaling analysis, we discovered four dominant features to classify tourist scams, including deception types, interpersonal trust, victim culpability and prevalence. A 16-category taxonomy was thereby proposed, articulating typical examples and victimisation features. The taxonomy assists in interpreting variable outcomes from diverse studies and places, and offers fresh insights for those seeking to manage and avoid such deceptions