Malaysia - 5 Mistakes & Scams to Avoid!
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- I talk about 5 common mistakes/scams in Malaysia and how to avoid them! As of 2024 these scams are still happening. I've experienced a few of these myself and have come across many others who have run into them as well.
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GRAB was god sent. Even for Malaysian, we dread local taxis in KL. They don't really scam locals but they will refuse certain routes which doesn't suite them, or request certain sum without the meter.
It was Uber that started and taxi drivers were whining on poor business. We were saying, "serve them right".
There is a taxi kiosk near the drugstore in terminal one. I asked them for a taxi to my hotel and it was very reasonable. The guy actually gave me his business card and he drove me all around the city basically giving me a tour and he only charged me about $60 USD He was a great guy and I will definitely have him drive me next time I come to KL
Ben, for food, once you include mutton/lamb, it will be expensive. And once you include prawns or crabs, the food will be very expensive. So, if you want to include even one piece of any of those, you should ask how much each of those cost. (Meaning that it is not really a scam but they will suggest it to you, and for me normally I would politely decline, and usually that is that.)
Well, explained. Seller would push you to take the most expensive food. It is the same all over the world. They will tell how delicious it is.
Of course mutton is more expensive than chicken. And of course seafood is more expensive. That doesn't mean it's okay for mamak owners to charge more to a tourist, or a local who did not confirm the price. It happens not just to tourists but also to locals. I've met people in person and you can also look at the comments on this video to see what I'm talking about.
@kayellai5278 yes the seller will always try to upsell the lamb shank, but that's not what this is about at all, it's about double pricing, or charging different prices for different people just because they can.
@@benfishermin We are aware, the authorities are aware, because Malaysian do get "cheated" the most. Confront the owner with a why, he said because the supply is high priced. Same reply, we get all the time with different mamak. It is rampant in mamak restaurant mostly. In your video, you have to be specific on which restaurant, not in general.
@@benfisherminIt is unlawful not to display the menu with the price of each item.
Great tips. I first visited KL before Grab and got so tired of the taxis trying to rip me off. So much simpler with Grab.
Grab really is a savior for avoiding taxi scams!
Maybe add the opening the backpack scam in the night markets. Wherever you can buy a fake watch, sly fingers will try to unzip a backpack and grab a few things from inside. Not so bad in KL, but the Ladies Market in Hong Kong - and lots of other markets around SE Asia -- have similar scam artists working in the shadows.
Once I rented a car in Sabah as me and my friend wanted to drive from KK to Kundasang for 1 week.
Reached out to a random guy online, made me transfer deposit and car rental separately twice through bank transfer.
The guy insisted me to pay the third time because he miss calculated the extra days of my booking.
I got scammed for the first time in Sabah even if im a local 😅
Yes that's the cruel tactic, deposit, more money, then again, a madeup story about putting money in another account or something fishy....yes smell the rat....
Hmm... come to think of it, locals have also fallen prey to "make up prices" at some mamak outlets, but most of us don't think much of it- just never step foot in there again- there are lots of better options, and never a good idea to get involved with and delay the unstoppable Karma that belongs to these scammers.
Thanks for the much appreciated reminder tips, even for locals, Ben!
Yea that's true I've had locals tell me this is not uncommon with mamak shops. With reputable places it's not gonna happen, but more random spots I found is when it happened to me, mainly when I first arrived and didn't ask anything about prices until after I already ate the food.
We can help by leaving reviews on the google maps to alert others from getting scammed in the future.
I liked your new intro! 🙌Thanks for the tips as well, have to keep them in mind on my next journey there! It has been quite a while, I don't remember this in KL 20 years ago, sounds like India to my ears in fact...
You have a niche, malaysia is rarely covered, do some of the beach and hill resorts, go to sarawak, industries like the startup/digital
A very well-produced and informative video! Thanks Ben! 😊
Nah... some are really untrue. Please read my post.
Thanks!
@kayellai5278 Oh god
Great info to know! I haven't been a victim of any of those scams during my visits to Malaysia so far, and now I'll make sure it never happens. Thanks for the heads up! I like the new style of this video with the music in between your mentions about each scam. Nice touch.
Most of us locals don't use taxis anymore. Just call Grab, fixed price, there's a position tracker and safer. Mamak, banana leaf, nasi kandar, fish head curry, these are notorious for cheating. You can easily get swindled if you take lamb shank, tiger prawn, crab, of course avoid these if you don't want to be overcharged. Those beggars are run by syndicates and are mostly Rohingya, Bangladeshis who overstay illegally. Too many illegal migrants these days.
Tq for the tips. I'm a local but from outside Kuala Lumpur also getting these scammers
You are welcome!
Ah finally, Gurney Bay! :)
Head to the more rural Balik Pulau next.
Balik Pulau has a really nice church called Church Of Holy Name Of Jesus - wonderful stained glass windows inside.
Yea not sure how I haven't checked out Gurney Bay sooner, nice spot! Thanks for the tip
@@benfishermin another place with beautiful churches and chapels is Melaka. The more beautiful ones in malaysia are usually very well hidden, like St francis chapel in st francis institution and st joseph chapel in gurney paragon mall.
Do try visiting all the religious sites in the entire melaka if you could, even the smallest temple and chapel holds a significant history of minimum 100 years.
Now, this is exactly what many failed to bring out to attention. Great that you did. Firstly, foreigners mostly didn't realize, out of excitement in experiencing cheap prices over here, they're transferring increasing burden on locals when they spoiling the market by readily accepting every price charged by the sellers. That's one of the reasons prices went on unreasonable hikes. And those asking for money for lunch or any other reason, never entertain. If they're really hungry, still, just give something to eat but never money. I came across one. Gave a packet of biscuits, he rejected. It's a proof that he's not really what he claimed to be. Otherwise I'd given him a ringgit. Good tip for the foreigner especially. Don't throw out money easily, it'd make not just you but everyone else vulnerable.
It's not just in Malaysia, it should be applicable everywhere you go. Sometimes, those who did scams might not even be locals but illegal immigrants.
It's true, people blindly accept the price because they feel maybe it's rude to question it, or just to make things easy, but that motivates the scammer to continue doing it to everyone, it's a never ending cycle.
Wow Ben, you have short clips+music now in between your points 😂😂 Keep it rolling 💪🏽💪🏽
Yea I decided to try something different, maybe I will mix it up with some raw videos and some that I edit with music, what do you think about this style of video?
I like it - it makes the presentation light n neat but pls dont add music in while u r talking as it will be distracting to watch. Cheers
Go to Sarawak, KL to Miri return ticket less than a hundred dollar, hotels are cheap too, or go to Kuching, from Kuching you can go over to Pontianak Indonesia round trip cost you for less than a hundred a 8 hour trip by bus
Hi, can you share the right place to get the tickets to Miri, recommend good hotels and places to visit in Miri for 3-5 days?
I was in Pontianak a few months ago it sucks. Go to JB and then to Batam, Indonesia. It's a lot nicer and around the same price. Spent 7 days at a roof top AirBnB in a really nice hotel/condo building. The total was around $120 for 7 days and it was a really nice place, we were there for New Years Eve.
I have a few stories about scams in Malaysia. One guy convinced me he was a security guard at the new apartment complex I had just moved into. He said his motorcycle broke and gave me a very specific number of ringgits. Not wanting a security guard where I lived to be salty, I gave it to him. I then asked the head security at my complex whether that "guard" was working as he promised to pay me back. The head guard who happened to be a bad ass Gurka, looked at me with pity and explained I'd been scammed. Live and learn.
Even he is a real security guard at your apartment complex, you are not supposed to give him money, this acts will open up a bad example. The security guard should be taken care of by the security firms he works for.
@@miinhueysoo136 That was over a decade. I know better now. I did take care of my security with snacks and drinks as they worked hard.
BTW, I dont think I ever been scammed/overcharged in a Chinese or a Malay restaurant before. Almost all the time I was over charged was in Mamak shops because despite gov ruling to display prices and they dont and they get away with it. Eg:- They will state the price of squid/sotong as RM$5 - $50 in the price display board....so they can make up any figure in that range and technically be legally compliant.
indeed.. even fish is expensive at mamak. Rule of thumb stay away from seafood at mamak
Why are Mamak restaurants so dishonest.?
Yea for me it's only happened in mamak shops as well. Now I always just ask how much per piece as they're putting it on the plate. Still it doesn't mean they won't charge more than what it should be but at least they can't surprise you at the end.
@@Beatitudes53 i dont know, are u implying some reasons?
@@RajeshRavindranathanwhy not try go into a mamak shop in Penang with your wife/trusted friend... ordering same dish of seafood same portion of food. But you don't ask the price of the dish but your friend ask the price ..pay on separate bill and separate table..
See if the mamak shop scam you!!! Make a comparison
The difference is if you ask. The price is cheaper.
If you don't ask the price will be dearer.
Good info. Phone sim card scams also need to be aware and avoid.
Gurney Bay!…my Penang home just 5 minutes walk away! Can’t wait for phase 2 to complete n I literally just need to cross d road to go there haha.
Hi Ben!!! Thank you for sharing this information, great vid as always👍🏻! Enjoy ur stay in Malaysia. Take good care & safe travels😊
Once you arrived at the Airport always go to the official rental car counters not straight going outside because those taxi and private transport may charge you higher later. If buy the ticket at the counter the driver can't charge different already. For food you if go for mamak shop etc go nasi kandar or mixed rice than choose the veg, meat, etc NOT choosing those veg, meat etc without the rice meaning its not a nasi kandar or mix rice already so they will charge high for those veg, meat, fish, etc...
Correct. The standard law is you would only leave the airport either by rail, bus or airport taxis.
City taxis never allowed to operate in KLIA (smaller ones yes).
When Uber first came to Malaysia in 2014, it was facing a huge hurdles and challanges. Later when Grab took over Uber office and then the ministry started to open up to e hailing services, rhe drivers were allowed to operate to and fro from airporr
This information of checking the taxi counter inside the airport is very helpful, for I'd be visiting Penang soon. THANKS.
Thanks!
Nice thanks so much for your super thanks $ donation!!
Ben, if mamak shop over charge too expensive at counter. Tell them, bro ini maha lah, this hotel price lor, don't malu malu. He will reduce price immediately lah. never give money to homeless, most illegal lah. indianman following you, learn local words.."chow chow mampus kau!!!" or tell him fly kite. haha.
Haha thanks good tips!
Fyi not all indians are locals. Some are illegal immigrants of indian descent. It's just that sometimes we hardly differentiate them
Being a local, I am amazed with your experience with scammers. They are not really bad when they know you are not local.
Normally, rice at mamak store, nasi kandar, banana leaf rice etc. are expensive. Chinese mixed rice is actually cheaper comparatively, but it will always be a good idea to bring along a local Chinese friend to go with you because the calculation of the price of the mixed rice is very subjective as well.
Especially when it is subjective, the cheat comes in.
Correct, one reason is the longer opening hours (22-24) and also the high number of workers.
Just to let you know that the beggars are not locals... Bangladeshi and Rohingya looks like locals Indian while Indonesian looks like Malays... ❤🇲🇾
I hope you don't rent a motorbike in Malaysia. It's just not safe. Just looking at the statistics, the fatality rates for motorbikes is horrifying. I think Malaysia has one of the highest fatality rates in the world for road accidents and a large part of it includes motorbikes. I suggest to rent a small car instead, it's just slightly more expensive.
I rode motorbikes for years in Indonesia and always in Thailand as well, at the very least it's similar in terms of safety/accidents. Of course it's not completely safe but I really enjoy riding motorbikes, and it's a good way to get around. I don't have an international license to rent a car here.
@@benfishermin you need a Malaysian licence A i think to even ride bikes in Malaysia, the problem why it is more dangerous to ride bikes in Malaysia I think it comes down to some of the good roads we have better than those 2 countries and cars and bikes can ride faster, that's why its not the accident rate but the fatality rate in Malaysia is higher. Anyway I still have my ex-boss, now 70+ still riding around in KL daily with a 600 cc bike and never got into an accident :)
Ben,may be you can try to get international driving license In US embassy ? Not sure about that. For long run car really a game changer in Malaysia.
@@benfisherminif you can survive on motorbike in indonesia and thailand you should be fine here.
@@benfishermin In Thailand and Indonesia, motorbike is the king of the road. In Malaysia, it was, now is like 50/50. There is love hate relationship between motorbike and car. Motorbike riders are known to beat up car drivers.
Scam 2, happened to locals too, usually these places are ran by foreigners, and this is another reason I rarely frequent these places. Scam 3, your comment is spot on.
These people who use children to do their begging are awful. Some tourists see only the cute little children and think it's ok to buy from them. This just keeps the problem going. We've seen this in many countries from Mexico to Indonesia and even eastern Europe. The movie Slumdog Millionaires should awaken tourists to this problem.
Yea I see it regularly in KL, especially in the brickfields / nu sentral area!
Those beggars in KL and malaysia are mostly the illegal immigrants and refugees. They may looks like the same features like malaysia but they are not Malaysian.
I hope you didn't fall prey to any of the vehicle rental scams you mentioned here in Malaysia. If you do, go straight to the police station, and they'll be more apprehensive to pull a fast one on you. In Malaysia, you're usually in safe hands if you go to the ones with good review ratings.😅
Nah it didn't happen to me, I met someone in my guesthouse who had this experience in Langkawi though!
A guy walked up to me in Chinatown KL saying he hasn't eaten in 3 days and wanted money for food but he was literally holding a plastic bag with take out food he had just purchased. 😅
If ya go to Nasi KANDAR - stay away frm the SeaFood .
Pricey...
Yep I almost never get the seafood because of the price
In KL go to the big Mall and the best is at the Plaza Low Yat Mall in Bukit bintang where the hundreds of IT outlets is
Good content
All those issues can prevented if you don't fall into dirt cheap things... As simple as that... Knock off shop definitely will sell a knock off items. About the beggars aka street sellers, i guarantee you that most of them are not locals. Probably a migrants, refugee or illegal immigrants.
"i guarantee you that most of them are not locals. Probably a migrants, refugee or illegal immigrants" - that is exactly what I said in the video...
Agreed.☺️
I always eat at mamak and i know roughly how much itll cost...and price defers from one place to another...if its closer to higher end places itll cost more...some of the dishes u should know that cost so much is squid, prawns, crabs, and lamb...the rest will still be affordable...for 1 single plate with drinks itll cost around myr15 to myr20 on average
On the side note: mamak is not a cheap place to eat...its considered medium end...if u want cheap meal go to suburb area food stalls or any food stall or kiosk on the side of the road...
Yea of course, but this is more about double pricing or charging different people different prices for the same dish. I've gone to places where I've ordered the exact same plate and been charged drastically different amounts from a different employee. These were not famous places though but smaller mamak shops
Bro since you love Nasi Kandar go try Nasi Kandar Rafee, it is 1 of the best, also Nasi Kandar Tajudeen Hussein 👍.
Nice place 😃
At Penang airport I took the illegal rides which were cheaper than the licensed ones and usually from family man doing part time after work and luxury cars like beemers, never unpleasant experience.
If it was cheaper than Grab I'd be really surprised. In KL they try to charge 100+ RM for unmetered rides from the airport when the same rides are 50-65 RM on Grab. Even the metered taxis are more pricey than Grab. The Grab drivers also typically need the money just as bad and it's a much safer choice.
@@benfishermin Yeah no matter what, these private taxis/solicitors are never gonna give you a good deal. There's a reason why they need to prey on people. Grab is the safest and best option because the metered taxis are usually old beat up cars that aren't comfortable. Also, these solicitors don't have valid taxi licenses, so if shit hits the fan there's no legal recourse on your end to hold them accountable. On top of that I've heard many stories where these taxi solicitors agree up front to a price, and then upon reaching your destination they make some bullshit up to try to charge you more. There's a saying akin to "There's usually a reason why one has to go fishing for customers", and I never trust those types of vendors for any kind of situation or service, not just taxis.
⚠Great Advice, it is prevalent across Asia.
Have you been scammed in Malaysia? Have you reported this to the police? Are you just making assumptions to service selling yr vedios?
I've definitely been overcharged and of course I've had taxis try to approach me for an unmetered ride, but nothing serious and nothing I'd report to the police. I'm not making any assumptions actually, and I'm not selling anything...
Hi Bro 👋 .
Hello Ben where is that beautiful seaside you're walking?
Anyway, I have seen one scam I couldn't figured out the purpose behind it in Kuala Lumpur.
A lady with a child, sometimes alone begging tourist and I have seen it both live and in RUclips video as well. When the person she's begging try to give some money, she would say, Oh I don't want money, but I want to you to buy me a food, then she takes them to one of those vendors selling food.
I wonder, whether there's someone kind of relationship with that particular vendor and they share the money.
Imagine if she gets 30 people a day to buy a food for her.
She dresses like a Muslim, but she's definitely not local, either she Eastern European Gypsy or Syrian/Iraqi Gypsy
Lucky Face scam is brutal
There are beggars on Jalan Alor who just happened to all be from Palestine.
go sarawak ben, i think sarawak more dragon ball to get it
You mean, my $85 iPad may not be real?😂
100% real 😂 I mean honestly if it's a very old model and used iPad maybe it would be possible
Election promises!
😂 *SCAMMED!* 😂
🤔🤔🤔
I disagree with the above title, it happens but not common, Mostly because of your greed and ignorant.
1. There is always a taxi counter at the airport where prices are fixed. If you are a frequent traveler, you should know. With smartphone, which city do not offer Grab or Uber. Debunk!
2. Food in mamak is just expensive, if you choose expensive dish. You should recognise this expensive food and always ask for the price. The standard price would be chicken, beef or normal fish. Even Malaysian get the high prices because of being too adventurous. Standard menu has fix prices. Fair comment.
3. Begging is not allowed in Malaysia. Malaysian just ignore all these beggers. These are the government job to clean up. If you ignore all these, you are safe. Being friendly does not help. You are guilty of acknowledging them. Your problem.
4. It is known everywhere there are fake electronics on the street. Just buy anything in a decent shopping mall, most of it, is genuine and comes with warranty. It is your ignorant and your greed that you felt for it.
5. Rental is not too common here compared to Thailand. For what we know, we damage a lot of electric scooters without paying for it. Previously, were bicycles. Rare comment.
Malaysia has less scams compare to other countries. I have not heard of any bar or pub scams which is so common in other countries. In other countries, the hostess is local, in Malaysia is all foreigners, foreigners will try their best to avoid troubles.
Just because you know how to handle all of these situations does not mean they do not exist for tourists. I've had so many attempted scams on me since I arrived in Malaysia. You are not a white tourist so you have absolutely no idea. The point of this video is to help people avoid things that absolutely do happen in Malaysia, whether you want to believe it or not.
@@benfishermin Some of it exist in their own white man countries too. Hence, it is not particular to Malaysia only.
@@kayellai5278 Yea these are not exclusive to Malaysia, I even said that in the video.
Dude, you're getting into overposting. take time for a proper editing/sound quality/video idea gathering and then post. You dont have to post everyday, well still be here. just a tip
I'm posting the same amount I always have actually, I've been posting daily since I started 6 months ago except for maybe 10-15 days missed. Sorry you weren't a fan of this one.
@@benfisherminyou're doing fine Ben, don't worry about it. The info you're giving out is precious. If people don't feel like it, they don't HAVE to watch every video as you post it. They can watch it later. Keep em coming!
@@benfisherminyou just helped me. Im going to KL soon. Thank you for posting!
The sound quality and video ideas are perfect, nth wrong with it
You are in Penang Island now which is famous for Chinese food (this is because Penang island is a Chinese majority island) but I never heard you mention anything about them - Only Nasi Kandar and Nasi Lemak (a very big elephant in the room, I must say). Try it but if you hate Chinese food then nevermind.
Why is it that any knock offs have to be from China? Does China have the monopoly on knock offs? If they do, then hats off to China for at least giving certain people the affordability to buy what they want albeit at lower quality.
Anyway, China is now a world class technology country, those knockoffs are fast becoming a thing in the past. China is now famous for electric vehicles (EV), smartphones, 5G, drones (DJI), semiconductors, infrastructure building (BRI), wind turbines, solar panels, largest high speed bullet train network (42K km in China), satellite networks, space station and the list goes on.
FYI, As of June 2024, China has invested RM1.8 billion in Penang, with RM1,799.6 million approved in 2023. China is a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for Malaysia and its largest trading partner and these have created many jobs in our country. Cheers.
Try picking up some basic malay words ...then u won't get scammed too much 😂
I guess so, but it's not even Malaysians who are the ones scamming people, it's only foreign workers
@@benfishermin well there are lots of touts for taxis that are local Malaysian...facts are facts no point sweeping problems under a rug...we Malaysians accept factual criticms 😀
@@benfishermin oh as for nasi kandar even we Malaysian even we Malaysians don't know the final.price and usually complain about the high price after too hahaha
Maybe u can try bananabro it's a chain banana leaf place available in most malls and their price is quite fixed (ie if u love curry)
@@benfishermin there is a joke among we Malaysians ie...if u go to a malay stall they will need to take out a calculator to calculate even just few plate and if the price come to rm20.20 usually they will just ask for rm20 because they find it hassle to get the change for u if u pay rm21...
If u go to a Chinese restaurant the boss will get u the final price just by mental calculation even u order a lot of dishes and it will be very accurate
If u go to a Indian shop the owner will also mental calculate it very fast but if u ask him to calculate plate by plate again it will definitely be he extra charge u
Hahahaha a small local malaysian joke but facts lol
@@liesterminator153, factual joke...