Belgrade Airport Taxi Scammer

Belgrade Airport

If you are arriving at the Belgrade Airport, be very careful about the taxi scammers. After a tiresome day at the Belgrade Airport due to the horrible AirSerbia, I encountered this Taxi dude. Before getting in the taxi, as a smart traveler, I made sure he turned on the meter. He clarified that I would pay by card since I did not have local currency. Throughout the ride, he kept saying how the country has become very expensive, and fuel has become extremely expensive due to the wars. When we arrived at my Booking.com apartment, the meter showed RSD 889, and the receipt he gave me correctly showed the amount. He showed me the credit card reader and tapped my card for the correct amount. Before I tapped, he quickly typed something. I assumed he was just choosing the currency or whatever. He had added a zero! So, for a quick 9-minute drive, he charged me RSD 8890 instead of RSD 889. 

That was USD 87.38 instead of USD 8.74. 10 times the money.  USD 78.64 more than the actual price. I got a notification from the bank that I was charged USD 87.38. At the time, I didn't remember the exchange rate between RSD and USD. I was already tired and at the bottom (thanks, AirSerbia!). I assumed perhaps RSD 889 is indeed USD 87.38. I had been to Serbia once before. But that was 11 years ago, so I don't remember anything. Especially the exchange rate, when I was tired after a long day. When I arrived at the Booking.com apartment, I had an uneasy feeling: My Booking.com apartment was very close to the airport. It was not in Belgrade — the airport is indeed somewhat far from Belgrade City. But the apartment was in Surčin, the same town as the airport, and it took exactly 9 minutes to drive there! So, paying this much felt like an insult. Something did not feel right. I decided to check my receipt and calculate the actual amount using xe.com. Yes, RSD 889 should have been USD 8.74. That makes sense for the 9-minute drive. If it was indeed USD 87.38 for the 9-minute drive, that would have made Belgrade the most expensive unlivable city. The driver was hinting at the increased expense in Belgrade throughout the journey. I believe he was prepared to overcharge me in cash if I paid in euros or USD, since he knew I did not have RSD but had euros and USD.

I immediately reported this to my bank, Bank of America (BoA), with the receipt and the ride path, showing it was just 9 minutes. The bank declined my dispute for the extra USD 78.64. I was horrified that they sided with the scammer, despite me having all the evidence. Then I called them and also published this story on Twitter. The first BoA agent said their AI system flagged and declined my dispute as an AI-generated dispute without human oversight! The second agent was unhelpful, somewhat patronizing, and rude. Uncharacteristic of a call-center person. However, by the time the BoA social media team came online on Twitter, this was resolved. Perhaps the BoA social media team quickly had a human look over it and realized there was no AI involved in this story and dispute. It felt like it took them just ten minutes to resolve this scam and return me the overcharged USD 78.64!

I have been scammed by taxi guys. Usually, something in the range of 16 euros instead of 12 euros. In the worst case, I get charged twice the amount. This was the first time someone decided to scam me 10 times! Such a greedy dude. If he had charged me USD 18 instead of USD 8.74, I would have ignored this scam. This magnitude is too much to ignore. 

Verdict: Avoid AirSerbia and Belgrade Airport if you can (more details on this later, if my time permits). But if you must use them and end up in Belgrade, avoid taxis. Public transport is free in Belgrade, and you can easily take the bus to Belgrade city center.