Last updated 5 October 2026
Almost every scam in Delhi is a confidence trick rather than a crime, and almost all of them run on the same engine: separating you from the plan you arrived with, then selling you a replacement.
Learn that pattern and you do not need to memorise a list. But the list helps, because recognising the opening line of one of these in the moment is much easier than working it out from first principles while tired and jet-lagged.
The one habit that defeats most of them
If you remember nothing else: when a stranger tells you your plan cannot happen, verify it with someone who is not standing in front of you.
Your hotel has not burned down. The road is not closed. The monument is not shut for a government holiday. The train is not cancelled. Every one of those sentences is the opening move of a scam, and every one of them is checkable in thirty seconds by calling your hotel, opening a map, or simply continuing to your destination and looking.
Scams need urgency, because urgency stops you checking. Anything that insists you decide right now, with a stranger’s help, is the thing to be suspicious of — not the person, the pressure.
The fake tourist office
The most persistent scam in Delhi and the one that costs people the most money.
It runs around New Delhi railway station and Connaught Place. You are heading for the official tourist information counter or the railway booking office, and someone helpful tells you it has moved, is closed today, or is upstairs in a different building. You are walked or driven a short distance to an office with a convincing sign — "Government of India Tourist Office", "Government Approved" — staffed by a polite man at a desk.
What happens next is that your plan is dismantled. Your train is unavailable, your hotel is in a bad area, the city you wanted is unsafe this week. In its place you are sold a package — a car, a driver, a tour of Rajasthan — at several times what it is worth, paid in advance, usually in cash.
The real tourist office is the India Tourism Delhi office at 88 Janpath. There is one. Any other office claiming to be the government one is not, however official the signage looks.
The taxi and auto scams
These start at the airport or the station and they all end in the same place: you in a vehicle going somewhere you did not choose.
The most common is the hotel story. Your driver asks where you are staying, then tells you the hotel has closed, burned down, been demolished or is fully booked. He knows a better one. The better one pays him a commission, and your original booking is sitting there with your name on it.
The second is the closed road. There is a protest, a VIP movement, a festival, so your route is impossible and he will take you somewhere else instead. Sometimes a road really is closed in Delhi. The tell is whether the alternative happens to be a shop, a travel office or another hotel.
The third is simpler: no meter, or a broken meter, and a price negotiated after you arrive. Agree the fare before the vehicle moves, or use an app where the price is fixed in advance.
The defence for all three is to have the journey arranged before you land. Our guide to getting around Delhi covers the prepaid booths, the apps and the metro.
The shopping commission
This one is not really a scam, which is why it catches people who are watching for scams. It is a commission arrangement, and it is everywhere.
Shops selling carpets, pashmina, gems, marble and handicrafts pay drivers and guides a substantial cut for bringing a customer through the door. Nothing you are told is a lie. The goods are often genuine. The price simply has someone else’s commission inside it, which is why the same item costs a fraction as much in a shop where nobody is being paid to deliver you.
It is presented as a workshop visit, a craft demonstration, a government emporium, somewhere to use the bathroom and have a cup of tea. All of it is true and all of it ends at a sales floor.
Say at the time of booking that you do not want shop stops. An operator who does not work on commission will agree without hesitating.
The street-level ones
Small, common, and more irritating than costly.
| The setup | How it ends | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A bracelet or flower is pressed into your hand as a "gift" | Payment is demanded once you are holding it | Do not take it. Hands in pockets, keep walking |
| Someone points out a stain on your shoe | They put it there; cleaning it costs a fee | Say no, keep walking, clean it later |
| An offer to clean your ears | A "worm" is produced from your ear and a fee demanded | Decline firmly; never let anyone near your ears |
| A friendly stranger takes your photo | A fee is requested for the service | Decline, or agree the price first |
| Someone offers to show you the "best spot" | A guiding fee at the end of it | Decline unless you wanted a guide and agreed a price |
| Milk or food for a baby, bought from "that shop" | The shop refunds the goods and splits the money | Give money directly if you want to give, or do not |
Tickets, monuments and fake guides
Outside most major monuments you will meet people selling tickets, offering to skip the queue, or offering to guide you. Buy tickets only from the official counter or the official online system, and never from someone in the car park.
A licensed guide carries a photo identity card issued by the Ministry of Tourism or by the state, and will show it if you ask — they are asked constantly and do not mind. Anyone who approaches you outside the gate is, by definition, someone with no bookings.
You will also be told that a monument is closed, under renovation, or shut for a holiday, by someone who then offers an alternative. Walk up to the gate and check. Delhi monuments do close — Monday is a common closing day for some museums, and the Red Fort has its own schedule — but a stranger in the car park is not your source for that.
A note on the people, not the scams
It is worth saying plainly, because a page like this can leave a false impression. The overwhelming majority of people in Delhi who approach a visitor are not running anything. They are curious, or selling something openly, or being genuinely helpful.
The scams above are concentrated in a few specific places — around New Delhi railway station, parts of Connaught Place, the airport arrivals road and the monument car parks. Away from those, the city is simply a city.
The point of knowing the list is not to treat everyone as a threat. It is the opposite: knowing which five situations to be alert in means you can relax in all the others.
Common questions
What is the most common scam in Delhi?
The fake tourist office, around New Delhi railway station and Connaught Place. You are told the real office has moved or closed, taken to an official-looking one, and sold an overpriced tour package in cash after being told your existing plans are impossible. The genuine India Tourism Delhi office is at 88 Janpath — there is one, and a real government office gives information rather than selling you a tour.
My taxi driver says my hotel is closed. Is it true?
Almost certainly not. It is one of the most common scams in Delhi: the driver takes you to a hotel that pays him a commission while your actual booking sits waiting. Call your hotel from the car. If the driver objects to you calling, you have your answer.
Is Delhi full of scams?
No — but a few specific places are. The scams concentrate around New Delhi railway station, parts of Connaught Place, the airport arrivals road and the monument car parks. Away from those, most approaches are people being curious or selling openly. Knowing which handful of situations to be alert in is what lets you relax everywhere else.
How do I avoid being scammed in Delhi?
One habit covers most of it: when a stranger tells you your plan cannot happen, verify it with someone who is not standing in front of you. Scams need urgency, because urgency stops you checking. "Thank you, I will check with my hotel" ends almost all of them politely.
Are the government emporium and workshop visits a scam?
Not a scam exactly — a commission arrangement, which is why it catches people who are watching for scams. The goods are often genuine and nothing you are told is a lie. The price simply contains the cut paid to whoever brought you. Tell your operator before booking that you do not want shop stops; one who does not work on commission will agree immediately.
Should I buy monument tickets from someone outside the gate?
No. Buy only from the official counter or the official online system. Anyone selling tickets or offering to skip the queue in the car park is either overcharging or selling you nothing. The same applies to guides — a licensed guide carries a government photo identity card and works through bookings, not by approaching strangers.
Is it rude to say no to people in Delhi?
Not at all, and it is expected. A clear "no thank you" without breaking stride is normal and nobody takes offence. What invites persistence is a hesitant no or a conversation — a reason is something to argue with, a repeated sentence is not.