Fake taximeters, kilometre-long detours, cash-only payments. Social media is awash with reports of an alleged scam involving taxi drivers stationed at Lisbon Airport.
"A trap for tourists", is how Josien Nation, a foreign content creator living in Portugal, describes it in a video posted on her Facebook page Nations Without Borders (source in Portuguese) on 14 August.
In the video, she says taxi drivers charge more than they should or do not have the meter running. "Taxis are just a scam," she says.
Josien Nation says there is a high chance of being ripped off by taxis at the airport and sets out two scenarios. In the first, the tourist negotiates the price with the driver for the journey between the airport and their destination. The driver sets the price and the meter stays off.
In the second, the tourist does not negotiate the price and the meter is not switched on, so the taxi driver decides on whatever fare he fancies at the end of the journey.
