Spanish authorities warn Brits about ‘two euro’ holiday scam

Frausters are sneaking a lower-value foreign coin into tourists’ change

The real two euro coin (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Spain’s Civil Guard has warned holidaymakers to watch out for a “two euro scam” that could see them given change worth practically nothing.

An alert from the country’s Guardia Civil highlights a trick where local vendors give out a coin that looks almost identical to a €2 coin, which is worth around £1.73 in sterling - but the replacement coin is only worth 24p.

With a similar gold centre and a silver-coloured rim, but a much lower value, the South African five rand coin is being swapped for the €2 by frausters, say police.

“Look out!!! This is a South African 5 rand coin. It is very similar to that of €2 but it is really worth €0.30. [Careful] that they don’t scam you,” tweeted the Guardia Civil.

In past alerts, Spanish authorities have also flagged incidents of the Turkish lira coin being given out instead of the €2 coin - this, too, has a similar gold and silver appearance, but is worth just 30p sterling at the time of writing.

To double check their change, tourists should look closely at any “€2” coins given - the five rand coin has a white-tailed gnu (similar to a wildebeest) on one side, with the South African coat of arms on the other.

Meanwhile, the Turkish lira coin has the face of Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, pictured on one side and the country’s crescent and star emblem on the other.

The real €2 coin has a large “2” and the European map on one side; and varying national emblems of EU countries on the other.

In the same thread, tweeted on Monday, the Guardia Civil also alerted tourists to fake police cars posing as law enforcement to scam tourists.

The real police car is pictured with a mostly navy paint job, along with “Policia Nacional” emblazoned along the side, a Spanish flag stripe and a gold badge icon painted towards the back.

It comes as the EU warns that fraudsters may take advantage of the upcoming Etias EU visa waiver, which will come into effect for third countries such as the UK in autumn 2023.

Although the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) system won’t launch until next November, new EU guidance is already warning of potential scam opportunities around the purchase of the waiver.