Wallet Skimming Scams

It’s a common problem all over Asia. It may be a common problem all over the world, but as I am a regular visitor to Thailand and The Philippines, my post refers to those two countries.
The practice of hotel staff skimming money from your wallet has now reached epidemic proportions.
It works like this. You are a friendly, trusting traveler who is quite taken by the kind smiling faces of the indigenous and you feel safe in your dealings with the locals.

You find a cozy little guesthouse and check in for a few nights.

Nothing bad has happened to you on the trip, so you can’t see any harm in checking in your valuables, cash and documents to the front desk. The person at the front desk dutifully locks them away in a security box and hands you the key.
You wonder if you should ask if there is any way the hotel staff can open the box without you being present, but you think better of it and you head upstairs to your room.

The next day you decide to withdraw some dollars from your box so you can change the dollars over to the local currency.

Lo and behold, something seems odd. You could have sworn that you had exactly $2740 in cash stashed in that security box. You count it again but there is only $2540 in the box.
Scratching your head, you retrace your spending history but you can’t remember spending the missing $200.

Chances are, you have just been skimmed.

During the last ten years I have heard these stories time and time again. Skimming cash from security boxes or from rooms when guests are out is quite common.
Smaller hotels and guesthouses is where this is most likely to happen.
The skimmers work on a principle that most of the victims will be confused about their cash float and just forget about the missing money. Of course the skimmers know if they take the lot, the police will be most definitely involved and their scam will be over, so they prefer to skim rather than risk police involvement.
The victim will have a rough time proving anything because the money could have been taken during any of the front counter staff shifts.
How does he prove anything was taken?

My friends and I have come up with a good way of preventing being skimmed at hotels.
Every time you open the box, you count the cash and get the hotel staff employee who is working the front desk to check the amount. You then write the amount on a piece of paper, which is duly dated, signed by the employee, noting the time as well. The paper is retained by you as a receipt.
You explain to the staff member that you will be checking the latest receipt against the cash contents each time you open the box.
This will put the fear of god into them and will offer you more security.

Larger hotels have twenty four hour cameras and staff is not allowed to handle the second locking key without the guest being present.

Further reading
http://www.bangkokscams.com/scams-in-bangkok/unsafe-deposit-box.html