Tour & Activity Scams in San Diego, USA
Unlicensed guides, fake tickets, bait-and-switch excursions, and ticket scalping. Below are the tour & activities scams reported in San Diego — how they work and how to avoid them.
For broader context, compare this scam type with nearby destinations like Las Vegas, Miami, and Tulum.
Last updated: April 2, 2026
2
Tour & Activities Scams
10
Total in San Diego
How it works
Sellers on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and outside the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld offer discounted or barely-used multi-day passes. Many are already fully used, invalid, or digital screenshots sold to multiple buyers. The San Diego Zoo barcode system will reject duplicated tickets at the gate.
How it works
During San Diego Comic-Con International in July, scalpers operate around the San Diego Convention Center and nearby streets selling counterfeit or invalid badges at significant markup. Badges are sometimes genuine but already scanned and invalidated, or are outright fakes printed to look convincing. Buyers only discover the fraud at the entry gate and have no recourse. The scam intensifies in the days leading up to the event when legitimate badges have sold out months in advance.
See all scams in San Diego
10 total warnings across all categories