If you rent a car in Mexico, be really careful when you stop at the gas stations and three or four attendants come to help you. This happens especially in Tulum (on the Yucatán Peninsula).

While one attendant will start washing your windshield, another will point to the front wheel (“La llanta esta baja”), saying you have a flat tire. Meanwhile, the third guy will start pumping the gas.

The flat tire ploy is just a reason to divert your attention to the front of the car and ignore the third guy, who fixes the pump’s payment clock.

How to avoid: when you have a few attendants coming at once, get out of the car and go straight to the pump. Keep an eye on it and make sure it flows properly. They see a rental car (read “money”) from a mile away. ***Be sure to read the Short change scam on the previous menu, for another scam pulled at Mexican gas stations.