Five everyday swindles you can't avoid

Watch out for these terrible rip-offs!

1.    Airport shops

Along with hospitals and theme parks (see below), visitors to airports are at the mercy of 'captive audience syndrome'. In other words, they've got you right where they want you, so keep a close eye on your wallet or purse at all times. Indeed, just about everything on sale in an airport is massively overpriced, even stuff that is supposedly 'duty free'. Airports operator BAA (now owned by Spanish firm Grupo Ferrovial) and its retail partners make billions every year from terminally bored, frustrated passengers who often have no choice but to cough up or go without. When I head for Heathrow (which I rarely do these days), I always shop before I go!

2.    Bogus price reductions

When I see an item advertised at a discounted 'sale' price, I only check today's price, not the previous price. That's because firms can hike prices only to drop them later, so long as these price changes meet the terms of the Sales of Goods Act. For example, a shirt initially costing £10 could be advertised for some time at £20 and then slashed to, say, £9, giving an £11 'discount' off a £20 ‘price'. So, treat alleged sale discounts with a pinch of salt!

3.    Card surcharges

Borrowing money at, say, 6% a year and lending it out at around 16% APR isn't enough for credit-card issuers. Nope, their goal is to charge you for every step you take. You'll pay a fee for withdrawing cash on credit cards (always a BIG mistake), spending money overseas or on foreign websites, transferring balances to low rate or 0% deals, using credit-card cheques, etc. Watch out for these fees and dodge them where you can!

Good credit cards to use when you’re abroad include the Santander Zero credit card, the Halifax Clarity credit card and the newly launched Metro Bank credit card. If you use any of these cards, you won’t get charged for foreign transactions, providing you clear your debt entirely when you receive your bill. You also won’t be charged a fee for withdrawing money abroad, but you will be charged interest from the day you withdraw your cash. Read Avoid these sneaky charges on holiday! to find out more.

4.    Cash-counting machines

My local ASDA, Sainsbury's and Tesco supermarkets all have lobby-based Coinstar cash-counting machines. You simply pour in a load of loose change (perhaps the coins from your whisky-bottle bank) and these will be counted in seconds. Alas, you don't get the full cash value of your coins, as there is a 7.9% administration fee.

What's more, you often aren't allowed to claim the cash at all. Instead, you can make a charitable donation, or receive store vouchers. Although some people may view this charge as fair -- and handling cash is expensive -- I won't ever use a coin-counting machine. After all, I have two youngsters at home happy to sort coins for free!

5.    Debits before credits

Let's say that I have a £100 credit going into, and a £100 debit leaving, my bank account on the same day. If the debit leaves before the credit arrives, then it will push me overdrawn and force me to pay extortionate bank charges. On the other hand, if the credit is first and the debit second, then I'll stay in the black.

Can you guess which way around banks will arrange these transactions? You guessed it: in order to maximise banks' profits, debits always leave before credits, creating a short-term overdraft which can then be milked for rip-off fees and interest. Personally, I doubt the legality of this approach, and I'd love to see a court case arguing that it breaches the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations...

More: Fed up with being ripped off? Then find a better credit card, current account, mortgage and savings account today!