Travel Tips & Trends

Beware of driving permit scams

Travelers who plan to drive while abroad are urged to be aware of the large number of fraudulent companies claiming to sell International Driving Permits (IDPs), especially over the Internet.

IDPs and Inter-American Driving Permits (IADPs) are official translations of a motorist's driver's license for use when driving in another country. Only two organizations, AAA and the American Automobile Touring Alliance, are authorized by the U.S. State Department to sell the documents to valid U.S. driver's license holders. Numerous online brokers claim to sell valid permits, often for hundreds of dollars—the actual cost of a legally valid permit is less than $20.

The Federal Trade Commission has previously alerted consumers to these scams and continues to follow up on offending marketers.

"A fraudulent IDP or IADP could result in legal problems or travel delays if a person is detained while using it to drive in a foreign country," says Doug Bower, vice president of Travel for AAA. "People who buy them from fraudulent online brokers and spam e-mailers are wasting their money."