Top ten Paris scams
The city of lights is worth seeing, but keep in mind that Paris is the world’s most visited place and the 40 million yearly tourists attract numerous con artists. Don’t spoil your stay by falling for one of these:
1. Do you speak English?
If somebody stops you in the street by asking if you speak English, it’s a bad sign. This harmless question happens to be every con artist’s favorite icebreaker. That explains why Parisians don’t always run to you with their arms open if you need help and pronounce these magic words.
Most often the con artist is holding a map – last time I noticed it was not a Paris’s but Basel’s map – and once he had got you attention he moves to the scam phase. It can be anything from begging to use your cell phone for an urgent call to asking you to make change. Whatever the reason is don’t lift your phone or your wallet from your pocket and beware of what’s happening under the unfolded map.
If a car slows down and a man winds down the window to approach you with the same slogan – and with a map - his aim is not to pickpocket you but sell you something from the car booth, most likely leather garments or accessories.
2. The fake charity petition
Every time I pass by these dark haired teen girls tending their clipboards under tourists’ nose, some unwary holiday maker is about to sign the fake petition. Once I even tried to warn the tourist in English, but he didn’t catch the point and kept signing. Instead a man who stayed apart and supervised the scam girls let me know in French that he didn’t appreciate me putting my nose in their business.
The scam takes place close to the main tourist attractions such as Louvre museum and Notre Dame Cathedral. It starts out by two or three teenagers asking you to sign a petition for a charity organization. Both to avoid any speaking and gain more sympathy the girls often pretend to be deaf-mutes. Right after signing you realize, that next to the signature there is a blank place for a donation. Most tourists got embarrassed and give at least ten euros. If they don’t, the girls know how to put pressure on them. Keep in mind that this is a double-scam. In addition to the fake charity money the con artist places the clipboard against your belly in a way that she can lift your wallet or mobile phone while you are occupied to sign.
3. The fake taxi
You can be tempted to skip the taxi queue at the Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport where a “driver” asks you to follow him to the parking lot. This is a common scam which can also take place in the street when you desperately try to flag down a taxi.
If you don’t see the light sign on the roof and no meters displaying the fare either, you can be sure you have chosen a fake taxi. Those drivers charge you an exorbitant fee, and in case you protest, they keep you hostage in the vehicle or your luggage locked in the booth unless you accept to pay.
4. The waiter keeps the change
Everybody can see that Parisian waiters are busy. Sometimes they tend to take advantage of the situation and leave you waiting for your change forever. This is likely to happen to you when your check is something like 14 euros and you pay with a 20 euro bill.
Have I misunderstood the French tipping habit? Did I say something which made the waiter believe that he can keep the change? Nope. You did it all right. The waiter knows that tourists are unsure about the local customs and usually stand up and walk away.
If he notices that you won’t move, he might come back with your money. If instead you see him zigzagging carelessly between the tables with other customers drinks and checks, don’t hesitate to politely ask him to bring your change. A regular tip for a 14 euro check is between one and two euros.
5. The turnstile trick
You are busy concentrating on putting your metro ticket into the slot correctly and grapping it out of the machine when a fare-dodger sticks his belly against your back to pass the turnstile gate free of charge. Once in the other side of the gate you’ll notice that both the swindler and your wallet are gone. You can only follow by your eyes how the pickpocket runs away with your money in the other side of the gate. The same can happen when you are distantly handling your cell phone in a metro wagon and the doors closing signal starts to hear. A pickpocket grabs your phone and jumps outside just before the doors slide close. The metro starts moving forward and all you can do is to say aurevoir to your precious phone.
6. The friendship bracelet
Avoid extending your arms when heading to the Sacré Coeur Cathedral in Montmartre. Even if you don’t, a con artist can grab your hand and start tying a string bracelet around your wrist. He might pretend that the friendship bracelet is a free gift, but once you’re done, he’ll ask you to give some money.
Keep in mind that the scam’s main target is to make you a vulnerable target for pick-pocketing. When the string-man is holding your hand tight another swindler snatches your bag or wallet as he can be sure that you won’t run after him. An identical situation can be created by a fortune-teller who wants to read your palm lines and takes your hand. If this happens, keep an eye on your belongings.
7. The gold ring
Some days in some Parisian neighborhoods a great number of gold rings suddenly fall down from the skies and numerous gipsy women from Eastern Europe happen to be there to find them. I suppose this is not meant to happen in every street corner, but the con artists are not good at organizing their team work or they badly underestimate their targets’ QI. Anyway, when you pass by one of these ladies she suddenly finds a fake golden ring on the pavement. She then lets you understand that she will give it to you. Once you take it, she asks a financial compensation and keeps following you until you give her some money.
I believe most tourists give the ring back rather than buy it. I once witnessed how an elderly British couple kept the ring and simply blasted off leaving the arguing gypsy behind.
8. The fake police officers
You have just stepped out of one of the Champs-Elysées upscale stores when two police officers in uniform pop up in front of you. They let you know that the store is suspected of giving fake bank notes to their clients. The fake officers propose to verify your cash money. You don’t need to be Einstein to guess how the “checking” will turn out. Police uniforms can be hired from any fancy dress shop but the warrant card containing a photo, chip, and magnetic strip is difficult to falsify. Ask to see it if you feel that you are dealing with a fake officer.
9. The three-cup scam
When visiting Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur Cathedral the tourist can’t help stumbling on a shell game. The scam artist who is surrounded by a crowd of people has placed three cups upside down on a cardboard box. He shows how he hides a folded 50 euro bill under one of the cups and then moves the cups around swiftly. At this stage somebody in the public wants to bet on where the bill has ended up. He guesses right and gets the 50 euro bill. Looks like easy money, right? Strange enough, the lucky winner speaks the same foreign language than the scam artist and he even looks like he was his brother of cousin. When a less-relative-looking member of the public tries the same, he loses his money. The new bill the scam artist pretended to place under one of the cups has been removed by a sleight of hand.
10. The Eiffel tower booking fees
When typing “Eiffel tower tickets” the search engine will give you much more results than you expected. Many professionals propose to book your tickets but add so-called taxes and booking fees which can double the price. This is business, not necessarily a scam. Very likely you’ll get your tickets, but keep in mind that on the Eiffel tower’s official website (www.toureiffel.paris) the lift ticket to the top of the towers costs 26,10 € for an adult all taxes and fees included. The official site pops up in French but English and many other languages can be found by clicking the language symbol on the upper right-hand corner (FR in a circle).
Oops, it was meant to be a top ten but here’s one more…
11. Dog-nappers and watch thieves
Have you thought that the thief can be looking for something else than your wallet or your cell phone? The coveted item can be your watch or your dog.
If you have no other choice than to travel with your dog, let your furry friend be a mongrel rather than a Miniature Bull Terrier. More and more unwary Parisian dog walkers have been surprised by a dog-napper. “Max was just right there…“ Sorry to say, but the puppy is gone forever.
Thieves are interested in small expensive dog breeds which have grown popular among young people and are of course easier to snatch than a ferocious molosse. If your pet is one of those, you’d better watch out.
Don’t roll up your sleeves in Champs Elysées if you wear an expensive designer watch. Rolex thefts are becoming more and more frequent in the Paris center where a gang doesn’t hesitate to make an assault even under the nose of numerous passers-by. All happens in less than thirty seconds. Three or four men surround their victim and one removes his watch while the others hold him still. The thieves then escape by running, by motorcycle, or by a motorized city scooter.
Did you forget your card in the counter?
All this said, most often tourists get rid of their credit cards and cell phones by simply forgetting them somewhere. I have worked in a Parisian boutique and I frequently needed to run after distant-minded holidaymakers who walked out of the store firmly holding the shopping bag but left their mobile phone, wallet, or credit card on the counter. A lady who dropped in to buy one last gift on her way to the airport even forgot her luggage in the corner of the store.
Cell phone’s credit card pocket sounds like a practical idea but think it twice. One day a phone started ringing in the street corner fishmonger’s oyster box… with six credit cards in its cardholder.
