Paris Scams

I learned about two very interesting tourist scams that, once you know about them, are noticeably rampant all over Paris. Besides the obvious interest-factor, I am blogging about this for those who may happen on my blog before a trip to Paris. Tourists beware!

1) A person pretending to be blind or deaf will walk up to you with a piece of paper on a clipboard and point at the title, which says something about some deaf of blind society. They will point below and ask you to sign their petition for their cause. If you do – and this is the part I don’t quite get – they will then point to the bottom of the page where it says, in small letters, that a donation is required after signature. You will then be persuaded to hand over 20 euros, or as much as you’ll give them. Watch out for this scam around any tourist sites, but especially the Louvre.

2) You will be walking, admiring the sites, taking photos, or consulting a map, and someone will lean down in front of you and “pick up” a gold ring and then ask you if it’s yours. Apparently – and, again, I don’t quite get how this works – you might say the ring is not yours, but somehow they will manage to pawn it off on you and then demand a reward for returning this ring to you. I saw this one happen right in front of me, except that I was looking directly at the spot where the lady “picked up” the ring, and saw that there had been nothing there – that it was merely a slight-of-the-hand trick and that the ring had been in her hand the whole time. I continued walking past her without a mere glance, but could hear her voice proclaiming things such as, “It’s pure gold!” “Is it yours, ma’am?” and “It’s not mine – whose could it be?”

Of the two scams, I think the first plays on your emotions a bit more. Even though I was aware of it, when a woman approached me with a simple “excuse me”, I slowed down because I thought maybe she had a question or needed directions. Of course when she pulled out the petition, I sped up and walked off, but she did persue me briefly because she now knew I was a tourist – Parisiens aren’t nice enough to even slow down and give these people a moment of their time.
Unfortunately, it takes a prejudiced eye to see these touts from a distance. Every time it happened to me, it was a gypsy woman – and they have a very distinctive face. I hate to say it, but if you’re on your way to Paris – or to Europe in general – be weary of these people. I once watched a documentary on gypsies, and it had incredible footage of them hanging around ATM machines in groups and overwhelming ATM-users just after they’d punched in their pin numbers. It’s amazing that this stuff works and can go on, but it does. Always exercise caution when traveling!