HOLIDAYMAKERS have been warned of a popular scam targeting visitors to popular tourist destinations in Europe.
Whether you’re visiting the Eiffel Tower or the Trevi Fountain, it’s vital to be aware of the various dangers and how to avoid them.
While most tourists are aware of taxi scams, they only buy tickets for attractions from official companies and keep their luggage, this summer tourists are facing a new risk.
“There’s a bracelet scam going around Europe,” travel expert Jessica Dante told The Daily Express.
It’s similar to a common scam where people give out free roses, often to people dining or having a drink to distract them while someone picks their pockets.
The bracelet scam “uses the same principle, but the scammer will try to put a bracelet around your wrist,” Dante explained.
European cities such as Paris, Milan and Rome were particularly identified as common places for fraud.
The Rome Vacation Tips website warns tourists to the Eternal City that fraud is “particularly common” there and that salespeople will use “friendly chat” and “burying guilt” to get money out of you.
While some will use the string bracelet as a distraction for pickpockets, others will pressure people, especially couples, to accept a “free” friendship bracelet before demanding money.
‘SHE RAN FOR MY LIFE’
A tourist from Paris has shared his experience of encountering a con man in Montmartre, which saw him “running for his life” after he pushed away a group of men who had surrounded him.
“I was a victim of a bracelet scam… I’m a bit shocked. The whole thing was very scary,” he said in a TikTok video.
“It was very intimidating because he was a very big, tall man and he was saying ‘Take it, take it.’ And I said, No, thank you. No thank you. Until he grabbed my arm aggressively, like, it hurt.
“The more I wanted to resist it, the more men, other fraudsters would start coming to me.
“And the other one said, ‘Respect him. Respect him. Keep calm.’ And I was like ‘I respect him, I just don’t want it, please let me go.’
“The same thing happened to my friend and I on our way to Montmartre, they robbed us of €150,” another TikToker replied.
Meanwhile, a tourist in Rome spoke on Reddit about the time he saw a woman being yelled at by a scammer who told her to “delete the video or pay me!” when he threatened to call the police after he gave her the bracelet.
“She was frantically trying to tell him she didn’t have any video. He was very aggressive and she started showing him pictures of herself… I jumped in and threw her around the shoulders and made her leave with me,” he explained.
“Someone was probably going to rip her now unlocked phone and access every damn thing on it and NEVER GET INVOLVED!”
GUILT TRIP
Couples should be especially wary of cheating, as Dante said.
This is because “the cheater plays on romantic emotions by making one partner feel obligated to be involved and not reject the romantic gesture in order to hurt their partner’s feelings.”
Common tourist scams in European cities:
- Taxi scam – Visit only official stands. Insist that the taxi drivers turn on the meter and if they say it’s broken, get out as this is a common scam as it tells passengers the price is higher than the meter says.
- Petition – Here tourists will be approached to sign a charity petition and often make a donation. It will be fake, the money will go elsewhere and you might get ripped off when you sign.
- Rose or friendship bracelet – Used as a distraction for pickpockets or to pressure tourists into giving money despite initially saying it was a “free” gift
- Street Card Games – Such games attract large groups of people who are all distracted by watching the game. This allows pickpockets to take things without being noticed. At the same time, those who play the games lose extra money.
- ATM fraud – Some ATMs may be equipped with a Skimmer device that clones card information. Before inserting the card, check the device for looseness or misalignment. Best to go to ATMs inside banks.
One man got into it after approaching him “He was a “very nice and talkative man”.
“He offered me and my wife a ‘free’ bracelet,” he explained on Reddit.
“I kindly declined, but he ended up putting a bracelet on both of our wrists and then demanded (quite aggressively) 10 euros, 5 euros per bracelet.”
While Dante advises people to “avoid and retreat” when dealing with such scammers, other experts advise a tougher and more “unnatural” approach.
The bracelet scam “takes advantage of the natural human instinct not to be rude,” explain the experts at Rome Vacation Tips.
“So to counter the strange psychology of deception, we have to act in an unnatural way.
“Ignore the cheater completely…Act as if he literally doesn’t exist.
If the bracelet is already placed halfway on the wrist, it is recommended to push it away.
“Recently we have heard reports of scammers becoming more aggressive and intimidating,” experts warned, making it even more important for tourists to refrain from engaging with scammers in any way.
The Sun previously reported on advice given to tourists who visited Sacre Coeur and encountered the same scam.
Meanwhile, vacationers in Florence encountered a different kind of scam involving fake art.
In Spain, officials encouraged tourists to check their change in a simple money scam.