Scams

Scams

We have had some interesting experiences on this trip with scams and people trying to take advantage of us.

The first was in Chicago. We were at the Ogilvie Transportation Centre with Susannah and sitting on a bench waiting for Sharon. Two benches were back to back and a young woman started talking on a mobile phone behind us. We couldn’t help but overhear her story and it was well articulated. She had found a job but needed to go for training. She’d found a baby sitter for her children but had dropped her purse somewhere and couldn’t retrieve it immediately. She needed $15 – 20 to get to where she was going for the training and she was asking a friend to help pay for her ticket. The train was leaving soon. If she couldn’t do the training she wouldn’t get the job. She rang 2 or 3 people but there were logistic difficulties.

She spoke to Susannah briefly and kindly but did not ask us for anything directly. Bob and I discussed it quietly and decided it was indeed a sad case and we gave her $20. She took the money and said “Oh my God” and took off very quickly and not in the direction of the ticket office! It then occurred to us that we’d been scammed in quite a slick way and this was confirmed by people that we spoke to later about types of scams.

The first day we were in Paris we were on the metro and sat down on seats on the platform while waiting for the next train. Most seats are individual with a space between them on the platform but this was a bench type. A man dressed in black trousers and a white business shirt, carrying a briefcase and looking like a professional, sat down beside Bob. Bob had his travel trousers on with his  IPhone from Australia and his French phone in the pocket. Bob has been keeping his Australian phone handy to take the occasional business calls that he has been receiving. The man put his briefcase on his knee – as a cover up we now know -and Bob felt him putting his hand down and feeling his pocket. The train was coming and Bob stood up. The man also stood up very close to Bob. Bob felt him trying to open the zip on his trousers. Bob moved away and glared at him whereupon the man moved away quickly.

The zip has a flap on it and is thankfully not easy to open quickly or subtlety. Don’t tell anyone but he now keeps his valuables in another pocket which also has a flap and the zip tag broken off so it would be quite hard to pick pocket.

Another day we were walking along a street in Paris near the river where there are some nice shops and not too far from the Ritz Hotel. Bob saw a gold ring on the ground and bent down to pick it up. Simultaneously a young woman also bent down and picked up the ring. She held it in her hands and spoke in a mixture of French and English that we could understand quite well. She said someone must have dropped the ring – and look it had a 28 carat gold stamp on the inside. She pressed it into Bob’s hand and said he should keep it and it was his luck. She was “evangelistic” and didn’t wear jewelry. Bob took the ring and said we wouldn’t keep it but would hand it in somewhere where maybe the owner would find it. She didn’t like this idea and again tried to give it to Bob as a gift. He again refused. 

Then she started to ask for money saying she hadn’t eaten for 2 days etc. She was simply but very well dressed and had a very sweet honest looking face. I was taken in and suggested to Bob that we give her 1 or 2 Euro. He had become suspicious and refused so I left him to deal with it and walked off. He had realised that the ring was very light and probably a fake. Bob refused her pleading again and she grabbed the ring and walked off.

Now we find out that this is one of the oldest scams in the book and is even mentioned in Dickens. I guess a lot of people want the ring and fall for it or they wouldn’t keep doing it. I found it most upsetting that she appeared to have such an open sweet face. I pride myself on being able to read people quite well but I was well and truly taken in. I felt quite affected by it for a day or two.

Another scam we encountered in Paris many times and knew about beforehand, was young people who approach you at metro stations and where there are crowds. They have a clipboard and put their hands over their lips to signal that they’re deaf and dumb. The paper on the clipboard has the name of a charity that they’re supposedly collecting for and the names of people from various countries who have given already that day. We’re told when you give them money e.g. 2 Euros they hold up a sign saying – minimum 6 Euros.

Now if every young person that we saw doing this was really deaf and dumb there’s a huge epidemic out there and something should be done! However they didn’t look quite that deaf and dumb when you saw them, from a distance, talking to each other. They were not aggressive in any way and moved off when we ignored them. It got to the “here we go again” stage when we saw them coming.

After a while we got to know when these groups were around the Abbesses metro that was closest to us. They seemed to be in groups with a man playing an accordion and busking, an older lady begging and young people with clipboards doing the deaf and dumb routine.

One day we got on the metro and a group of people were talking in English and we listened in. Apparently a group of young people had been on the train before we got on. They had created a bit of a commotion and crowded around a group. They jumped off just before the doors closed at a stop. An elderly lady who was a tourist from India or Sri Lanka, I’m guessing, had discovered her handbag zip was open and her wallet gone. This is a common trick we’re told. A group create a distraction and then they jump off the train at the last minute before it closes making it impossible to chase them. 

We were told to be very careful following pickpockets and tackling them physically in any way. They usually work in groups and pass things on quickly so you could be held up for assault very easily and have no proof of what they’d done.

I was not targeted for pick pocketing which was statistically unlikely anyway. Maybe it was luck or maybe because I’m carrying a bag with clips over the zip. It is also quite deep and I don’t always locate my wallet in it easily. It has occurred to me at times would a pickpocket be able to find my wallet quicker than I can!

Another common trick we were warned about is some younger person spilling a coffee or other liquid on you and then an older women appearing and admonishing the younger person loudly while they try to help clean you up and pick your pockets at the same time. If this happens the advice is to keep walking and refuse assistance to clean up.

The way to avoid these scams we’re told is to not look like the most vulnerable people out there

            -     be aware and alert in crowds and on the metro       

-       never admit that you speak English if asked in a group situation as you may be targeted or asked for money

-       stand away from train doors on the metro when possible and at least have your bag or valuables somewhat protected e.g. by standing against a wall with them behind you

-        don’t stop if approached by anyone who wants you to sign something or has found something or spills something etc.

-       Many advise having a money belt but we didn’t do this or find it necessary

       

Pick pocketing has become much more rife in Paris in recent years. The staff at the Louvre went on strike in April this year because of the number of visitors and staff that were being targeted there. Also the staff were facing aggression from the younger people as they tried to pick pocket tourists. As a result the number of uniformed officers and surveillance cameras has been increased around Paris by several fold.

This is a difficult topic to write about. Most of the scams in Paris are carried out by gypsies from Romania and Bulgaria. Apparently it is almost impossible to detain youngsters under 18 in France so even if arrested it’s not easy to deal with them and they’re back on the streets very soon. The heads of these gangs are not nearby and the youngsters are under duress to perform and get certain targets in a day. They have been brought up to believe that this is an honorable profession and are victims themselves.

France has deported many of them and faced criticism of racism for doing so. They have recently announced moves to make it easier for them to work in France which is difficult at present.

It appears that it’s not an easily solvable situation – a bit like Australia’s boat people I wonder. Gypsies have been a marginalized group in society for many generations and are victims themselves so it’s easy to feel sympathy for them. They were targeted, along with Jews, for extermination by the Third Reich.

I certainly do not claim to be an expert in this area. I know enough to know it’s a very complex issue.

Bottom line for us was that we learnt to be more cautious in Paris than we would normally be and this was a good lesson for us. It did affect the enjoyment of our visit initially a little when we realised how prevalent the problem was. By taking sensible measures and getting used to them over time it became part of our normal behavior – as it is for Parisians. It’s certainly not like they’re on every corner waiting to “get” you. We never felt physically threatened in any way. Would it stop us visiting Paris again? – Absolutely not.

Of course Paris is not the only place in Europe that this occurs. I remember seeing lots of gypsies in Florence years ago and believe that it is not such an issue now there although it still does exist.

The thing that was hardest for me is that I like to trust people until they prove otherwise – a very Australasian attitude I think. Mainly this serves me well and will in the future again I’m sure. However that had to be put aside in this situation.