There has been much discussion on Fodor's Forum about cell phones being stolen from tourists sitting at cafes. We sat in many cafes and were careful with out phones and did not witness any other phones being stolen. In fact many locals would lay their phones on the table whole eating/chatting.

The usual scams are the gold ring scam, the string bracelet guys, the petition girls, pickpocketing, leaving a cell phone or wallet on an outdoor cafe table and having it stolen, people who offer to help you buy metro tickets from the machines and people who get stuck in front of you in a metro turnstile while someone behind you bumps into you and pickpockets your valuables. Other than that you have nothing to worry about.

Learn to ignore people who approach you. Teach your children that you may act differently to strangers in Paris. I explained to my 11 yr old daughter about a few scams, the ring and petition girls and explained that mommmy may appear to be rude ignoring people and why, see at home we do not need to ignore people so I knew she would find it odd. Well sure enough after a few days in Paris a lady tried the ring scam on us and my daughter burst out laughing at ladys "madam" and said , "oh look its the ring scam".. the lady immediatly and sheepishly walked on as we did also( we did not stop for whole spiel) .

Most of the scams are not new at all, being going on for years and years.. lol

You are correct about all our pocket electronics,leave nothing on cafe table , waiter told me to put my Kobe ereader on my lap when I set it on table to go in my purse for a minute.. so yes, do watch that.

justinparis - Your daughter's reaction to the ring scam is priceless. I love it.

The latest ATM scams


http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/nov/27/banks-scamsandfraud

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236213/Claw-like-devices-inserted-ATM-slots-steal-notes-latest-hole-wall-scam.html

I am always suspicious of ever new ways to steal cash from ATM machines. I always try to use machines located in the public places someone else has successfully obtained cash ahead of me. If one person walks away empty handed, I examine the machine super carefully and if I thought the person was clueless. If more than one person walks away empty handed, I would stay away from that machine.

I never even think about scams and hustles or worry about them because I don't have anything to do with strangers on the street or in the metro, etc. trying to do weird things, asking me to participate in any stupid activity (whether signing a petition, asking if anyone speaks English, on and on) nor do I talk to them nor engage with them, nor will I allow them to invade my personal space nor touch me in any way (some of them do, they'll come up to you and take your hands, put things in it, etc, I would never allow someone to do that). I would never even talk to some person walking around picking up things on the ground and approaching strangers, which is what you'd have to do to be fooled by the stupid ring scam.

oh, since you are concerned about your children, you should have taught them not to interact with strangers already, on the street, in stores, etc. There is no magic lingo or buzzwords, they just shouldn't do that anyway, the idea that you would allow your children to talk to or take things from strangers on the street if they don't say some magic buzzword isn't what I would call being cautious in any city.

Wow, reading what Christina had to say made me a bit sad that the world has come to this. I think that I would have missed out on many lovely interactions with strangers if I had adhered so strictly to a "no talking to strangers" rule. Of course you need to be cautious and aware of yourself and your possessions, but I must admit that I sometines talk to strangers, in Paris and elsewhere. Last time I was in Paris, I ignored the woman who approached me with the ring, but when I saw a young girl weeping by herself outside a restaurant, I asked her if she needed help. She told me that she just had a phonecall that her father had died. Having lost my own dad months earlier, I offered what words of comfort I could and stayed for a while till her friend arrived. After our brief conversation she thanked me for stopping to talk to her. I should probably have looked to see if she had an accomplice waiting nearby to relieve me of my valuables, but sometimes you just go with your gut. I have also been the recipient of unexpected kindness or heard interesting stories from strangers on many occasions. I have asked strangers for directions in European cities and had them turn and lead me to to the place I was asking for because it was easier than explaining. Of course, I've also encountered unfriendly people - I'm pretty sure I must have run into Christina once or twice.(insert smiley face!)

I know this is about looking out for scams, as we absolutely should, but I don't think we need to raise rude, paranoid children in order to do that. (Not talking about your daughter, Justine, her response was perfect in that context.)

I learned the ring scam is alive and well as I was approached twice within ten minutes in the area around the Pont Solferino that connects the Tuilleries and D'Orsay. Another Paris GTG attendee was approached on the bridge as well. I laughed when it happened the second time and in hindsight wished I'd snapped a photo.
Ann Marie