Paris muggers are faking heart attacks.
GOOD samaritans have become the target of a new mugging trend in Paris,
A number of thefts have been reported in recent weeks involving victims who rush to help a passer-by who has collapsed in the street, clutching his chest in pain.
The "injured" man tells the target that they are fine and do not need an ambulance, then grabs them and steals their bag or wallet before running to a nearby waiting car.
The suspects are in their 20s and 30s. One victum had 5euros another 10,000.

Hi cig,

Thanks for the update.

I guess that the best way to determine if someone is actually in need of aid is for one person to step on his wrist while another calls the police.

Thanks for the laugh, Professor

When in Paris, always be VERY WARY of anyone who approaches you speaking ENGLISH with an accent. That is a sure sign that they are up to no good. You are in Paris, why would anyone assume you speak English? Why would anyone just start speaking in English if it is not their native tongue?

When you are in Paris, you will see people reaching down in front of you to to pick up a ring on the ground. They will shout out, in English, "It is GOLD! Did you lose your ring?" This is a scam aimed at tourists. These people will offer you the ring for a price.

In Rome, all the scam artists speak English. You will see women speaking English trying to get people to sign a petition against drug use, then ask for a donation. The petition will be written in English. If the petition was legitimate, why would it be written in English? Why isn't it written in Italian?

So, when in France, Italy, Spain, etc., beware of anyone approaching you on the street speaking English. Just pretend you don't understand and walk away.

Thin

>>So, when in France, Italy, Spain, etc., beware of anyone approaching you on the street speaking English. Just pretend you don't understand and walk away.<<

And expect a chain of threads here from people complaining about the crazy/rude people in Paris who back off when you try to speak to them in English.

Thanks for the tip-off Cigale. So far I have been approached twice on the Champs Elysees by a rather young lad asking 'Do you speak English?' I just shake my head and keep walking because I know they are trying to tap some cash off you.

Wish someone would do that gold ring trick on me....I'm going to throw down a fake Rolex and shout 'Hey, look what I,ve found - a Rolex watch!' and see if they take the bait.LOL

Well I guess I should have been wary of the SNCF employee who spoke to us in English when we were changing trains in Brive. He didn't need to hear us say anything to know that we are English speakers - even after 16 years here we don't LOOK French. Very kindly offered to show us the correct platform.

Not everyone who approaches you speaking English will be trying to cheat you.

That said, we did have the gold ring scam tried on us for the first time this trip to Paris. The same woman 3 times in about 12 hours.

We bought that big arch thing last time we were in Paris. I'm still trying to get a man with a van to get it home for us. The good thing is that the tower looks great in our garden.

When I see tourists looking a bit lost and talking to each other in English with a map in the hand, I always talk to them in English with my French accent. Please don't arrest me, just want to help!

Is Paris becoming Barcelona of the North?

coco - the difference is you don't approach them asking if they speak English. You've already heard them speak English and are offering to help. The scammers do not have French accents (at least the ones who have approached me don't).

I'm asked all the time if I speak English by people who are not native English speakers. I do not acknowledge them with even a glance or a nod of my head. I pretend I do not understand English and keep walking. I was with someone in Paris once who stopped when someone asked if she spoke English. She was convince the person was looking for directions. I explained that the person was looking to pinch her money!

I had someone pick up a gold ring in front of me during my last visit. I gave her a withering look as she showed me the ring.

Another scam in Rome around the Colosseum:

A man in a small hatch-back car will yell out, "Do you know where the Colosseum Metro stop is located?" When you approach his car, he will engage you in conversation asking where you are from. You will see boxes in the trunk of his car. He will explain that he is a salesman from Frankfurt/Dusseldorf/Cologne and will sell you a watch/leather jacket/laptop at cost because you were so nice in helping with directions.

So, don't approach anyone asking for directions in English.

Maybe you think you are being helpful, but you can be putting yourself in a dangerous situation.

Thin

Thanks for the new scam alert. When I read it, it reminded me that almost the same thing happened to a co-worker of mine many years ago at a bank in Boston. She was leaving the bank and someone in the vestibule area "fainted." She leaned over to help and another person took her wallet out of her purse.

It's always good to be reminded of these things, because often your inclination to be a good samaritan kicks in immediately when these things happen.

"One victum had 5euros another 10,000"

10,000 euros on his/her person -- just waiting to be lifted. Yikes!

I'd be the one to lose five, or maybe 10.

When we visited Paris a year ago May, a number of young women display a laminated index card, saying they have a brother who has cancer and needs money to help pay for his treatment otherwise he'll die. We were amazed at the number of sisters this young man has!! Must have had at least 20 sisters all hanging out in front of Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. Don't make eye contact - just keep walking. Has anyone seen them this year? Did their brother recover???

4 years ago, a Pakistani-looking girl approached us near the Arc de Triumphe. Asked if we spoke English. I harked back to college when a Korean war vet taught me a phrase (<@33&!1), and repeated to her.

She turned around and left without a word.

Funny, she didn't look Korean.

ThinGorjus on Jun 17, 10 at 8:34am
When in Paris, always be VERY WARY of anyone who approaches you speaking ENGLISH with an accent.

This means, I can never ask for directions there

10,000 Euro? 10,000.00 EUR = 12,379.15 USD Why would anybody carry that much?

I was approached (in much maligned Barcelona) by a couple who asked a question in accented English... turned out they were tourists from Holland who thought I looked like a local.
Also seen the scam in Rome described by Thin ( twice in one day).

the people asking you to sign a petition are particularly persistent in Venice, and difficult to avoid altogether as Veince is quite a small place. they have tables set up and look very official. we quickly sussed what they were about, and developed our stock response which was to say that we are Cornish.
by the time they'd worked out what we'd said, we were long gone.

I don't know Dayenu, but I'll bet he is being investigated.
The news letter didn't give out that information.