Huge increase in "deaf/mute" scam in Paris
 

Authorities have acknowledged a huge increase in a scam carried out by Romanian gypsies in Paris, this one based on requests for money for so-called deaf/mute girls.

The scam is straightforward. A young girl approaches the mark (usually a tourist) with a piece of paper and a pen, pretending to be deaf. The paper names a couple of charities, both real and fake, and bears the signatures of a few previous marks. The current mark is asked for money, and if he's naïve enough, he gives it. In some cases, the paper and request for money serve as a distraction for stealing a wallet or purse.

None of the girls is actually deaf. They are all Romanian gypsies. They are under 18, making it difficult to prosecute them. Their leader is nowhere to be found, so he cannot be arrested and prosecuted, even though the penalties for compelling children to beg are very severe (one sentence a few years ago was a 30-year prison term).

Many tourist areas of Paris are currently overrun by these scammers. Here's an article (in French) that describes the problem:

http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/pa...11-1565188.php

There's a general increase in scams of all kinds in Paris, as well as illegal commerce (people selling Eiffel Towers off the sidewalk, for example). If you are traveling to Paris soon, be aware and be sure to ignore the scammers and con artists.

I wonder if it is as "difficult" to scare them off the streets as it is to prosecute them

I can pretend to be deaf/mute as well to avoid dealing with these types of people. ;)

Not only did they approach us frequently on our last trip, but, we saw them later in the day talking freely with one another...surely not mute at all....

We have them here on the metro in DC. It's pretty obvious to all that they're total fakes and easy to ignore them.

I fell for this the first time - a very young (adorable) boy approached us and I gave him 2 euros. He immediately pointed to the piece of paper where it was written at the top "6 EURO MINIMUM". We were aghast!

We used to have one (a fake, though not a gypsie, come into our toy store in Tempe, AZ) She got very nasty when we would throw her out!

People have been doing this in lots of cities for many years, probably decades. I've encountered them many times in the US and Europe, usually on buses, it seems. I really am surprised this is perceived as some new crime. I never have anything to do with people on the street and dont' read pieces of paper that strangers give me like that. It always surprised me the number of people who do.

in Italy, they board trains and hand out these very well written and translated pieces of paper, then come through the carriage "collecting" a few minutes later.

I am intrigued by the following: who provides these identical cards for these indigents?

who does the translating, which is invariably excellent?

do they have to buy tickets to ride on the trains? [I've never seen a ticket inspector within miles of one]

why does anyone ever give them any money? they must do so, or they would stop doing it.

Just ignore anyone on the street,begging. asking for a petition signature, or if you speak English, or tried to grab your wrist for a breacelt. Just walk on by with maybe a disdainful look!

The solution to this is very simple. Don;t stop. Ignore the scammers and just keep walking. If you don;t interact with them they can;t scam you. If they are very persistent or try to get close or touch you - just yell for the police.

You can be scammed only if you allow it to happen.

"Yell for the police"?

The problem is why these scammers are thriving is people are stuipid enough to give them money. I have seen it many times where people reach into their purses and give notes or coins. It is so obvious they are scammers! I have stopped many tourists from paying by telling them they are scams only to be spat on. This year in Paris is the most I have ever seen.

Great earlier advice. Just keep walking by. Ignore them. Also buying fake Gucci and Louis Vuitton bags leads money to be filtered to more unsavoury scams and illegal trafficking.

##the penalties for compelling children to beg are very severe (<i>one sentence a few years ago was a 30-year prison term</i>).##

Where did you get that ?

The law was changed in 2003. It's now legal to beg in France, but it's illegal to profit from the begging of others. If one person exploits the begging of another, that's worth three years in prison. If the exploited person is a minor, it's five years. If the exploitation is carried out as an organized gang, it's ten years (and 1.5 million euro in fines).

I can't find the reference of the person who was convicted, but as I recall, it was 30 years behind bars, presumably for multiple counts of one of the above crimes. Unfortunately, most of the ringleaders are never caught, much less convicted and sentenced.

Laughingd2,enjoyed your report. That's the great thing about this forum - it lives in cyberspace to be accessed at any time by those seeking advice/info on any given subject. Your kids sound like troopers and are lucky to have parents like you and your wife.

Laughingd2,enjoyed your report. That's the great thing about this forum - it lives in cyberspace to be accessed at any time by those seeking advice/info on any given subject. Your kids sound like troopers and are lucky to have parents like you and your wife.

It's too bad, but you have to be smart. I often think that this is Darwinism in action, if you fall for it, it's the modern version of natural selection.

I'd rather be rude than a sucker.

Be deaf and mute when approached by them.

Hey AGA,

I read your link.

I see nothing there to indicate that the scammers are Gypsies.

Do you have other information that indicates they are?

((I))

Romani or not the Paris flics should be able to get someone who looks like a naive tourist to be a decoy and nab these little urchins - but as some have told me that they are underage means they will be back on the streets before a blink of an eye.

Why Paris and Italian trains and Rome and Florence and other places allow this to go unchecked in mind boggling - especially since both Sarkozy and Bellosconi have been really anti-Romani in their policies.

whether or not they are Romani I do not know but they look exactly like the Romani I see all over France in Romani camps, including one right near my second home in France.

I wasn't depending on the link; I have dealt with them in person, and they are gypsies.

tant pis that in Paris and many large tourist cities you should always be leery of anyone coming up to for any reason - any reason - tis a pity as they oft are up to no good.

Here's a video I found that actually shows some of the scams in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO6CFSosqKE

It also seems to show that Italian police consider scams to be more entertainment than something that they should be doing anything about.

Ira, from the link:

"Ces « collecteurs » issus de la communauté rom roumaine, que l’on peut parfois surprendre en train de se parler, ne sont ni sourds ni muets."

I guess I haven't been to Europe for a couple years. Has this replaced the practice of young 'deaf people' passing out little cheap souveniers on trains or placing them on your restaurant or cafe table with a note about being deaf, then coming back to collect them or preferably money if you will buy one?

I remember watching this going on once and someone turning his back to the 'deaf person' and calling out "police" to have the deaf person miraculously cured and able to hear and running away even leaving some of the novelties behind.

I guess these scammers never had mommies who gave them the &ldquo;your face will freeze like that&rdquo; speech.

Does the huge increase of deaf-mute scammers really mean that there is a huge increase of naive tourists? I can't imagine any other explanation, because no matter how many of them I see, it doesn't change what I do.

As for people who think that the solution is to yell "police," may I ask for what reason the police would intervene? Is it a crime for a beggar to think that you are stupid?

The pouch recommended in the video is the one I use minus the neck strap which I cut off. It has a heavy belt loop and I wear it on my belt. This has been the case for years, and I've had no problems, probably because my arm naturally falls against it practically all the time, and because if anyone on the street approaches me either begging or trying to offer me something, I immediately secure the pouch and my camera; the same goes when I am in a crowded public transport.

During our trip in May, we came across no panhandlers or street sellers in Rome, Naples and Florence; a few homeless sleeping in the Naples train station at 6 a.m. The Florence train station seems to have markers beyond which street sellers and panhandlers are not allowed.

<i>It also seems to show that Italian police consider scams to be more entertainment than something that they should be doing anything about.</i>

The deals were too good to be true. The cops know it, and the buyer is naive to think otherwise. I do not think that the cops in the States would do much more about it; they just would not laugh in your face.

Thank you, nikki.

I missed it twice.

((I))

I think the huge increase in scammers might reflect less enforcement or perhaps simply easier access to France, although tourist numbers in Paris are excellent right now despite the current depression. About nine out of ten tourists in the most popular locations appear to be Oriental now (Japanese and Chinese, some other nationalities), and perhaps these tourists are easier marks (?).

The police will intervene in Paris, and in fact they sometimes materialize without being called, but there is often little that they can do. In the case of theft, the stolen wallets and such are quickly passed from one crook to another, so that it's very difficult to determine who took what and where it is by the time the police arrive. Begging itself isn't illegal. Forcing minors to beg is highly illegal, but the person in charge is always conspicuously absent and the minors won't file a complaint. The police will destroy their fraudulent begging materials (the papers that claim they are deaf, etc.), which they won't complain about because they know that they'd only get themselves in trouble. Sometimes they search their bags and stuff, too, and if they should find something stolen, then it's time to go to the police station. But they are minors, so they just end up getting released to their parents, anyway.

Whether it is naïve or greedy of tourists or not, laughing at them because of this is professional misconduct for the police. This is especially true if they've actually had something stolen rather than just being taken advantage of.

Don't mix begging with scams. They are totally different things.

If you wanted to post about thefts also, you should have put it in the title of your post.

Why not mix begging with scams? Either way, you lose money.

"As for people who think that the solution is to yell "police," may I ask for what reason the police would intervene? Is it a crime for a beggar to think that you are stupid?"

I think you missed the point. It's not that the person calling for police really thinks the will come, but apparently calling police makes the scammers run. So it's not what the "victim" thinks, it's what the scammers think.

Is it not a scam, as opposed to begging, when a person claims to solicit for a bogus charity? Would this not then be illegal?

Scam implies some sort of fraud, and in some cases fraud is illegal (it's not illegal to lie, but it depends on why you are lying).

In cases I have seen, as I've mentioned, the police tear up the papers that the scammers are using to get money. They can't actually arrest them, because they haven't seen them conducting the scam, but they can tear up the papers, because the papers fraudulently claim that the scammers are deaf, and fraudulently name real or fake charities, and so on. The scammers are in no position to complain about losing their scamming tools, and destroying the tools does prevent them from pulling the same thing, at least for a short while.

I've been approached a couple of times here in my home city by a guy who handed out notes saying he's deaf and would we please buy pencils from him, pay any price you like. The last time it happened the people at the next table started digging out their wallets. I tried to tell them it's a scam, he's not deaf. They got mad at me and thought I was really rude. I wish I had the idea to call out "POLICE" but I didn't think of it at the time. But I'll do it next time, I would love to see the "deaf" person's reaction to that.

Thanks for the idea Patrick.

All you have to do is turn slightly away from the scammer, and say something completely obscene (preferably an insult) out loud. Then watch his expression. If it changes, he heard you, and you've proved your case.

Baeggars have been in France and Italy for millenia police

can do nothing without being accused of discrimination...

they even pay them 1000 euros deport them they bus back

immediately due to porous borders...

France has had easy immigration policies for decades leading to this.They are not "gypsies" but The ROMA a proud migratory people originating in India(not egypt).They have made their living like this on the margins of society.They have been victims of mass discrimation for millenia including death camps.George Sauros the man who broke the bank on England in the 90s and a Roma documents all abuse thorught his foundation

In times of economic collapse like now it will get worse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...3/sarkozy-roma