Old wives tales/ urban myths
 

Ok so I go to Europe at least four times a year and this is starting to bug me. All the myths of europrean scams on this forum (and others). Why is it that the person who never travels gets scammed and have yet to be or see:
the gold ring
the knit bracelet
the constant hand in my pocket
the taxi overcharge
the ketchup/ink/whatever spillage and cleanup
the "borrowing" of cash while person takes you to ATM
oh and my favorite: parisiennes don't go to bars, drink hard liquor, listen to le rock music or any live music other than jazz

am I in the wrong places or as I suspect, these things are not really that common and have become urban myths. My point is that people comment on the worse and what they don't know. Or?

Talk amongst yourselves. Am seriously curious.

In 7 trips to Europe to all the biggies the only thing I have seen so far is the taxi overcharge, 1 time.

Ditto here-only taxi overcharge. Been going 2-3 times a year since 1983.

Taxi overcharge, and hands slipped into pockets.. But we swatted the hand with a map and stopped anyting from being taken.

Ok I will admit everyone gets taken for a slight ride on the taxi front depending on how much one has consumed. I get that at home in NYC occassionally where they try to miss the block and you have to direct. But not the same as the flat out.

But again. Search and see all the "warnings". Again my favorite is the gold ring. You really think/ can't tell if you lost a ring? Come on!

My friend and I were Tag Teamed this summer in Barcelona by (1)Pick Pockets but we realized what was going on and they Failed. They even yelled at us for not being able to get the wallets out of our back pockets (Which were fortunately covered by our Heavy backpacks). In france my one friend was dupped with the (2)Gold bracelets. But all in all a GREAT European experience.
(3)Oh and my favorite myth 'the French don't wear white Tennis shoes ONLY Lazy Americans" FALSE.

Me - 120-130 trips to Europe over 30 years and here's the sum total of what I've encountered: a cab driver in Rome who tried to overcharge me (but I speak Italian and totally flummoxed him), a man on the subway in Rome who tried to get into my purse who got a swift knee to the balls and exited the car whimpering, a shopkeeper in Amboise who gave me the wrong change without realizing I spoke French and would actually count it and who demurred instantly and gave me the right change, a taxi driver in Paris who tried to take me on a very long route to my hotel but who was told in no uncertain terms in French exactly which roads and streets to take, and a perv on the métro in Paris who pressed up against me, not realizing I had a brown belt in Tae Kwan Do, and who got a major index finger jab in the windpipe and staggered off the train to the cheers of fellow passengers.

I'm small, but I'm aware and I'm not afraid to retaliate within reason if someone tries to scam me. I'm lucky to have grown up speaking and learning a number of languages, which I think is an enormous help. I'm normally not confrontational, but I do not under any circumstances let people take advantage of me, and will speak up instantly if necessary. I also walk quickly and with authority, don't typically open up maps on street corners, and know where I'm going and how to get there.

I think a lot of people who get scammed just look like they're lost or out of their element. I see them all the time when traveling. It's not their fault. They ARE lost or out of their element. And unwilling or unable to be in charge of the situation. And of course the tales of woe are always the first to be heard. More people will post about what went wrong than will post about nothing going wrong.

Last year a guy in a crowded subway in Moscow slipped his hand into my (fortunately empty) pocket. Nobody but he and I could tell but if I didn't break his wrist he was wrapping it for a week or two.....

Of course stcirq but as someone who is not fluent but perhaps passable
in several languages and spends much time at bars waaay late in to the night, where is my so called constant scam?

Btw I had someone come up on my open purse recently. I saw it though and it is unclear whether anything was going to actually occur. Just a reminder to close it. I have also had my purse swiped at home while eating lunch at a pax with my work friends which I did daily and always kept my handbag on the floor with no thought. Not saying it doesn't occur. Just the frequency.

Okay, I didn't count the sexual events when I said nothing has happened to me. I had one minor problem while I was standing on the bus in Rome. A man stood very close behind me, actually touching me, and he preceded to do the "movements". I turned around and gave him a "go to hell" look. He moved over to another girl and started it again with her.

The major event was on a night train in Italy. We were sleeping in the seats, not in a cabin. I won't go into details, but I didn't return to Italy again for about 22 years.

These things can happen in any country so it's not fair to label them Europe. I was much younger and much less travel savvy.

<<Of course stcirq but as someone who is not fluent but perhaps passable in several languages and spends much time at bars waaay late in to the night, where is my so called constant scam?>>

Sorry, don't understand the question. Are you asking why these things don't happen to you even though you don't speak foreign languages well and you stay at foreign bars really late into the night?

I dunno. Maybe you're lucky.

Have been to europe more than 70 times between business trips and pleasure - and the reports of all of these scams/events are totally overblown IMHO.

There are a few places where petty crime (pickpocketing etc ) is more common - including the Ramblas in Barcelona. But - it's easy enough to be on your guard in one of these few places.

In all my trips I have had only two very minor events:

In Granada what appeared to be a gypsy woman tried to hand me a rose as we came out of a restaurant. Naturally I refused. She responded with some curses about the evil eye - but then scurried over to the next marks. It seems to me it's easy enough to refuse to take something being pushed at you.

In Prague one cab driver tried to overcharge us. He lost. We paid him the correct amount and when he protested told him to complain to the police. Again, he cursed and drove off. And this was after taking more than 20 cab rides in Prague - picking them up at the hotel or street stands.

IMHO - when you try to get details of events it;s usually either happened to someone who knows a friend - or is the result of carelessness by the victim.

I'm not saying it's not possible to have a pocket picked - but it's way less common than many travelers think - and fairly easy to foil - if you're just aware of your surroundings and careful with your belongings.

I've encountered the gold ring scam twice - both times in Paris. I don't understand how anyone would fall for it.
Especially the first time, the woman was incredibly incompetent at it.

I also don't understand the myth that the French don't wear white tennis shoes. If you've been there, you must have noticed all the people who spoke French but were wearing white tennis shoes.

Saw the gold ring twice on the same day in Paris a few years ago, and caught a chap opening my wife's purse as his compatriot was holding our attention, as he explained to us how to use a Metro ticket machine, on another trip.

Only time I was really caught was in Buenos Aires when we foolishly exchanged money on the street and ended up with a fake roll of bills. Only lost a hundred bucks, but it still rankles.

the only time I had a scam problem, was when years ago in
avignon, I saw this tiny dog wearing a denin jacket atop
a music grinder, or, at least that's what I thought it was
and snapped a picture. as I walked away this young gypsy girl came running after me demanding I pay her for taking a picture of her dog. I was so annoyed with her blackmail that I gave her a coin, not sure what it was, it was before I grasped the francs. So it must have been small because as I walked away, she threw it at me. I still see her picture in old travel books and often what she is like now. Still Scamming> or is ahe now happy and respectable?

3 trips to Europe here and I've had an attempted pickpocketing by a trio of children (Florence), the long-route taxi ride and the ring scam (both Paris), all of which failed. The Artful-Dodgers-in-training clearly telegraphed their intentions after having spotted a 'mark' (admittedly, I was dressed all tourist-like on that trip). The taxi driver was ignoring his GPS directions not realising that I have a decent grasp of French and he started taking the most direct route once his GPS and mine were giving him the same directions in two languages.

As for the gold ring scam, I guess I must've run into Shanti's scammer's brother as he tried it twice on us: once approaching the Eiffel Tower and then a couple of hours later on an RATP bus along the other side of the Seine.

As nytraveler says, it's simply a case of being aware of your surroundings.

I've only been to Europe 5 times (3 times travelling alone) but haven't run into any scam or sketchy situation yet. I never really think about it, just act the same as I do at home.

Our experience:
Tourists are fair game for scams in Rome. We are tourists, so naturally fair game. We were stung in the most memorable fashion a couple of years ago, when we managed to purchase a pair of leather jackets (“I’m on my way home from the Milan fashion shows, where are you from?, my sister lives in Adelaide, I’ve lost half my map of Rome (shows half map), can you direct me to the bank, my Visa card is broken (shows Visa card with broken corner), here take these two leather jackets – they are just samples, I don’t need them, could you spot me 50 Euro, I’m about out of petrol (points to petrol gauge)”. 50 Euro for two leather jackets – unbelievable, and they had an Italian label – pasted over the other label that said “Made in Beijing”. A few polyvinyl chlorides were killed and their skins tanned to make those jackets. And he was right when he thanked us for our help – “you’ll never forget me”, he said. We haven’t.

So we were chuffed this latest trip when a guy pulled up, asking to be directed to the Tiber – all of 50 metres away, bridge in full view, jackets in plastic bags on the back seat. Anticipation of sweet revenge. Same dialogue, up to the point when we were advised that his sister lived in Perth. And then he drove off – he must have spotted Lou’s grin as she poked me in the ribs. Damn. Hate that.

We had the gold ring scam pulled on us 4 times in one day and when we met up with friends later they'd had it tried on twice. And one of my friewnds lives in Paris

I've been mildly 'scammed' a couple of times - a cafe bill in Rome and a taxi fare in Athens. People taking advantage of tourists.

But out and out scammers work anywhere with anyone. There is quite a'designer watch' scam similar to the leather coat one mentioned above. I know Mr N fell for it in the past as I recognise his watch, which he thinks is designer but isn't, but I don't have the heart to tell him. then only last month some guy parked his car outside our office (we are on a high street) and was running the scams on passers-by. He nearly hooked one of our neighbours till I intervened, and then I just called the police with his number plate and car description. I don't know if they turned up but when I looked about 10 minutes later, he was gone.

In 35 years of European travel, only two scams that we know of.

Outside Santa Lucia train station in Venice, the man in the vaporetto ticketbooth shortchanged me 10 euros. My Italian then wasn't up to making a protest, I just stood there and gave him a look until he "realised" his mistake.

Outside the Vatican museums, an exotic woman asked for money, waving scarves and showing me her baby. She must have had at least three arms, because she filched my purse from a zipped handbag.

Oh, and my husband was suddenly surrounded by a group of children near the Colisseum. It was like a neorealist film, their hands were all over him, but he had so many pockets (it was winter so he was wearing jacket and overcoat,) he could bat them away like a flock of starlings.

These scams really are not myths - on most trips I have at least seen something fishy - blocking the door on bus or metros to facilitate pick-pocketing the most common, also the ring and tricky taxi drivers. I'm glad for posters that bring these to our attention - helps all of us to be more aware and less likely to be victims - even it we aren't fluent in the local language.

The biggest myth to appear here is that these scams are all targeted exclusively at Americans.
So often there appears some warning that Americans are being picked out in such and such a city.

They're not.

Locals get pick-pocketed too - actually probably more often that tourists, simply because they are local and not on their guard. OK, locals are less likely to fall for the gold ring scam and it it's ilk, but other Europeans visiting do. I have seen it in Barcelona, with find the lady - a crowd of Italians standing watching and then trying to win at it. Fools.

I have no idea why these myths have such legs either. I've never been victim to any scam, nor have I been pickpocketed. And I don't take special precautions, nor do I speak any language other than English and a tiny bit of Spanish. Most of the scams I've seen reported, would seem to require the victim to be of astonishingly low intelligence.

As to the fashion myths... I simply don't see that much difference between how Europeans dress and how Americans dress. The one exception is the shocking prevalence of the mullet in Spain (where laughably bad hair appears to be an ingrained part of national culture), much of Germany, German-speaking Switzerland, and among a certain breed of Italian.

Ah fashion myths.
How to look like a native?
Wear something comfortable, put on a hassled expression and rush everywhere whilst not looking around you.
People in European cities have to work, just as they do in New York or LA or wherever, and wear similar clothes and go through the same hassle, including trying avoid tourists standing in the way gawping, whilst trying to blend in in their trendy but uncomfortable shoes :).
They don't have time, and nor do they care, what the average tourist wears. They would barely notice a fat American slung with cameras, in a loud Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and white tennis shoes. Honestly.

Myths? You really think we are all making this stuff up? Seeing it and mentioning it does not equal falling for it. In fact it helps prevent problems.

I have had a couple of pickpocket attempts. Once was eight years ago in Paris when two guys got in front of and behind my daughter and me on a long escalator at the St. Michel metro station. I told them to get lost but as they were running away, the one behind me ran his hand along the outside of my purse.

Once was in Rome, as I was entering a metro car and the entrance was blocked by a crowd of young girls, one of whom also ran her hand along the outside of my purse.

But my husband had his pocket picked getting on the circumvesuviana in the Naples train station. Same technique as the girls on the metro, but more effective thieves. A group of five or six well-dressed men in their thirties crowded the entrance around my husband and disappeared when the doors closed. Wallet missing from front pocket.

The last two times I was in Paris, this year and last year, I saw so many ring scammers it felt like a cartoon from Mad Magazine. People falling over themselves in front of me to pick up rings. Last year in the Champ de Mars I gave up on my plan to spend some time relaxing and taking photos of the Eiffel Tower because it was so intrusive, and this year in front of the Musee d'Orsay and then along the Seine and across the bridge to a bus stop on the right bank. When I ignored the final attempt by a woman who came up to me at the bus stop, I watched and saw her talking to a woman down the street a few minutes later who came away carrying a ring. So it must work on somebody. I only saw these things in the most touristed areas I visited, however, and never in the neighborhoods where I stayed and spent most of my time.

Surely not myths. But we got 'em here to. In Chicago, stopped on an exit ramp at a stoplight, couple has car with hood up, hitting up folks for a few bucks for cab fare or something. Went down the street and to get a fill-up and returned through the same interchange 10 minutes later. The car and the couple are now on the exit ramp going the opposite direction! Just one of many times I've been hit up with similar requests.

The latest one--on my route home (DC area) a man is on the side of the road with "disabled" van, flagging folks down. What roped me in me was he had his young son on the side of the road with him--no shoulder, potentially dangerous situation. I stopped and offered to give them a ride to a safer location, but the guy said he was waiting for the tow truck, and just needed cab fare. I offered to wait a little while, but he wasn't interested, just wanted the cab fare. Then (d'oh) I realized what was up. Felt bad for the kid, but I drove on.

It is no myth about Rome! While walking to the train station and pulling a small carry on bag, my husband was surrounded by teenagers. Two tried to pull the suitcase out his hand while the three on the other side were trying to reach in his pockets. They were relentless but he was determined and they got nothing. For some reason he was the chosen victim instead of me. Also we met another family who had their backpack CUT while on the subway and their video camera was stolen. I can't imagine they carried around a cut back pack and told this story for amusement and no, we were not asked to buy them a new camera or anything.

What exactly is the gold ring scam?

Someone picks up a ring in front of you and shows it to you. Asks if you dropped it. I never followed through, so don't know how it is supposed to end. But I think the scammer then offers you the ring and then hassles you for money for giving it to you.

I've experienced attempted taxi overcharges in Munich and Prague and attempted pickpocketings in Amsterdam, Florence, and Prague. Saw a purse snatching in Florence. That's in many trips to Europe over about 40 years--though all of the above incidents happened in the last 12 years.

No pickpockets and scams are not myths - if you read the thread through you will see that we say they are true. What is a myth is that Americans are specifically targeted, or even that just tourists are victims to pickpockets.

A related article from T&L:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...travel-scams/1

I know that this is the europe forum, but we got conned by our favourite scam on holiday in tunisia many years ago.

we had hired a car [an undertaking in itself] and were driving to somewhere or other, when we were flagged down by a boy by the side of a car which had "broken down". could we give him a lift to the town where his uncle could go and help his dad with the car?

of course..so we did, and amazingly, it so happened that his uncle owned a carpet shop, and would we go inside just for a cup of tea so he could express his thanks...

at this point we realised that we'd been had, but in a fairly harmless way, and went along with it, until we got bored and made our excuses and left.

we were targetted by default - only a tourist woudl have been so stupid as to stop!

on our recent visit to Barcelona, DH did think that someone had tried to dip him, but years of practice on the london underground made him very aware of what they were trying to do. BUT not so aware that he'd put his wallet elsewhere like I keep telling him! He did after that.

We were constantly approached on the Champs de Mars near the Eifeel Tower, with young women waiving a letter we were supposed to read explaining their predicament (a fine distration). DD and I decided we don't speak English (we do speak Hebrew and I told her to hang on to her bag). Kept telling the ladies using my "foreign" accent: "No English" "No English". and I kept my wallet too!

ilana - we do that, but we say that we are cornish.

Our friend, well-educated, frequent visitor to Paris, got
caught in the 'gold ring' scam. He was mortified when we
(smarty-pants know-it-all Fodorites) laughed at him for his
gullibility.

And, speaking of gullibility, we got taken 'real good' by a
Roman cabbie with a trip to the airport.

In more than 20+ trips, nothing bad has ever happened. I have to agree that reading all these "scams" on the board do make you more aware of what's happening when you are traveling.

We also were approached in Rome with the leather jackets, we both started laughing so hard the guy just swore and got back in his car and left.

I too have had the extra long ride around Rome in a taxi. I do speak some Italian so I was able swear at him and jump out of the cab without paying...wasn't as lucky in Naples, he got me. I have seen the gypsies take a wallet out of an inside coat pocket of an Italian man in Milan..he definitely was a local businessman.

But what I really want to say is more times than not, things have worked out in my favor. I don't know how (vino) but I have left my purse twice at a restaurant/bar in Italy, both times when I returned, my purse was there with EVERYTHING in it, yes, I was lucky. My husband paid for a newspaper and some other little things with an amount of lira equal to $100 instead of $10 and walked away, the gentleman came running after him with the change...and when he tried to give him something for his honesty he refused. Our car has been towed from where we had parked it and the police gave us a ride to where it was towed , and waved the fine.

Criminals live everywhere, my town and yours. They usually pick their victim with the least resistance, the most distracted , the most unaware of their surroundings, both locals and tourists.

Picpocted by some kids in Rome years ago. They got a few traveller's checks and then tried to sell them back to me when they realized what kind of loot they had. Other than that, just one roundabout taxi ride, also in Rome, last year. I knew the route so knew he was taking me the long way, but since he was giving us a pretty good narrated tour, I didn't mind - in fact for a tour, it was pretty cheap.