cherrybomb

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.

letsgo39

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

scatcat

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

HappyTrvlr

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

cherrybomb

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!

Laurel61

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.

StCirq

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.

NoFlyZone

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.....

cherrybomb

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?

cherrybomb

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.

scatcat

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.

StCirq

<<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.

nytraveler

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.

Shanti

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.

nukesafe

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.

cigalechanta

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?

knickerbocker

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.

Apres_Londee

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.

Peter_S_Aus

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.

avalon

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