Paris - Please read, Security/Ripped off
 

We just got back from a week long stay in paris 11/4 - 11/13. We had a nice trip despite the fact that the riots were going on. The center of Paris was not affected. Except for one incident where somebody stole 250 Euros, and I thought I should warn you guys. This is how it happened.

We are walking to our hotel room from the train station with bags after arriving from the US in the bastille area.

Guy 1 comes in and says he wants to sell you something and talks something in French. Then Guy 2 stops him and tells us that is himself is a cop and what guy 1 is doing is fraud and that guy 1 deals in drugs. So he frisks guy 1 checks how much cash he has an lets him go.

Guy 2 shows quickly whisks us a badge and claims he is a cop again. Then he asks us where we are from, whether we have drugs, makes us show our passports. He makes us open our boxes and wallets and show him how much cash we have. Then guy 3 comes in tries to divert our attention to him by saying something. Then guy 3 leaves. Then guy 2 returns our cash. Guy 2 keeps harassing us and we realize this guy is a fake and leave.

After going back to our room, I counted the cash we have. They had stolen 250 euros from us. I remember keeping our eyes on the cash while he was checking. But, just for a few seconds our eyes got of the cash when guy 3 diverted us.

All this in the midle of a busy street in Bastille. We would not have fallen for it if we knew french and we made sure that the badge that guy showed us was a genuine police badge. We reported the incident to the french police.

So if something like this happens, please make sure you check the badge the person shows you. It should clearly read POLICE in big red letters.

Have fun!
HS

I don't think a policeman in France would ask you how much cash you have or have you to show him your passport or money for no reason. That wouldn't be doine in the US either, but maybe it would be in some countries. I wonder whether these thieves target people from countries where that kind of police bahvior might be the norm.

Hi fsh,

Thanks for the heads up.

Sorry to hear that you were robbed.

Looking forward to hear about the good things that happened.

((I))

Would a badge in France really have the English word "POLICE" on it?

It's one of those international words - at least, they'll know who you want if you ask a francophone in Montreal, Quebec, for la police.

Next time you should ever feel in doubt or intimidated, fsh020, insist on going to the police station. No authentic police can hardly object to your request.

I am sure everyone here, even those people who are SOOOOOOOOOOOO smart and have absolutely never been scammed in their entire lives, will appreciate your taking the time to post this, even if they neglect to tell you so.

Degas, isn't police "police" in French?

I for one certainly appreciate your reporting of this version of a well-known type of scam. This one is more complex than some of the other similar ones, and the coming/going of several characters probably confuses the victim more than the two-man approach that has been used frequently.

By the way---someone said a policeman will not ask for your wallet and money. Well, a legitimate policeman did that, and more, when I happened to park in an unmarked parking place in the middle of Czechoslovakia back in the Iron Curtain days. This was on serious communist dude. He not only checked our passport, our money, our various credit cards, and our rental automobile papers, but he searched us and the car. All the while I was protesting in Russian, a language he knew well and the only one that I knew was understandable to him (I surely didn't know Czech).

After a lot of hassling, the cop let us go with a stern warning and a kinder bit of advice on where we should park. The funny part of all this is that in the communist mentality, everyone squeals on everyone. I would not have even encountered the police, but a Czech citizen saw us parking in the spot and ran to report it to the police.

Sue, if in doubt, I certainly wouldn't want to get a RIDE from someone claiming to be a policeman who seems a little fishy, and would even want to follow a suspeicious person to the station if I had no idea where the station was located. Maybe if they don't seem right, it's safer to be out in the open.

I am still curious whether this particular scam targets people who SEEM to be from certain cultures, where the police may behave differently.

I am sure everyone here, even those people who are SOOOOOOOOOOOO stupid and always get scammed on EVERY trip, will appreciate your taking the time to post this, even if they neglect to tell you so.

CMT - I thought the french police had "Flatfoot or Fuzz" on the badge?

Wayne, I think I meant to say that a French of American policeman wouldn't do that (at least I don't think a French one would), but that in some other countries it might be the norm. That's why I wondered whether the scammers (i.e. THIEVES) might be targeting people who look like they are from certain countries where the police DO do that.

The word for police is 'police' in French.

fsh - Thanks for the heads up.

I'm sorry to be one of those people that these things don;t happen to - but

Do not stop and talk to strangers in train stations

Ignore them - whoever they say they are - and keep going

If they keep bothering you - just say no, loudly - and that you will call the police

If they persist - yell POLICE as loud as you can

But the key is to keep walking and keep ignoring them - so you never have an encounter

(Real police don;t want to bother tourists, don;t want to see your money - and wear UNIFORMS)

This scam sounds like a variation on the old "pigeon drop" ploy. It goes on day after day in big cities everywhere. Other variations are the bank inspector ploy, the bait-and-switch ploy, the hidden wallet ploy, and/or the dropped package ploy. Any bunko squad in any police department in any city can give you many more. Don't feel bad -- these guys can spot a "mark" a block away. They are pros.

cmt, you are right, of course one wouldn't want to get into a strange car. But I seem to recall someone reported a similar incident (only near the Rome train station). After the would-be target loudly suggested they all go to the station, the 'police' suddenly thought better of it, and disappeared. It would certainly be worth a try.

Degas, I think one has to take into account the fact that people often feel like fish, or should that be fsh, out of water when travelling. We don't expect the local customs to be the same or even to necessarily make any sense. So spotting a scam is tougher when abroad, I think. And even the genuine police in other countries often seem to be more intimidating. I still recall being startled when our bus from San Gimignano to Siena was stopped and machine-gun-wielding police boarded, took a quick scan of the passengers, and then to my great relief, got back off and allowed the driver to continue on.

This scam was so common in Amsterdam a few years ago that the city posted a special page on their website warning tourists about it - complete with images of what real police uniforms and badges look like. It also suggested that any "Dutch cop" spoke English with an eastern European accent should be regarded with suspicion.

"Would a badge in France really have the English word "POLICE" on it?"

Degas, are you for real? the ENGLISH word Police? Please...

I quess Degas doesn't give a gendarme :)

Am I for real? Of course I'm for real. It's everybody else who isn't.

Yah know I think any of us could be caught off guard when you are abroad in this type of incident. I don't know what the answer is other than walking away when a stranger is trying to stop you in your tracks. This will only be the answer for some incidents though.

You can always surprises.
I was in Paris 20 years ago and I remember seeing a policeman at the main station (famous) building pointing a pistel out an open window on the 3-5 floor. I did not know the language or even that this was a police station but I did see a police officer and so I alerted him. I remember the police officer laughing at me that he was just cleaning the gun. This was a police station and no one would point a gun out an open window in central paris if it was loaded.. I was the silly woman that should just move on. That is still so remarkable to me. Made me think they had different standards of what was safe. Of course that was my thinking then, I was only 23 in a foreign country without the language skills, so I did just move on, shocked.

I can imagine that fsh020 might also feel that there was some kind of a different standard when all of this was going on.

I think also, that does who do not live in a city are bigger fish to fry because they are so trusting in their communities, I often, on the subway will yell out, "Watch your handbag" when I see a person trying to steal a wallet on the train here in Boston.

I see that too Cig and sometimes they are native New Yorkers, on their way to work, caught off guard.

Never seen someone actually picking a pocket though, with the exception of when someone had their hand in my pocket last winter, LOL. Made a scene about that one. That could have got me a bloody nose though, now that I think of it.

I don't think there is ever a right answer for every situation. I was just lucky...

This same scam happened to me 5 years ago in Brussels. I felt very stupid that I fell for it. There were 2 guys and the one that lifted my cash was very good. I did not see it coming. He took over $200. Luckily, I stashed cash in different places. It was my first time in Belgium and it gave me bad memory. I never want to go back there again.

I cannot help but notice how many bad stories take place while people have their luggage w/them. We always take taxis from trains and/or airports. It may be costly but never anything approaching 250 euros!!

I don't know what their badges would look like, but they are called the police in Paris. I think the gendarmes are for more rural areas or small towns -- maybe like the difference in sheriffs and police in the US. Not sure, but I know they are called the police in Paris and the prefecture of police. They do have uniforms, of course -- I think I've seen a couple versions, depending on what they are doing. The more heavy duty ones are with the boots, carrying the rifles, but I think the everyday guys on the street are usually wearing black pants and blue shirts with epaulettes.

I think it's always good to warn people about these things. I remember someone posted on here the identical incident happening in Prague. I suppose they target tourists, of course, and can tell right away if the tourist is going to go along with it, and can tell if they know French or not.

I wouldn't even know what a genuine police badge looked like where I live, but could probably spot something that looked really bogus. I would want to look it over carefully, also, not just let someone quickly flash something. I don't know if fsh020 is speculating that real Paris police badges say police in big red letters or found that out later. I suppose a good con artist could easily have a badge make up with police in big red letters, though. No mention is made as to what the police imposter was wearing.

Just to elaborate on one side-question raised above: In France, a real police officer MIGHT stop you, ask for identification and pose questions, without any apparent "cause." It's very unlikely to happen to a visitor who's behaving properly but it could, and it's perfectly legal here.

Police officers will never ask you how much cash you have.

The word <i>police</i> is French (English borrowed the word from French, not the other way around).

Police officers do have official ID, but it's hard to verify out on the street at night. However, police officers almost never work alone, and they have radios, and they wear uniforms.

Overall, I'm sorry to say that fsh020 sounds a bit na&iuml;ve. There were too many suspicious things about this encounter, no matter where it occurred.

The police in France can ask you to show ID if they have reason to (almost any reason is sufficient), but they are never interested in the contents of your wallet. It's very rare for American tourists to be checked for ID, as it is usually painfully obvious that they are Americans already.