Wondering if this scam has been experienced by many others? We experienced it twice, in Paris and Troyes. It goes like this: A woman passes you, does a double take and appears to pick up a ring from the ground. Asks you if its yours? You say no. She says you can have it as it is your Lucky Day. You demur. She shows you markings on the inside to prove it's gold .... She presses it on you saying something like, she doesn't wear jewellery as her religion forbids it, and shows you her bare fingers. Ok you say. Then the sting as she says : so - it's been your lucky day, what about making it my lucky day too? How about ome money for my lunch etc?
this si where we twigged. However, we thought it was imaginative and it certainly required acting ability. Be interested what others have done?

Any of these or similar scams, just say NO, don't give eye contact, and keep moving. Don't let them bump into or touch you because that's where they go for the "gold."

This sounds like a very familiar post, I seem to recall another exactly like it not that long ago.

I haven't encountered it because I don't fall for such nonsense and don't engage with people like that in the first place. I wouldn't even talk to such a woman, let alone get into conversations about rings and lucky days.

A stern and loud no in German, side step and keep moving.

Christina, it is highly unlikely that another woman would approach you with a ring, don't you think?

It has happened to me. Despite my being warned here prior to my trip. The reason? She didn't fit the stereotypical gypsy look. She was young, as in college young, decently dressed and pleasant in appearance.

In other words, she was good at what she did. I laughed to myself as I only gave her 5 euros, definitely not enough for a sandwich as she suggested, but she backed off when it was clear that I wasn't going to budge any more. I told her, you can take the ring and fool another person and get more money if you need more. She didn't take the ring back, though.

There was another warning here about someone who'd asked if you speak English, and hold a map, at the Arc du Triomphe. I said, non, and walked on.

The same scam was attempted last April as my DH and I walked along the Seine. We told her, of course, that we weren't interested that she should just keep the ring. Then she tried that no jewelery for religious reasons until my DH asked her why she had so many holes in her ears if she didn't were jewelery. She moved on.

Several times I have been approached by the obvious scammers 'Do you speak English' Is this because they like to target English speaking people more than others? I always look at them with a blank expresion on my face and say no.

They ask, "Do you speak English", because odds are that the average Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Belgian, Hong Kong, or whatever tourist is going to speak English too, so it's much more efficient than starting out by asking "Do you speak Swedish?" (or whatever).

Every European easily identifies the American within a second. And obviously, Americans make good targets for scams, mainly because they are too friendly.

A native who is approached like the OP would simply have ignored this woman. This does not mean that we ignore everybody who trieds to talk to us. If there is somebody asking for the way or so, we certainly help. But we have learned a sensorium who is reliable and who is not.

So, if you do not have this sensorium, there are simple rules: Do not react to such people, don't even stop! Never give money (social security works very well in Europe, there is absolutely no need for beggars of any kind)! Never listen to strange stories ("my religion forbids wearing jewellery" - never heard of such a religion)! Never start arguing, just go on! In such situations, seek company of others (most probably, the lady belongs to a gang of muggers who are hiding somewhere in the background)!

Be friendly and communicative to people who are dressed normally and who behave normally. Although Europeans are more reserved, they are happy to chat with you if you make the first step. But be as reserved as possible to beggars and any other dubios subjects.

When I was at Gare du Nord a couple weeks ago, the woman who was begging at the taxi queue used the "Can you speak English?" line on everyone in the line, most of whom were not native speakers. When I said "No", she made motions that indicated clearly that she was begging.

"Every European easily identifies the American within a second. And obviously, Americans make good targets for scams, mainly because they are too friendly."

Like most generalizations, that one is full of holes. I doubt that EVERY European is equipped with a radar that picks out every American.

These scams are crimes of pportunity. It makes sense that anyone in an area near tourist sites in the middle of the day might be a tourist.

I had read the earlier parts of the thread and mentioned it to a French friend. She had been approached by the woman with the map.

I was approached by a man with a ring last year. It was not in a touristy area (but there is a very nice hotel nearby). I walked on.

This is not peculiar to European capitals. I have an alarm that goes off whenever I'm approached by anyone. Probably because the gypsies were pulling the same scams 20 years ago when I lived in Washington, DC.

Maybe they guessed I was American?

I must look like a perfect target because I've had the ring thing happen twice. Been approached by the ladies outside of Louis Vuiton. I'm not sure what they are up to. I did not stick around long enough to find out. In my opinion the most annoying are the bracelet guys at the funicular. They were very agressive. I over reacted and yelled at one of them, which embarrassed my DH.

It's not that you look like a perfect target, Suzanne2, it's that you are coming out of Louis Vuitton. When Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, "Because that's where the money is." People coming out of Louis Vuitton usually have money. People coming out of Monoprix are less likely to be stopped!

Most of these people belong to organized gangs and are systematically trained how to identify targets. They look on your shoes, your watches, your handbags, they observe your gestures, they listen to your accent. And they are trained how to approach an American, a German, an Italian etc. They have different strategies for different targets. They are highly professional. This includes old ladies sitting in front of churches. (I once observed in Rome how such a "poor" mother fed a chocolate bar to her "poor" child.)

I repeat: In all European countries, the welfare systems are efficient enough to feed everybody.

There are dozens of variations on these scams. The solution is very simple.

If anyone approaches you with this kind of a story - ignore them and just keep walking. Don't say anything, don't stop and don;t even make eye contact. You don;t know if it's this scam or a ploy to distract you while someone picks your pocket - so the only sensible thing is to ignore whoever it is.

We also encountered the bracelet guys near the funicular in Paris. As Budman says do not make eye contact and keep on walking. Most likely if you even touch the item they would harass you to buy it.

I scammed the scammers once in Ireland - I was very pleased.

I was getting money out of an ATM and there were a few suspicious people around me - standing a bit too close. Just as the money was coming out a guy said "is this your 20 euros - it was on the ground - maybe it fell out when you were taking out your card". I grabbed the 20 euros and my money out of the ATM in the same fell swoop - the man was surprised. It seems one distract you while the other takes the freshly minted money out of the machine.

My husband was scammed in Paris - he's a very kind person and this guy came up to him in St. Germain on a Sunday morning saying he was an italian fashion designer and he had been drugged and robbed the previous night and needed to get back to Milano.

My husband speaks perfect Italian and had a big discussion with the guy and gave him 180 euros (I kid you not). My husband was quite concerned he hadn't given the guy enough money. He would not believe me that he had been scammed until another guy tried the same thing with him a few weeks later!

It happened to me on rue Rivoli 3 weeks ago..I gave her 10 euros. I have the ring. I had dinner with some French friends tha evening..they said they first ran into that in New Zealnad some years back!!