I can't believe how many squares are on here.

People can only scam you if you pay attention to them. If you ignore them and walk away they can't scam you.

Simple really.

Exactly. Do not accept anything unsolicited. Just as you would do when receiving an unsolicited phone call.Its only common sense.

Old thread. Older con.

What's a "square" in reference to how many are on here? I don't even know what that means.

You can't put a square peg in a round ring?

It means linear thinkers. It's a compliment.

Nikki :)

We should change it to "you can't put a square peg in a yellow triangle"

I think the Neanderthals used this scam on the first Cro Magnon that moved into France.

Really - this is as bad as playing three card monte and thinking you can actually win.

Adults have to have developed at least a minimal amount of common sense.

I had fun with this scam in Paris in July. If they are going to assume you're a fool and will fall for it, might as well act the fool and annoy them.

The woman near the Place Vendome didn't know how to react when I said I would take it 200 Euro for it.

Another man (who looked like he could be her brother) operating near the Champs Elysee didn't know how to react when I simply said "No fumer Francais. Yo soy Americano!"

We were also approached late one evening near the Louvre by a man claiming to have just arrived a few hours ago from Canada but couldn't find his girlfriend or remember the name of his hotel. He figured he'd get some credibility by mentioning the name of the well known European company where he worked in Montreal. He must of been having a bad day because he used the name of the firm where my wife has worked for 15 years. It would have been impossible for him to have found himself with no money and no help in a European capital.

A man tried the gold ring on DH and I a block from the Eiffel Tower yesterday. Wished we knew the word for "scam" in French. "Non, non, non, monsieur" worked.

We noticed something new at both ET and the Gare du Nord, young women with really cheap and messy clipboards wanting to do a survey. Does anyone know what this is about?

I ran into the clipboard scam in Italy last time I was there. It is just a fancier way to try and get some "donation". Just walk on my and don't even respond to them.

ha, walk on by......they engage you in some conversation and ask too many questions and then ask for a donation....

The girls with pieces of paper pretend to be doing a survey, collecting money for charity, etc., and may even pretend to be deaf. It's a scam and they just want your money. In many cases, the paper also serves as a distraction for picking your pocket. Both the Paris chief of police and another high official of one of the French spook agencies have had their smartphones stolen by these girls in the past 2 months. Most of them are Romanian gypsies working in gangs.

The ring scam also remains common, as does the three-card fixed gambling game. In some parts of Paris you may be asked to sign a bogus "petition" half a dozen times in ten minutes. It's quite a plague on the city.

I saw lots of the clipboards girls in Paris in July though only one approached me. When I said no and kept walking, she kissed at me!

They don't seem to bother to blend in and look genuine, as Anthony GA said, they are obviously part of a group.

Not all tourists are experienced travellers from other big cities. These scams take advantage of most people being nice and wanting to be helpful. And often tourists are tired, stressed or caught in the moment and their defenses are down.

My "sucked in" moment was in a church - in St Sulpice. I was approached for a "donation" and being in a church, I fell for it. The "Gocha"' smirk of the recipient told me I'd been had. I was much more vigilant and tougher after that.

I always assume, when asked for money, that legal residents have recourse to some sort of social security. Hope so.

I admit it, I was sucked into "stage one" of one of these scams! Near the Eiffel Tower there was a middle-aged woman ( she looked European ) calling out, "do you speak English". I stupidly answered. She handed me a piece of paper, which appeared handwritten, that was composed in perfect English, of course, saying that she was a poor refugee with four kids and no money to speak of. I thought to myself, "darn it"! I handed it back to her and she sort of indicated that she wanted money. I said that I was very sorry, but I didn't actually have any spare money. Which was true at that moment, I specifically didn't have a lot of money on me that day. I felt sorry for her though, because whoever was behind this little scam wouldn't be giving her much money anyway, not that I actually believed the note. I never saw any kids, and you'd think at least one would be with her to make the note convincing! Ah well, you live and learn!

Regarding Beggar-Moms and the comment, "I never saw any kids, and you'd think at least one would be with her to make the note convincing!"

Seeing children is a real delemma for me--I can't help but feel these children are little more than props to some of these people, much like a puppy is to many of the homeless people--ever notice that it's usually a puppy, and not an adult dog? I'm sure an adult dog doesn't tug on the hearstrings, nor "rake in the dough" nearly as effectively.

Likewise, ever notice how many of those older babies are "sleeping" in the arms of their beggar-moms? Did your babies every stay still like that for hours on end? Not mine. I think many of these poor kids are being drugged to keep them quiet, and I have a REAL problem contributing to something that would promote and encourage that to continue. How can I guarantee that my contibution is going to help feed that child and not buy the parent something that she wants more? To contribute is to encourage the behavior. As I feel there are other options available but these individuals are choosing this option, I don't give money.

As to the ring scam and the clip-board scam, they wouldn't keep doing it, if it didn't work on enough people.

I think the babies are shared, and I also wonder why they are always sleeping. It would not surprise me if their sleep had been "assisted" by the scammers.

It sounds like these are real babies. In Rome I saw women begging with fake babies.

Thanks for the info on the clipboard scammers. We also found something online that says it keeps you occupied while someone else picks your pocket.

Funny thing DH and I were walking down a street near the Eiffel Tower yesterday and the same guy with the gold ring tried to pull it again on us. He understood what "scam" means when we told him so in English. We had a good laugh about him afterward.