What is this gypsy gold ring scam in Paris?
 

Within 24 hours in Paris, we were approached 5 times by gypsies who covertly dropped a gold - probably brass - ring, picked it up and offered it to us, saying it didn't fit them and we should take it.

THey then walked away.

The first time we took the ring but put left it on a ledge when we saw the woman return.

The subsequent times, we ignored them.

This was performed separate times bydifferent women, children and a man.

My husband and I could not figure out how this scam worked though we were warned by our tour director to avoid it.

Any ideas?

It must be the oldest scam in the world.
It is certainly mentioned in Dickens.
I bet that it was practised in Ancient Rome.
The idea is, "Oh, lucky me! I have found this lovely gold ring lying on the ground.
It doesn't fit me, but you can have it for "

It is indeed one of the oldest scams in the world, but the new form involves a tiny electronic tracking device inside the ring, so when you wear it back to your hotel they can come find you, rape, loot, and pillage you there!


(Only kidding). They still just ask you for money for the ring.

I just returned from Paris and had this happen to me twice. Once, from an older (60+) woman and once from a man who looked like he was twenty-something. We watched the woman approach a few other people and she had no luck with any of us.

They hope you are going to pay them something for it.

I've always wanted someone to approach me with that scam and their innocent "look what I just found". I would take it from them and say "Oh thank you so much for finding my ring. It isn't worth anything, but I'm so glad you found it for me" -- take it and walk away. How could they argue with that?

It's the assumption by these people that a lot of tourists are idiots and also that a lot of them think they have to talk to people on the street and have to give them money for things. They think it is polite to give money to people for objects on the sidewalk, I have no idea why. It's the most bizarre thing to me, but recently there was some post by a woman (American tourist) who did say that she thought someone offering her a ring for money that was on the sidewalk was "charming" so she paid them. That's why they keep doing it.

I go to Paris almost every year and have never had anyone do that to me. I don't talk to people on the street like that and don't have anything to do with them. They wouldn't get a chance to offer me a ring because I won't talk to them, and I won't respond or answer their dopey questions like some tourists do -- like once one of them as walking along the side of an outdoor cafe area on the Champs Elysees (a big one, a cheap takeout place), asking if anyone spoke English. Of course some total dupes piped up that they did, so then they try to give them some spiel to get money.

NeoP - it really isn't wise to antagonize strangers.

This is from "London Labour and the London Poor"
by Henry Mayhew, published 1851

"The second criminal class consists of cheats... and "flat catchers," or ring-droppers, who cheat by pretending to find valuables in the street"

The poster is probably right who said that it probably goes back to the ancient world.

This happened to us in the Tuilleries. The guy said perhaps I could buy him a cup of coffee in exchange (I gave the ring back to him). I also understand that it's been used as a distraction for pickpockets.

In a somewhat different vein, I have been surprised by the number of people who sit on the sidewalk with a "J'ai faim" sign and a cup for money.

Our only direct interactions with people apparently seeking money have been (1) people selling "newspapers" outside Metro exits and (2) a woman with a child who asked if I spoke English and held out a sign with some story about being from Bosnia. We have seen no swarms of children, no "found" rings, or any other intrusive enounters.

Oh, I forgot about the much more charming musicians in the Metro cars who quickly circulate asking for coins. Their presence has been positive, except for the one guy who made a racket "drumming" on a wooden box

Author: Travelnut
Date: 05/26/2008, 11:56 am

NeoP - it really isn't wise to antagonize strangers.
>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>

Yea. I know. Like the time I was sitting near here at a red light with my right turn signal on and the guy behind me kept honking and honking for me to turn right on red. I waited till just before the light turned green, put my car in park, got out and walked back to the car and struck up a conversation asking him if something was wrong with my car or why he was honking. When he said it was that in Florida you can turn right on red, I asked him to read for me the sign posted next to the light as perhaps I was misreading it (the one that said NO TURNS ON RED). Of course all my friends tell me I could have been shot or worse! But I wasn't and it was SO worth it.

I've read about this scam here on Fodor's numerous times in the past. Sometimes it seems like everyone here on Fodor's who was in Paris recently has come across it, not only once but several times. My wife and I were in Paris for a week in early May, and we didn't see it once. We did see people near Sacre Coeur that were trying to interest us in trinkets of some sort, and while in line waiting in the Notre Dame towers line, we were approached by a woman asking if anyone spoke English. But no ring scam. What were doing wrong?

Linda,

That scam is almost as bad as the one you see here periodically that tells people they HAVE to stay in certain areas of Paris or they'll turn into pumpkins.

Dukey: I couldn't agree more. We have stayed (in the order of the visits) near Place d'Italie, near Place Clichy, near the Musee Picasso, and near the Jardin des Plantes--Gare d'Austerlitz side. No pumpkins in sight!

I think I saw someone pull the ring scam in NYC a few weeks back. I was going thru a turnstyle at Penn Station and the guy seemed to be choosing btw me and the next guy. He chose the next guy.

Also do not forget that if you dare to wear anything other than black head to toe, including shoes, you will be flagged as a tourist and then be harassed by everyone. By simply dressing all in black everyone will assume you are a native Parisian and never bother you!

I know you're joking, reisender, but a good rule of thumb these days in Paris is that if you see someone dressed all in black -- it's probably an American tourist (especially in the summer). Thousands of them arrive daily with their completely black wardrobes.

Neo, just to be safe my DW and I both also wear black underwear. That way we are totally protected. Sadly she looks much better in her black undies than I do in mine!

Here is a video of the gold ring scam if you want to see it in action - It was filmed in Paris. The below website also has numerous pages of Paris pickpocket scams too. Hope it helps someone

http://www.corporatetravelsafety.com...e-eiffel-tower

Reisender wrote: "she looks much better in her black undies than I do in mine!"

Try swapping.

Thanks for the thread and the videos. Headed for Spain soon, and good to have a refresher course in tourist survival.

Neo: Love the red light story, but, yeah, in a lot of places, you would be risking your life. Glad you lived to tell about it.

This happened to us twice during our visit in May, when we were walking accross the bridge on our way from Orsay to Louvre. Since I had already read on Fodors, we just said no and walked away. They then just went away looking for their next target.

Yikes! They came up to me in Nice in a public area. A short lady was walking in front of us and she picked up this huge ring. She said I am so lucky to have found this beautiful ring. She asked my mother if the ring said anything inside, and my mother took a look and it said 18k gold. My mom and I are both very honest people and couldn't believe than anyone would pull a scam like this. So we told her its your luck enjoy and started to walk away from her. She came after us and said we were very nice and the ring did not fit her and put it on my moms finger. She told my mom that her husband had passed and she had no one to give it to and that my mom should have it. It gave us goose bumps thinking that someone could be so nice. Then she asked for obey so we handed her a 10. But then we realized she had taken us for a fool and chased her down gave her the ring and took our money. She ended up running away. Its sad to think that the world has come to this. Now I understand why people give me a weird look when I ask them to take my picture.. they probably think its a scam.

And so 4 years after this thread began, people still get sucked in.

>>>
And so 4 years after this thread began, people still get sucked in.
<<<

It proves the old saying: "There's a sucker born every minute."

LOL

I don't think that the world has "come to this" - scams have always been around and will probably always be around. Just part of human nature.

I have to say I'm always surprised that anyone falls for this. We watched last year as some clueless guy just took the ring from them and started to walk away...the ring guy and his nearby cohorts ran after him and demanded money, at which point the tourist just tried to give the ring back, which they refused as they kept demanding 10 euros for it. He finally got it back into their hands and walked away, but don't think they didn't follow him for a while yelling at him. They're quite aggressive and nasty...I've been yelled at just for standing there watching this go down. There doesn't seem to be any attempt being made to stop them.

The problem is that there are still tourists arriving from the planet of the Care Bears.

Just wondering, anyone thought about carrying pepper spray with them while traveling? Or is this illegal? I'm not sure.

Just tell them that the ring is ugly and walk away...lol.

My husband and I have started evaluating technique...it's quite amusing. Some of them are really good and you don't see the drop. But now that we're aware of them, we find ourselves homing in on people who look like they could be ring droppers, then watch them till they do their thing. Then we rate them on how well they pulled it off.

OK, there's one part of this thread I still don't get. Everyone here seems to be talking about the dishonesty of these ring scammers -- and of course that is right. But the part I don't get is why any HONEST person could or would fall for it to begin with. Let's assume for a minute that someone really did find a gold ring and offered it to an innocent bystander. What truly honest bystander would then lie and say "yes, it is mine" when it isn't? Or even attempt to buy a ring that was found on the street? Even if the ring finder wasn't a scammer, I'd consider the ring buyer not much better. Or is that me?

"...planet of the Care Bears." :-D

No, I feel the same--wouldn't want a ring somone found for me on the street, whether I know the person or not. I need selection and pretty blue box with white ribbon. We had a woman approach us in Paris this past December with a gold ring. I remembered this was some type of scam but couldn't remember the details. Ummmm, the ring was fugly.

We just got back from Paris (08/03/13-11/03/13) and witnessed the ring scam for ourselves. We were walking along the Seine, just past Pont Solferino, when a man in about his late 20's early 30's walked past, although there was quite a wide birth of 3 metres between as we passed by, and looked at us. He looked shifty to say the least and low and behold, about 2 metres past us he shouted, we turned and he bent down and 'found' a gold ring on the floor - it looked like a chunky, plain mans wedding band. We know about many supposed scams so as he came back to us with the ring we tried to ignore him, but he was walking in front of my husband and thrusting the ring at him. We said no several times and he then gave up. I watched and he went and leaned against the wall and awaited his next victims! Also, at Sacre-coeur, we were hassled ridiculously by men trying to get you to 'help' with the friendship bracelets. They were really aggressive following you for ages and shouting at you about why you didn't want to help. At the Louvre we had a man who tried to sell us a ticket saying the ques were atleast 40 mins long. We declined and he got aggressive swearing at us (bit of f-ing etc). When we got in the Louvre the ques were none exsistance - you couldn't even say you qued for 40 seconds! After visting the eiffel tower, at night, there was the 'free rose' offered to me. I declined as nothing ever free! They would have asked my husband for money! (happened to me once in Greece, when I stupidly accepted a 'free' glow bangle and then the gypsy harrased me for 15 minutes for money, but as my husband carries the money and was at the loo I had none on me!) We saw the buskers on the Metro who did a whip round with a hat after. We saw plenty of beggars. We saw plenty of dodgey looking for. The sad fact is pick pocketing and tourist scams go on all over the world. As long as you are aware, vigilant and sensible, you don't have to fall victim to them and have a good trip spoilt! Despite seeing many a scam it didn't spoil my trip in the slightest. I just expect and accept it now as part of tourist culture and try to keep my belongings safe!

@Francegirl30 -yes, as a couple we get photos of each other, individually, but have to ask people to get a photo of us together - like you I worry that think I'm distracting them to pick their pocket or that they might run off with my camera! :-) I choose the people I ask carefully and - touch wood- have been okay and hopefully not scared anyone!

This happened to us on our last trip to Paris in '09. But I thought France had deported the gypsies since then. They're back?

The scam is still alive and well. A friend who lives in Paris was telling us he had friends visiting in March who were approached twice -- once outside the Musee d'Orsay and once near the Eiffel Tower. I lived in Paris in the mid 1980s and it was happening then and couldn't believe it was still around or that someone would be targeted twice in a week. About 10 minutes after my friend told me this, we were crossing the Pont des Arts around 7 in the evening when an older woman came up behind us and told us she found a ring. All I could do was laugh and walk away

<< couldn't believe it was still around or that someone would be targeted twice in a week >>

People with extraordinarily good luck can be targeted multiple times in a single day. ;)

Yay! Four years ago, I got to watch 2 women work the gold ring scam within one hour: once in front of L'Opera, and once in front of Maxim's, Paris. Ended up losing the one I ended up with, but TODAY, got a new one from, guess where? L'Opera, again. The ring became such an interesting story and souvenir, that I was hoping I'd be approached again. Certainly worth the 5euros I paid for it. Man, it is a really wide, shiny ring. If I get another one, maybe I can make nipple rings out of them.