Metro ticket scam at Gare du Nord

Yet another reason I recommend taking a taxi upon arrival in Paris, whether at the airport or train station.

In addition, I carry euros on me, a very unpopular concept on this forum. I used cash frequently on a recent trip to Paris, bought things in at least 2 shops that were "cash only". I would feel naked without at least 100 euros in my pocket...

We got as far as the ticket machines before the gates and none of my three debit/credit cards worked so we were stuck.

We bought Navigo Pass Easy cards at a manned window, paid with Apple Pay. To refill our Navigo Easy cards using the machines, using my US CC, the machine would instruct us to enter our PIN code, and then it would inform me that the transaction was cancelled, and my card had not been charged. However, the transaction actually went through and the rides were put on our Navigo cards. I assume the same "error" message occurs with using a US CC at the regular Metro ticket machines, but we never used them.

However, you can always use cash in those ticket machines, a shame you didn't try that. You could have bought a couple of single ride tickets with your 20 euro note and gotten change from the machine...however, the paper tickets are not as reliable in the turnstiles anymore - many turnstiles no longer accept them, and the ones that do are not well maintained and paper tickets "fail" a lot.

I am so sorry this happened to you. I can imagine how upsetting and frightening this was. I'm not sure how I can help, except to stay that it wasn't your fault for being confused or picking the wrong person to ask for assistance.

My husband and I were scammed years ago. I knew it was probably happening - one of those "let us help" as we were reading the Metro map prior to purchasing tickets. We "let them help" and I'm certain way-overpaid similarly to what happened to you, but at least we were spared the terrible race through Gare du Nord you and your daughter experienced.

Flash forward to my most recent visit last fall. I have been to Paris many times since the above situation occurred. I never forgot the scam incident, however. The memory served me well. I was at a ticket machine at Gare du Nord moving slower than a Parisian would move, but working steadily through the screens when I noticed an apparently uniformed man moving into my "space". The previous scam encounter flashed across my mind. I cancelled out the transaction and walked away. Irritating as I then had to find another area where I could buy a ticket, but at least I didn't feel threatened. You can do the same - if you don't want help or feel threatened, walk away or say "Non!" Sometimes that is hard to do as we are reared to be civil, but these scammers aren't being polite to us.

I do have a suggestion - there are some good maps of Gare du Nord online. Take a look at one and see if you can figure out several different places for ticket purchases - there are several areas. See where your Strasbourg train line is located and what the path is from the entrance you will use. There are some manned ticket windows. You can find those on the map.

Also, you might try going over to the train station simply to get a bit more familiar with it. You can walk around a bit and find places you might actually need to use - ticket window, routes from Metro line to train line, etc. I once visited Paris with a friend who had lived in Paris for several years. We needed to catch an early morning train. She was the one that suggested we have a "reconnaissance" stop prior to that early morning just to be sure we knew where we were going. It was helpful even for someone like her that had used the station countless times.

Finally anecdote - during my last stay, I used Gare du Nord multiple times daily in my week long stay. One day, I arrived on an RER line that I hadn't used previously. Despite all the times I had tramped around Gare du Nord earlier in the week, I failed to take into account which floor I was on and became massively confused. Nothing was where I expected it! Please don't feel that you are alone.

Best wishes to you and your daughter. Try not to let this upset you and enjoy the rest of the trip.

I’m so sorry this happened to you. Maybe this YouTube video will help? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yNeBSlHznt0. Otherwise go to a bigger station and find a manned ticket-office. Maybe they can help you out.

the machines are in English, they are very clear about what you are buying and you don't need help. If you are unsure it is good to do a little research before arrival. Anyone who is 'helping you' which involves giving them money is cheating you. American cards and other European cards generally work on the metro machines. I am not sure why yours didn't but at that point using cash or going to a staffed window would have been the right move. These jerks have been running this scam for decades. The guys grandfather probably used to do it. NEVER let anyone handle your credit card, or 'help you' at a self help kiosk. You are lucky he gave you a one way adult ticket because the other scam is to give you child tickets which work fine until you are checked by an inspector when you get fined 35 Eurol.

If the problem was a PIN on the card, you literally just ignore that request and the machine proceeds to process the order.

Sorry this happened. Everyone has a travel story of screwing up somewhere along the way if they travel long enough. You need not be afraid of this happening again because now you know the score. So when you use the metro again arrive with tickets in hand. You can buy them with cash from the. machines or from a Tabac store in Paris so you have them when you arrive at the train station. Be a roll model for your daughter that sometimes stuff happens but it isn't a big deal and you can learn from the mistake and journey on. Don't encourage the fearfulness. Don't teach her that she is helpless in the world. Laugh it off, learn from it, do better next time. (and I hope you are pickpocket proof -- there is little violent crime in Paris but pickpockets with great skill are all over -- no valuables in pockets and cross body purse under your control in front of you.). You are fine; forge on.

As for taking a taxi upon arrival at Gare du Nord as suggested above, I have never seen such a long line of un-legit drivers as those waiting for my incoming Eurostar last fall. I am familiar with Gare du Nord and I know where the official taxi rank is. Nonetheless less, I found orienting myself very confusing coming off the Eurostar (first timer on that).

I wouldn't be so cavalier as to simply say : " I recommend taking a taxi upon arrival in Paris" it's very easy to miss the official rank and find yourself in an unmetered "taxi". Just as scammed as the poor OP was when trying to purchase a ticket.

I have never seen such a long line of un-legit drivers as those waiting for my incoming Eurostar last fall.

A variation of the same thing happens at CDG, you are greeted by unofficial taxi offers the instant you depart customs...and I am sure people fall prey to it at the airport all the time. You need to do your research and be forearmed with what to expect upon arrival in any city, and read the signs and look for the official taxi rank, whether at CDG or a train station. Go to the manned information kiosk if nothing else...

The advice, repeated on posters at the main train stations, is not to buy tickets from touts... Sorry you got caught out! Thankfully, $50 is not too much money in the context of a trip. It's basically lunch for two.
Many ticket machines take cash, so, if you need to buy tickets, make sure you have some cash, and all will be fine. For what it's worth, you were at the right place for tickets.

I hate that this happened to you and I hope it does not ruin your trip. Generally speaking anyone who approaches you in a train station or an airport and offers to help in the way you described is a thief. For the trip to Strasbourg, you will leave from Gare de l’Est which I find to have fewer scammers than Gare du Nord. Second, you can and probably should buy your ticket to Strasbourg ahead of time so you will not need any help in the station to buy a ticket. That fact alone will reduce your risk of being taken in by a thief. If you will be taking the metro to or from Gare de l’Est or while in Paris, this video should help https://youtu.be/ehrf8rekHc0. One thing to note is to be pickpocket proof when riding mass transit.

The same attempt was made on me at this location in 1988. You probably got the grandson of my perpetrator. This scam will live forever I guess, tells you something about Parisians. Sorry, but other Northern European cities would not tolerate this happening to tourists like this at the same location year after year.

These jerks have been running this scam for decades. The guys grandfather probably used to do it.

I see Janet and I were on the same page.

The most important is to deconstruct and desensitize what happened so you feel back in control. That will help your daughter, too. You won't run into this person again because Gare du Nord is scam central, not Gare de l'Est which serves the train to Strasbourg. You still have three hours of daylight, so I suggest you walk through the Gare de l'Est, study the machines, study the set up of the station. Go downstairs and study the metro ticket machines.

FYI, my husband and I are French and French speakers. We hate the machines and will always choose a service window if we can find one. Yes, the Gare du Nord métro is very confusing.

I'll send you a private message, if you know how to access them.

A very heartfelt thank you to everyone for your helpful tips and empathy. I watched the YouTube vids and plan to get a Navigo Easy card tomorrow. My daughter and I had time to explore and enjoy a nice dinner in between thunderstorms tonight. Being out among other people and everything being okay helped our peace of mind and settled our nerves. 😊

"the fact is this "scam" is likely the least you have been swindled for in the past month."

I thoroughly agree with this, but I think it was the aggression, the sense of physical confrontation, the scammer displayed that was so frightening.

for everyone - there is an excellent website - parisbytrain.com - it was invaluable before i went to Paris the first time. There's specific train station info, including GdN - https://parisbytrain.com/gare-du-nord-photos/

One last suggestion: The Bar on the Thalys train (as well as on other TGV services) sells tickets for the Paris Metro. Buying them at the bar saves you time, and you can pay by credit card.

In Paris right now. Unlike the case with some other countries, I find the ticket machines for the train and Metro intuitive and easy to use when I select the English language interface.

But see this as a lesson for the future. Scammers and fraudsters congregate in tourist areas. You can't trust anyone! Anything at all that happens that is attention-getting or noticeable--regard this as potentially an attempt to scam or pickpocket you.

Also, I'm finding that Paris has gone mostly cashless. It is expected that people pay by credit card. And the machines support credit card. I have some cash Euros I need to use up, and so I've been using them. And when I pull them out, I sometimes sense a bit of surprise that I'm paying with cash and also a very slight amount of resentment that they are are having to deal with cash. In the U.S. a lot of small shops like it when people pay with cash--I'm not seeing that here.

And in my opinion, using credit cards is a great way to avoid being robbed or cheated. If your cash is stolen, it is gone. If your credit card is stolen (whether the real card or the card number) it won't come out of your pocket.

What I recommend is carrying very little cash and instead carrying multiple credit cards. Check which cards carry foreign currency exchange fees or other fees. Find the one that works best. (I have a card that charges a 1% exchange fee, but also gives me 2% back, so I'm still saving 1% of every purchase compared to paying cash.) What I do is carry that card in an accessible but still secure place. Everything else is buried deep in my money belt and not as accessible.

When using the card, just check carefully what you are being charged, and always ask for a receipt. Other than that, you don't have to worry about fumbling with foreign cash and getting the right amount of change back.

I'd be more worried about taking a taxi--for some of the reasons others explained above--than taking the Metro.

And what happened is more a reason to carry less cash than more. They can't steal what you don't have. You should never have even engaged with this guy--but after it got to the point where he was asking you for 44 Euros you didn't have, the best thing you could have done at this point is just hand back the tickets and walk away.

I would feel naked without at least 100 euros in my pocket...

Ditto. I always carry native cash wherever I go. As far as scammers, unfortunately, they give the good Samaritans a bad name. I was in Germany a little over a year ago, and couldn't figure out exactly how to by my metro ticket with the machine. A gentleman "offered to help." I was initially suspicious, but he really was helping, he just led me through the German prompts, I inserted my own Euro coins, and got my ticket. I think he was down on his luck and held out his hand afterwards in a pleading way. I don't usually give people asking for money anything, but he truly had helped, and didn't scam me, so I gave him several coins I had left in my pocket for his time.

“tells you something about Parisians. Sorry, but other Northern
European cities would not tolerate this happening to tourists”

Lots of complaints about scammers, pickpockets, thieves in cities all over Europe.. To blame Parisians is silly. Do you blame New Yorkers for crime on the NYC subway? Lots of crime in SF and all over the US, and it’s not law-abiding people’s fault.

Rick Steves guidebooks and shows are very good at explaining about scammers, pickpockets and thieves in Europe.

And yes, Parisbytrain.com, recommended here for years, is very helpful.

I’ve posted this often but a survey of Parisians some years ago on how they wished tourists would change their behavior while visiting Paris #2 on the list was “Stop getting robbed.” Sounds very much like a Parisian problem.

The reason that Americans are sitting ducks for pickpockets and scammers is that such crime is so rare in the US, and unfortunately common in parts of Europe. Maybe every American should volunteer 15 minutes of tourist protection time in Gare du Nord. Voilà, it would become scam free. It’s crystal clear Parisians will not do anything to clear up the problem.

The reason that Americans are sitting ducks for pickpockets and scammers is that such crime is so rare in the US, and unfortunately common in parts of Europe.

Tourist scams? Rare in the US big-city tourist zones (as Paris is a big city)? Some folks posting on TA or a quick Google search will bely this notion.

However you're probably right about not being used to pickpockets in the US, as armed robbery is more our style.

“Parisians will not do anything to clear up the problem.”

What have Americans done to stop daily mass shootings here Tom?

I'm with Susan. Yes Americans are clueless about pickpockets; it is a rare crime in the US and the kind of ticket scam noted here is also rare. In the US tourists have to worry about getting mugged or shot. And the US response to mass murder is to loosen gun laws so virtually anyone can buy what is essentially a machine gun. I would not visit the US as a tourist or send my kids there if I lived in Europe.

Hi,

Forget the fear of going back there...don't be scared. You wíll not repeat this mistake. I'll be at Gare du Nord in a couple of weeks as I am in North Germany presently, I can't wait to get back to Paris.

In your case, I would have walked away from the guy...like it or not. I know Gare du Nord very well. Your mistake was not the location of the machines but following that guy. Now you know better should you be preyed on again....that's all.

RE: why Parisians don't do anything to clean up this problem.

That presupposes that there is a problem at all, it also invites the question: why should the Parisians?

On a Thalys arrival from Brussels, the lines at the Metro station were unbelievable. I was nervous about the guy selling single tickets from a carnet book. But they turned out to be valid. This was an entrepreneur, not a scammer. Well, he was scamming the Metro, not me.

(I'm not out to steal a fraction of a fare from the Metro agency. But they can't expect me to wait 40 minutes to buy a carnet, if I don't have a pass ready to be refilled, and a chip-and-pin ready to fill it.)

the big risk in the single ticket is they often sell child tickets which get you the big fine if stopped although work fine to get into the system.

We routinely paid with credit cards, including Paris Metro. In four weeks in France, only one time did one of our US credit cards fail to work - that was for the one way ticket to CDG on our fifth and last day. When that did occur, my wife's card worked. Never once needed a PIN.

We did get our 4 day Paris (Ile de France) travel pass from an RER ticket counter agent. Again, no issue with credit card.

Suggest checking out your credit card's charge and fee policies BEFORE you leave for Europe. Different cards have different costs. Some impose foreign transaction usage fees; others do not. Some take a 3% fee for foreign exchange, others take 2%. Our cards that we took were no transaction fee cards and 2% on the exchange rate - not bad at all. And our rewards programs (1% back; 3% on restaurants) seemed to apply ... we have looked at our bills on-line since coming home a few days ago.

RS' advice is a little different than mine (and Travel-Lite's) ; RS recommends using cash more. https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/pay-credit-cards-vs-cash Like Travel-Lite, we found many restaurants and stores preferred plastic, not cash. Is Rick's advice out of date?

I typically spend weeks to a month in Paris every year and never use or need cash for anything except coins to use a restroom. RS advice is outdated.

I had heard from visitors to Paris over Christmas/New Years that the pickpocket/scamming danger was overblown. That's what I heard. Now back from the trip there, it's true. ....overblown.

I went solo, took the usual precautions, ie neck pouch, hidden pocket but that's it, wore the waist belt below the belt , up front and quite visible to any bad guy. No such concerns at all. This time I was much less concerned about being "hit', hardly even thought about it relative to past trips. There were also times I didn't care anyway. Only bought Metro tickets at Gare du Nord, even though I went exploring the train stations as well, St. Lazare, Lyon, Montparnasse, Paris Est.

I used only the paper Metro tickets, bought them from the machines in usually busy Metro stations, paying by the "contactless" credit card option, followed the instructions in French or German, ( a good way to speed up one's reading of the French. ) , used them on buses and the Metro lines. I left Paris with at least 20 or more metro tickets to be used the next time in Paris.

No one ever approached me this time as I've experienced in the past. Maybe the bad guys see I'm not worth hitting. ...tant pis.

We encounter cash only situations often at Butcher shops or similar small shops, but other than that and restrooms, cards work. I also prefer to use cash in weekly markets. But most market stalls can manage cards now -- this was not true a few years ago.