Me and my family were walking around the Tour Eiffel, and a couple of older scammers had tried to get us. Looking at some pictures of my wife and child, they were rounding and looking at us, but in that moment we didnt note them. So, they had asked us to take a picture from them below the tower, and I did it. After it, they had been looking their phone, like someone checking the photo, after some seconds he asked me if I wanted some picture from the whole family, that he could take for us. I prepared and passed him my phone, and once we were prepared for the photo, he was taking more time than it should, and I noted some different movements in the screen. I gave a step to the front and he told me the whole tower was not in the photo. So I got the phone from his hands and he went to his wife, noting that I had seen they were scammers, but the women showed him her celphone screen, some app with a lot of numbers (some hacker or what else like a calculator screen). Instantly, I got my family out from the Mars Camp and tried to talk to some police officers, who didnt try to understand or help me about the scam and the couple walked around to the other side of the tower. I had shutten down my phone and changed some bank accounts and google apps from my computer in hotel, but in a first moment, nothing was gotten from my phone. Tried to understand what was their intention, but didnt find anything about this scam in the internet.
Posted by
Florida
1454 posts
If it's a public tourist area in Paris, Barcelona, or Rome then assume any random interaction is a scam.
Posted by
Chicago
3322 posts
This is a good reminder to not hand over valuables, like cell phones, to strangers.
If you do choose to hand over your phone for a photo, make sure the phone is in the locked mode. On iPhone swipe right to left on the lock screen to go into camera mode and on android use a lock screen shortcut or the double press power button.
Posted by
1138 posts
Or. It could be a misinterpretation by you. What was the scam you think was being done?
Posted by
Chicago
8701 posts
There are scammers who know how to access bank accounts and send money. I have not heard of it in a photo op -- usually the mark actually opens their bank ap to donate money or whatever and the helpful con man grabs the phone and send a large sum to themselves.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
The reaction of the man once I got my phone back, he didnt give me any feedback, just turned around and got out. And looking the pictures from before our interaction, they were surrounding us clearly. I think the could have some payment equipment and tried to access my credit cards, or tried to install something. But certainly, it was a scam.
Posted by
Freedonia
16600 posts
Never give an unlocked phone to anyone. If you want to take a photo, almost all phones allow you to do that without unlocking them.
Once unlocked, there are numerous ways a scammer can access it to get money. They are looking for payment apps, NFC payment capability, changing the access code of your phone and then lifting it later, etc.
If you use NFC--Apple Pay or Google Pay--continue to monitor your accounts for mysterious charges. The same thing for any other payment apps you may use such as Paypal or Venmo.
Posted by
la la land...
1074 posts
Good grief, I suppose thanks are in order for posting this warning in case someone reads it and the light bulb turns on for them, but seriously, NEVER hand your phone, particularly your unlocked phone, to anyone anywhere, but especially not where you did, in a tourist spot in a foreign country, at a congested tourist site that is notorious for pickpockets and other thieves and scammers...
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
798 posts
There’s something to be said for not caring if you’re in any picture of any place you’ve ever been. I’ll be honest I’ve never given my phone or my camera to anybody to take a picture of me standing in front of anything. If I have the picture, I know I was there. I’m happy
Posted by
San Francisco
15135 posts
If asked in tourist area, especially, in Paris, as you were, I would have been rude and ignored the guy. If that comes across as being rude, then "tant pis " in French. You already sensed something was amiss as this was taking more time in your estimation than it should have.
I never hand over my camera (a digital) or cell phone to anyone in pubic. They stay on my person .... period. If "they" were working as a team (I assume that anyway), I am also being observed from afar, if being rude to the guy is doing him an injustice, too bad too.
Talking to the police "after the fact" is not going to work in terms of their cooperation and assistance unless you have a native speaker with you or can be speak the language fairly fluently yourself. It sounds as though the police you talked to were rather apathetic to your incident.