Ring scam in Paris.

Yeah, I got that one too, in Paris.

what is the scam? haven't heard of this one

The scam doesn't sound that great to me, but what they do is ask if you lost your wedding ring and they pick it up near you. They then say it does not belong to them so they offer to give it to you and then they ask for money for it. The ring looks nice, but it is not real gold. My husbands wedding band it white gold and the one he found was yellow gold. I was so surprised because he looked like a very nice young man and it was not in a busy tourist area. I wonder how many fall for it?

Yeah, it just doesn't seem a viable scam to me either, but a young guy tried it on me in Paris. He saw me coming and pegged me for a yank pretty quickly I'm sure. I spotted him just leaning against a wall way up ahead and when he saw me, he started walking forward slowly as if to intercept me.

When I got close, he looked down and started to bend down as if to pick something up. I knew what to expect, so I scanned the ground real quick before he got there and nothing was there. I watched his hand as he he produced a ring that he was palming.

It was so bad. He looked up at me before I even got to where he was and asked me if it was my ring. Well duh... of course not. Jeez, this guy really needed to work on his presentation. I just looked at him like he was nuts. I think he knew he blew it. And he went back to the wall, presumably to wait for another target.

Maggie

We got targeted twice earlier this month. I was pretty insulted, actually. Had no idea we looked so stupid. Our open laughter sent each one skulking away.

The scam or variations of it are very old. Like many scams, it relies on you, the victim, having some level of greed. A valuable object is found, a ring, the "honest" bystander offers it as yours, you take it figure "hey, a free gold ring" conversations comes around, the hero would really prefer some cash (A small amount, a reward), you figure for a gold ring ($$$$$) you can cough up $20. He goes his way, having pawned a 10 cent ring for $20, you go away happy that you just cleared a couple hundred.

Don't take it personally. I was approached and offered a man's ring that was very scuffed and worn looking. I just laughed. I finally yelled at the man to go away. Next time I will be tempted to take the ring and throw it as far as I can and let the con man go try to find it.

The first week in May I was in Paris walking along the Seine with a friend. A girl (20, dressed in jeans & a nice blouse) approached us asking if we dropped a ring... We're both Helpline readers so we started laughing and said "wow, the ring scam!" She just shrugged and walked back to her spot. Thank you Helpline!

Rick warned about this in my 2006 France guidebook--I think it's been around a while.

We just got back from Paris and were treated to it twice- once by the Louvre and the second time near Napoleon's tomb.
We weren't insulted by it, just amused. Not sure either young man understood our reply of:" Good try, but no cigar".

As we were leaving the Louve last week my wife noticed a lady working the ring scam on someone. We knew about this scam so I decided to back off a ways and take some photos of the lady to see if she could scam anyone. After several failed attempts to lure people into her scam I started videoing her. She saw me and backed away from the area she was working. She then directed a series of very obscene gestures toward me knowing that I had exposed her. I then noticed a young teenage boy who I assumed to be her son sticking his tongue out at us. I suppose he was a watchout for her or a young future scam trainee. Anyway, it was quite comical to see her reaction to being caught. While going into the Louve grounds we were also approached by a lady who tried to pull the "do you speak English" scam on us. I did not notice anyone falling for either of these scams.

Careful, Lisa, in jumping to the wrong conclusion. Remember only those who have had problems tend to discuss the problem. And those who don't, don't. We have been in Paris a number of times and have never been approached and the same for Italy. Were in Spain again over New Years with no problems. The key, of course,is how you handle yourself. At the first sign that you may be approached, move away quickly and avoid eye contact. If you make eye contact, look very hard, sternly, and say, NO, in any language you like -- I prefer German -- and move away quickly.

Shelly's problem was partly caused when she engaged in a conversation. Never do that. Conversation provides an opening, allows them to get closer. Exact opposite of what you want or should do.

When I was in Paris, crossing the Seine headed towards the Louvre, a young man approached me with a giant gold(en) man's ring asking the same sort of thing. I laughed and pointed out a: it was a man's ring and b. I was still wearing my wedding ring. He asked for some money anyway, so he could eat lunch, I laughed again and said no way. I mean I had to work hard for my money to come eat lunch in Paris, right? I guess he didn't like the laughing because the next thing I knew, he was grabbing my b**b! I grabbed his hand, twisted back his fingers and said some very impolite words. It freaked me out a bit though, and I'm sure I was less adventurous for the rest of my single female in Europe trip. Next time I will just keep walking.

This is a helpful thread since I'm going to Paris.
Paris sounds every bit as bad as Italy and Spain in this way of scamming! Thanks for the warnings!
Often people make Paris seem like a perfect place, but no such thing!

I had to jump back in on this conversation. Paris is a wonderful, beautiful, perfect place. I have never felt unsafe there but you have to be aware of what you’re doing – just like you would in any big city. The purpose of alerting people to these “scams” is to increase their awareness – not scare them to death. I cannot imagine ever making physical contact with these people, just say “no” and keep walking!

Scams are just about in every place. I have never felt threatened by scam artists and really have not been approached by many but it is good to be aware that such things go on in order to be prepared when and if it happens. As long as you don't become a victim it is just another harmless travel experience to add to your memories.

Franky, I know you're right about this part:

"Shelly's problem was partly caused when she engaged in a conversation. Never do that. Conversation provides an opening, allows them to get closer. Exact opposite of what you want or should do."

and I totally agree that I could have avoided this. On the other hand, as we read here all the time, a lot of the joy of discovering other cultures is talking to the people! If I always avoided conversations and eye contact during my 4 weeks alone in Europe, I would have missed out on so many lovely opportunities. This experience turned out badly, but most did not.

I guess I'm saying - yes, be careful about who you're interacting with. And if you're a single girl approached by a guy you don't know, even in a bright shiny public place, be careful (I know I will in the future), but don't avoid all conversations unless you want to miss out on a lot of rich and wonderful experiences.

I just wanted to say "Shelley, way to go!" This twerp might think twice before he does something so obnoxious again. I hope you hurt him bad. Good job!

A friend of mine, while having been to Iraq, was still a little naive. He got taken in by the ring scam when I wasn't there, but somehow managed to only loose 4 Euros.

Then in Rome he was asked by a guy if he had change for a euro, so he gave the guy 2 50 cent Euros, and later he found out he got a Franc instead of a Euro. Since he didn't loose too much money, we all had a good laugh about it, and the ring was the source of his 'bad luck' when he got lost in Rome.