A Variation of the Gold Ring Scam

I was there a week ago. There were dozens of guys working the steps, attempting the string scam (I was astonished to see how many people fell for it). They appeared to concentrate on individuals, i.e. single travelers rather than those who were in groups of 2 or more.

I did not see the gold ring scam there at Sacre Coeur, but did see it the next day outside the Louvre.

When the string men approached me I just laughed at them and told them not to waste their time on me, I knew about their scam. They immediately moved on to their next target.

Hi Amy,

In the big scheme of things 20 Euro isn't so bad--I appreciate the word of caution! It's a great story and you told it so well!

These guys are infamous. Another useful tactic to avoid being approached- if you speak a language other than French or English, use it. If they can't communicate, they can't scam you, and they'll look for other potential victims.

Amy,
Just curious--how much do they "charge" for the bracelets? Thanks for the warning!

I hang my head as I type this...10 Euro each (20 for both). Oh the lessons! But really, for the 3 trips we have taken to Europe, that is probably the worst thing that we fell prey to. So I figure that's not so bad. I will certainly be sharper next time.
The absolute worst thing that ever happened was that I left a painting of the Spanish Steps I bought in Rome on a train. If anyone has seen it.... ;)

Wow, 10 Euro each... Were they at least nice? :-)

Amy, hate to rub it in,, but the going scam rate for those bracelets I heard ( on another board) was 5 euros!! You paid almost 30 dollars for string bracelets my kids make at camp.. you were way too nice and sweet. Thats what they count on.

I have heard these guys can be quite aggressive ,, and I have also heard they have approached and tried this on children. That is such a turn off for me,,, I mean , I really don't mind the ring scam because if you fall for that its your own greed, but, the bracelet scam p*sses me off as they have been known to tie one onto people so quickly that they don't know what to do, plus, you paid up easily, but I have heard they can become quite pushy if you don't pay.

Frankly, I love Paris, and I rarely say anything negative about it, but it does annoy me that the police don't do more about these fellows. I swear if one of them approached my daughter I would freak. I chose not to bother going to Sacre Coeur with my child ,, there were other reasons, but, I can say one reason is I did not want to encounter these guys. We did encounter beggers and ring scammers in other places, but as I said, they do not bother me the same way.

Oh they were definitely nice. They were going on about how these were fertility bracelets and would bring my husband and I many many children.....amazingly this has not happened. :) But the weirdest thing I think is how they deal with the asking for money. They tell you that it is however much money and then look away. They won't make eye contact anymore after that. Its some freaky psychological mind game. I think I am going to try it at my next work review...."Yes I would like a 10% raise" (eyes dart to the ceiling and never come back.

Thanks for sharing that info, Amy. I will follow Tom's advice and put my Spanish to work when I go over in three weeks. Although I'm not sure how eager they'll be to try this on a 6'2", 300 lbs. guy. I can give a mean stare, too. ;)

Pablo, just look at them and laugh. They immediately understand what that means, and I think it's an appropriate response.

If I walked up to someone on the street of my hometown and tried to slip a rubber band on their wrist, then asked for $30, I'd expect to be laughed at, too....

......and my brain keeps calculating...........if these guys can successfully scam 6 people an hour, and 10 euros each.........yikes! they make quite a good living at this

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Some of them appeared to be successful at getting more than just 6 victims an hour.

There's a reason the steps of Sacre Coeur are crawling with them.

When we were there in September, we found them to be really aggressive. My husband and I would tell one guy 'no' firmly and keep walking and then another one would come straight up to us. We'd read about it somewhere (I think it was even Rick Steves although I could be wrong) so we knew to be firm and keep walking but we were surprised at their aggression.

I was not aware of this scam until being confronted in Paris along the seine river. After getting no where with me the young woman went on to someone else