"Do you speak English" scam in Paris

Yes, the girls are pickpockets. The men with the Eiffel Towers are just vendors trying to make a living. They run because they don't have a license to sell, but they won't rob you.

The clipboard groups are an old pickpocket scam. Sometimes, they pretend that they can't speak.

Besides pickpocketing you.. the petition girls will tell you after you sign the petition( which is always for something like "helping deaf children" or some other charitable cause) that you have to then donate a certain amount of money.. that you signed saying you would etc.

The Eiffel Tower vendors are not thieves., they are just not supposed to sell stuff..

That's right...you will most likely see them at Gare du Nord and the stairway as you going down the stairs presumably encumbered with luggage to Gare de l'Est. Either you ignore them or bark out NO.

This is an old scam, and one that I've seen many times. While suckers are focused on reading the information on the petiition, the scammers are "pinching" whatever they can get. From a logical standpoint, why would any government in Europe be concerned about signatures on a petition from a bunch of tourists who don't even live (or vote) there. Total rubbish!

The petition scammers are always representing very worthwhile children's causes - deaf / blind / mute / crippled / insert name of affliction here, but you can darn sure the poor children won't see a nickel of the money these scammers collect. For one example, have a look at this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4uwuQ-uZqU

For general interest, here are couple of other videos on the subject....

• BARCELONA - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCG-LcGipmo
• RESTAURANTS - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWyHJPK9ad0
• ROME - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUx9EFgLPvg

I had a roving group of 18 people with me this year, and while in Rome I encountered a group of elderly women speaking German and all huddled around one of their group lamenting about the horrible blisters on her feet that the lady was attempting to cover with toilet tissue.

I approached and said "Do you speak English". They looked at me and smiled and said yes. I pulled out a handful of band aids from my pocket and offered it to them and they were ecstatic and so very thankful.

Moral: Not everyone who approaches you and asks "Do you speak English" (or german or french or italian) is a scam artist.

Thank you Tim. Sometimes a scam is in the eye of the beholder.

True - but if they have a clipboard, presume it's a scammer.

We had wonderful results in Gare du Nord this April responding to the "English" question from several petitioners with "No habla espanol". Priceless expression from these seemingly deaf petitioners each time as they then shuffled away.

I have seen the petition scam literally all around the world, the last time at a couple of locations in Venice. Personable young men or women come up to you with a petition they ask you to sign; always the "cause" is something that few would think unworthy. The petition has a long list of signatures, all of whom seem to have donated large sums of money to the cause. The idea is to shame you through peer pressure into also donating money. I just tell them to get lost.

In Rome last month I only saw the petition guys and "Do you speak English" guys around the Trajan's Column area. Maybe the selfie-stick guys are crowding them out everywhere else.

They really need better coaching. It's not too effective when a scruffy guy in a t-shirt walks up with a clipboard and grunts, "Sign against drugs ... ?"

Yes, it is a scam. This scam is known as "Petition Pick Pocket". While they converse with you, they use the petition to block your view of your fanny pack, bag or wallet while they pry it open and take your money. Don't underestimate how crafty they can be. They are well trained and this is how they eat. You can find video examples all over youtube. We encountered them in August and immediately walked to avoid them.

The OP says someone told him about someone else who had their sandwich stolen in Paris. Now that really is going too far. A hungry person stole a sandwich. Alert Interpol.

It goes both ways - here the US, there is the old "deaf beggar" that will either sign and if the person responds no, they hand the person an card with the ASL ABCs printed on them and ask for a dollar or so in exchange. Observing this afar, I decided to casually stroll by in hopes that the "scam artist" would notice and ask me. Sure enough, the person signed (but not legitimate signs - more like gestures. I am Deaf myself and fluent in ASL). I smiled and signed "Great! Another deafie like me!" The scammer's eyes bugged out, dropped the cards and fled. Guess I was the first Deaf person they met? I had a good laugh on that and make a beeline for every "fake-deafie-with-ASL-cards" and oust them.

Many beggars hang around Gare du Nord. If you wait for your train there, be aware. Some just want money, but they can be aggressive and annoying.