BillB
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 633
- Location
- Luxembourg
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Impolite people, yobbish behaviour, pretentious people.
I thought the lovely people on this forum might like to know about the latest scam I experienced in Paris so that they can be prepared.
It doesn't take place on the normal city pavements, but in the gardens and squares that have packed earth paths, for reasons that will become obvious in a moment.
My wife and I were strolling towards the Seine from the Eifel Tower, enjoying the ambiance and going nowhere in a hurry. A pretty, well-dressed young lady was approaching us. Suddenly she stopped and looked at something on the ground, then bent down and picked something up. Smiling, she held it out to me, a cheap-looking ring, and asked if I had dropped it. As if I could drop a ring two yards before I got to the spot!! No, I assured her, the ring wasn't mine. And we started to walk on. She kept insisting I take it, and I certainly didn't want such a cheap piece of old tat. Finally, for the sake of peace and quiet, I accepted the ring and started to walk away, intending to throw it away as soon as possible. Suddenly she was in front of me again, insisting I pay her. No way was I going to pay her for that bit of rubbish, so I tried to give it back to her but she wouldn't take it. In the end, I dropped it on the ground at her feet and walked away. She was not a happy bunny.
The next day, exactly the same thing happened to us, with an identical piece of old tat, only the girl was different. I just laughed this time, shook my head, looked away and continued walking. As I hadn't accepted the ring there wasn't much she could do.
It turns out that these scamsters are Romanian gypsies who travel throughout Europe begging, cadging and stealing. We get them in Luxembourg about twice a year - one of them pretending to carry a baby wrapped up in a large heap of blankets and a shawl. I saw her once walk into a coffee shop, sit down two tables away from me and throw the 'baby' onto an empty chair.
So if you come across this particular approach, just say no, and carry on walking. Don't accept the ring because that makes it more difficult to walk away.
Thought you'd like to know.
It doesn't take place on the normal city pavements, but in the gardens and squares that have packed earth paths, for reasons that will become obvious in a moment.
My wife and I were strolling towards the Seine from the Eifel Tower, enjoying the ambiance and going nowhere in a hurry. A pretty, well-dressed young lady was approaching us. Suddenly she stopped and looked at something on the ground, then bent down and picked something up. Smiling, she held it out to me, a cheap-looking ring, and asked if I had dropped it. As if I could drop a ring two yards before I got to the spot!! No, I assured her, the ring wasn't mine. And we started to walk on. She kept insisting I take it, and I certainly didn't want such a cheap piece of old tat. Finally, for the sake of peace and quiet, I accepted the ring and started to walk away, intending to throw it away as soon as possible. Suddenly she was in front of me again, insisting I pay her. No way was I going to pay her for that bit of rubbish, so I tried to give it back to her but she wouldn't take it. In the end, I dropped it on the ground at her feet and walked away. She was not a happy bunny.
The next day, exactly the same thing happened to us, with an identical piece of old tat, only the girl was different. I just laughed this time, shook my head, looked away and continued walking. As I hadn't accepted the ring there wasn't much she could do.
It turns out that these scamsters are Romanian gypsies who travel throughout Europe begging, cadging and stealing. We get them in Luxembourg about twice a year - one of them pretending to carry a baby wrapped up in a large heap of blankets and a shawl. I saw her once walk into a coffee shop, sit down two tables away from me and throw the 'baby' onto an empty chair.
So if you come across this particular approach, just say no, and carry on walking. Don't accept the ring because that makes it more difficult to walk away.
Thought you'd like to know.
