christianpfc
May 29th, 2012, 01:12
Perennial scams тАУ not only in Thailand!
Having been approached a few times by strangers in Paris who wanted to return the gold ring I just lost (I donтАЩt wear any jewellery), I checked out the internet for this scam, because I am curious what their aim is. There I didnтАЩt only find the gold ring scam, but the deaf child scam as well (I thought they were real!):
http://www.scaminfo.org/france
1. Sign a Petition Scam
Several children pretending to be deaf will approach you quite forcefully with a clipboard, indicating that you should sign it and give them some money.
As you remove your wallet to give them some money, they will see where you keep it and a few moments later when several children hug you to say thank you, they steal your wallet from where they know you keep it.
2. Gold Ring Scam
As you are walking or taking photographs, a person will suddenly bend down near to you and appear to "find" a gold ring. She will look at it and then will immediately point to the hallmark which says "18k" on the inside of the ring.
They will then say to you in French something along the lines of "That was lucky". After a few minutes talking they will then offer you the ring and proceed to walk away. They will then come back to you and say that they are hungry and need 5 Euros to buy a sandwich.
Your may think "This person just handed over a gold ring they found, whats a few Euros?" The result is that you end up 5 Euros lighter and only a piece of brass to show for it. Just avoid this scammers and save a few euros.
So for everyone who complains about Thai police not doing anything about scams in Bangkok, the situation is even worse in Paris. In Thailand, at least itтАЩs Thai people who scam tourists (so I can understand that for Thai police Thai people come before tourists, even if in the long run the damage to tourism is bigger than a short gain), in Paris itтАЩs Eastern European or Gypsy gangs.
When I was first approached with a gold ring, I finally took it and was about to walk away, when the woman said to me тАЬI hungry. You give me money for food.тАЭ I told her I had no money. тАЬThen you give ring back.тАЭ (The conversation took place in English. I initially replied in French, but she obviously isnтАЩt French and replied in English.)
But there must be more to it. Getting 5 or 10 Euros for food a few times per day isnтАЩt that much money (well, itтАЩs tax free and they have no job). When they are not working a potential victim, they are in pairs. I assume once they know where you keep your wallet the other part of the pair later robs you, but I didnтАЩt find any mention of this on the internet.
I recently observed a few of the deaf children talking to each other (and I donтАЩt mean sign language), next time they approach me I will read their petition and ask if he/she is deaf.
Having been approached a few times by strangers in Paris who wanted to return the gold ring I just lost (I donтАЩt wear any jewellery), I checked out the internet for this scam, because I am curious what their aim is. There I didnтАЩt only find the gold ring scam, but the deaf child scam as well (I thought they were real!):
http://www.scaminfo.org/france
1. Sign a Petition Scam
Several children pretending to be deaf will approach you quite forcefully with a clipboard, indicating that you should sign it and give them some money.
As you remove your wallet to give them some money, they will see where you keep it and a few moments later when several children hug you to say thank you, they steal your wallet from where they know you keep it.
2. Gold Ring Scam
As you are walking or taking photographs, a person will suddenly bend down near to you and appear to "find" a gold ring. She will look at it and then will immediately point to the hallmark which says "18k" on the inside of the ring.
They will then say to you in French something along the lines of "That was lucky". After a few minutes talking they will then offer you the ring and proceed to walk away. They will then come back to you and say that they are hungry and need 5 Euros to buy a sandwich.
Your may think "This person just handed over a gold ring they found, whats a few Euros?" The result is that you end up 5 Euros lighter and only a piece of brass to show for it. Just avoid this scammers and save a few euros.
So for everyone who complains about Thai police not doing anything about scams in Bangkok, the situation is even worse in Paris. In Thailand, at least itтАЩs Thai people who scam tourists (so I can understand that for Thai police Thai people come before tourists, even if in the long run the damage to tourism is bigger than a short gain), in Paris itтАЩs Eastern European or Gypsy gangs.
When I was first approached with a gold ring, I finally took it and was about to walk away, when the woman said to me тАЬI hungry. You give me money for food.тАЭ I told her I had no money. тАЬThen you give ring back.тАЭ (The conversation took place in English. I initially replied in French, but she obviously isnтАЩt French and replied in English.)
But there must be more to it. Getting 5 or 10 Euros for food a few times per day isnтАЩt that much money (well, itтАЩs tax free and they have no job). When they are not working a potential victim, they are in pairs. I assume once they know where you keep your wallet the other part of the pair later robs you, but I didnтАЩt find any mention of this on the internet.
I recently observed a few of the deaf children talking to each other (and I donтАЩt mean sign language), next time they approach me I will read their petition and ask if he/she is deaf.