BIGGEST TOURIST SCAMS IN PARIS (and how to avoid them)

if you're coming to Paris then chances are you don't want to be robbed or scammed in this video I'm going to detail all of the most common Paris scams as well as how to avoid [Music] them the first thing to know is that Paris is actually quite safe there's rarely any violent crime against tourists and so it's probably just as safe as your hometown with that being said petty crime is really really common here as common here as probably Rome or London and so this is what I'm going to detail in today's video honestly as a tourist the main thing you're going to come across is Pick Pockets now there are two main ways that I do to avoid this when I'm walking the streets of Paris the first is to have a phone called so that my phone is always attached to me if you just leave it in a pocket chances are someone's just going to grab it while they brush past you the other thing I do is always keep my valuables right on me by having a bag like this I always use a cross body bag and when I'm on places like the Metro or busy crowds I keep my hand over my bag I would never use an open bag here in Paris never ever leave your bag unattended this is clothes just on the table in a cafe I know a lot of people who have been like their things have been stolen that way and basically what will happen is they'll leave their phone or their bag without being attached to them and then someone will just walk past grab it when they're looking the other way and it's gone forever when you're on the Metro itself try and stay away from the doors and move further inside the carriages if possible pickpockets will often Target people closer to the doors so that they can make a quick Escape you should also avoid using your phone close to the door especially if you don't have a phone cord as pickpockets can grab your phone from your your hand as a door is closing and then it's pretty much impossible to get back and while we're on the subject of pickpockets do be careful for people pretending to be plain closed police officers one time at this station which is on a man approached me as I was getting out the station and said oh a man just had his phone St him can you open your bag and show me what's inside he was obviously a pickpocket so if anyone in plain clothing approaches you and pretends they're a policeman do not open your bag as well as avoiding Pick Pockets there's one main SC you need to avoid in the Metro and I'm going to show it to you now so the scam is like this basically when you're going to buy a ticket such as a gor someone will approach you who's not in a marked uniform and they'll say do you want to help buying a ticket and they actually won't help you what will happen is that they'll charge you for a child's ticket or some other kind of ticket which is much cheaper than the usual price so you'll end up with an invalid ticket that could lead to a fine and then they'll keep your change if you do get help then make sure you get help from a marked officer who's in a uniform or go to one of the many BS which are the help points they're not at every station but you can also find that the screen can be changed into English so that could help you too when it comes to taking a taxi in Paris there are three main things you need to know the first is never to get in any unlicensed taxi often when you arrive somewhere like Guardian North someone will approach you and say do you want a taxi and then you'll follow them to an unmarked cab all official Paris taxis are marked like this and they'll have their license displayed and everything the second is that even if you do get in a mark taxi at the airport make sure that they charge you a fixed price so the two main Paris airports are Paris shal deul and oie from these two airports basically there's a fixed charge to get to Paris some taxi drivers will try and overcharge you so do check the price in advance the third thing to know about taking a taxi in Paris is that if you're going to get an Uber or a lift make sure that the number plate on the app matches the car that turns up it's happened to me a couple of times and also friends where a taxi is turned up it doesn't have the number plate that was on the app so do avoid that because I have no idea what would [Music] happen now the next scam that we're going to talk about is the fake petition scam essentially this is where young women and children will approach you with a clipboard with a piece of paper that says something like donations for the blind for the sick things like that they'll approach you and then as soon as you sign the piece of paper they'll demand money now none of this money is actually going to go to charity and so the best way to avoid this scan which typically happens in cues for churches it used to happen around nraam a lot before it burned down basically just say no messy and ignore them you should also be wared that when these people are shoving their clipboards in your face you'll be so distracted that they'll get the chance to pick pocket you especially when you can't really see your belongings because the clipboards in the way now the next scam I want to talk to you about is the gold ring scam though this can be used with other objects essentially it happens around many of the bridges around Paris and along the S basically you'll come around a corner and someone will come up to you and they'll say look I found this gold ring on the floor and it won't be a real gold ring and basically they'll say oh I found this do you want it and then if you take it from them they'll demand money but it's not a real gold ring no one's lost it and they might try and pickpocket you as you're distracted so essentially if anyone approaches you just say go to the police leave me alone it happened to me one time when I was with my parents and we were really confused but actually is a very common scam the next scam that we need to talk about is the string scam which is also known as a friendship bracelet scan essentially this is where young men around the base of the steps leading up to the saur car will trap you and then Ty string around your hand and then they'll demand money for it just in order to avoid this you should avoid being like kind of cornered by these guys who'll be like hey what's up and they'll try and tie the string and that's when they'll demand money so just avoid interactions with them as they can be quite persistent the next scam I want to talk about is the cup and bull scam this is one of those Paris scams aimed at Taurus in which you are genuinely led to believe that you have a chance of winning some big money 50 or more basically there will be a man or a woman with a little mat a ball and three cups they'll place the ball under one of the cups and mix the three up where you win money is by guessing which ball the cup is under bets can go as high as 50 and you'll be offered the chance to win double your money if you correctly guess which cup the ball sits under the trick is that the game master will have accomplishes posing as tourist in the crowd these people will be allowed to win a number of times by guessing the correct cup the ball is under however when actual tourers start playing they'll never win and lose all their money in order to avoid losing money on this game avoid playing it all together something else which also often happens in mama is that someone will approach you and ask if you want your portrait painted for free this isn't free as soon as they've done your portrait they'll demand money if you do want to get your portrait painted in wmart then I highly recommend going to plast you this is where all of the licensed artists on wmart paint it's technically illegal for artists to work outside of this space in wmart and artist called doing so can face a fine with this being said almost every time I head to M People approach me as I'm walking around asking if they can paint my portrait and they can honestly be a bit persistent and start following you so I have no idea how strictly this is enforced if if you don't want to pay money for a portrait just say no and walk away this isn't necessarily a scan but when you up here in monmart there'll be lots of people trying to sell you things including bottled water the scam about this is that you don't really know how the water's being stored and there's lots of videos online of people storring in sewers and stuff like that so it's not really the most Savory of waters another place where people might try and sell you things like beer wine and cigarettes is around the shant de Mar which is around the base of the Eiffel Tower now they're not really scamming you because if you want to buy these things then you can you'll obviously pay a much elevated price but again you don't know how any of these Goods have been stored and so I would probably avoid them now that we're in a cafe this is the perfect time to describe the final scam that I'm going to tell you about today which is a free Rose scam essentially don't partake in this if you don't want to buy the rose basically a guy will come into the cafe or into the beastro where you're sat and will'll offer you a rose if you take it they'll expect payment for this I think a lot of people don't realize that these roses are actually for sale because they can be quite insistent and be like oh no this is for you this is for you you're beautiful and whatever but really only take the rose if you're willing to pay for it thank you so much for watching and don't forget to like And subscribe for more Paris content see you next time

Channel: Sophie Nadeau

Views: 16,400

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Id: 3KNpyfX0jYU

Length: 8min 17sec (497 seconds)

Published: Fri May 24 2024