Tourist Scams in Rome

hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with Walter world and today we're here in Rome and today we're going to talk about are some of the scams that tourists need to look out for when they come visit R because of all the millions of tourists that come here they draw in some of the more nefarious elements of the world okay and so I want you to be better prepared when you come here all right so the first thing you need to watch out for when you are here are pig pockets and there are a lot of pig Pockets here in Rome you do need to be careful that wallet in the front pocket the money belt the crossbag these are all things you need to be thinking about using when you are here because the tourists are here and that means the pickpockets are here as well and so what I'm going to tell you is it doesn't matter where you go if there's going to be a bunch of tourists there'll probably be some pickpockets around even in places where you're not expecting it if you go to St Peters if you go to the Vatican Museum if you're in the Coliseum if you're going into the museums yeah you might see that there's some Pick Pockets that are there and so you need to pay attention so that means the C cross body bag that means you have the money belt you know front pocket wallet these kind of things but the thing is I think the most important spot you want to be really paying attention is on public transportation on the buses and on the Metros but especially when you're getting on the bus and when you're getting off the bus and when you're getting on the Metro when you're getting off the Metro because sometimes what they'll do is if you're standing at the door of the metro and you're in the Metro someone might just grab your bag as the door closes and pull it out it happens we've actually seen it happen before I've been here with with a friend of mine her mom's purse had something like 20 Cuts in it in the strap but she had gotten one of those purses with a metal wire so it wouldn't get stolen right and it paid off because of all those things so you do need to pay attention now I'm not saying this pickpocket is going to get you all the time but do watch out okay use that safe at your hotel to lock up your passport and your important documents take a picture of your passport so you have it on your phone in case you need extra documentation while your passport safe at home all right so that's the first big one now this the second thing I want you to watch out for is I like to call it the gentleman gelato goon you know in other places there's the bird poop scam and the mustard scam well here it's the gelato scam somebody probably dressed nicely maybe a guy maybe a girl whoever whatever they'll accidentally bump into you it's like oh scoozy I I I got some ice cream on you let me help and so they're very nice and they have a napkin and they're going to clean off your shoulder or whatever but they'll you'll put your bag down behind you when you do that and while your bag's down some else comes by and swipes it okay so if someone spills something on you be like it's okay I've got it keep your bags keep your wits and so you don't have to worry about that now of course you might still see the mustard scam or the bird poop scam that does happen but just know that there are those things that do happen and now another not necessarily scam but something you need to pay attention to is people getting their bags stolen off the back of their chairs and when you walk around Rome you'll see people are having lunch outside they're having their apptivo their drinks and their snacks and whatever and they Gally put their bag on the back of their seat the back of their chair and they think nothing of it the thing is sometimes people walk by and just take it or maybe if you do some of your shopping when you're here you leave your bags a little bit farther away and they might not be there when you finish it's important you pay attention keep your bags in front of you keep it on the table keep it next to you don't put it behind you because that's easy for people to just walk by and grab okay that's why another thing you need to be careful of is the walk by phone swipe you know people you have your phone out and you're checking your emails you're taking pictures of all the great food that's here and then you put your phone down on the table and you go back to eating that Fantastic Pizza the Fantastic carbonara that's here and then you want to take another picture of the teramusu and your phone is gone what happen people leave their phone on the edge of the table and they're not paying attention people just walk by and take it and you may think oh that wouldn't happen to me that happens to lots of people okay so make sure you keep your phone with you on you not laying out on top of the table table especially if it's a high traffic area now another scam I've seen when I've been here is the petition scam it's when people come up and ask you oh would you sign this petition for ending you know poverty or ending nuclear war or saving the world I'm like yeah I believe in all those things but I don't vote here in Italy my my signature doesn't matter and neither ises yours cuz a lot of times what it is is these are bogus petitions either they're sizing you up or they might be robbing you while you're sign just be like no thank you and walk away all right so do be aware of that and I think probably the biggest one I've seen with people with kids cuz this happens to us quite a bit is the how do I say this the freebie Patrol you know they want to give you something maybe they want to give you a flower maybe they want to give you a bracelet maybe they want to give you something a ring or whatever that they found it's always always free it's a gift it's a gift it's never a gift CU they give it to you then all of a sudden like oh help me out give me some money you're like no thank you no thank you and they'll keep going and like oh you don't like me you don't like my country you don't like us what and they'll get you know kind of for with you just go no and then you leave it okay if they put it in your hand cuz what they do is they give it to your kid your kid's like oh cool no no you just drop it on the ground like no I don't want it because they're going to harass you to get you to give them money and that can be quite scary sometimes for some Travelers I've actually had to shoot people away from my students before when I've been here in Rome to tell them no they don't want your flowers they don't want your bracelets leave them alone so do be aware of that okay now another kind of similar you don't think it's going to be anything but sometimes it is it's kind of like the Gladiator scam and you don't really see it as much as you used to anymore because they don't get to be out as much but sometimes when you're walking by certain sides it might be people dressed up like a gladiator a Roman Centurion or something and you're taking your family pictures they'll come out hey how you doing let's get a picture together and they're like oh yeah cool get a picture I'm like okay now give me money like well I thought it was fun no it's never fun if people want to be in your picture they're going to want their money okay so just be aware of that it's not necessarily a scam it's just something you should be aware of now another one I want to warn you you about is the overh helpful tourists when you're at terminy station okay so if you're at the train station you'll see all these kiosks around where you can buy your tickets and and if you're not sure how the kiosk work I'm sure someone will walk up like oh do you need some help and they'll be glad to help you the thing is though make sure you're only getting help from official train Italia Personnel not random people helping cuz one they might be taking some stuff from your bag or they might trying to get your change from there or they'll ask for a tip afterwards believe me if you figured out how to get to you can figure out the train kiosk to buy your tickets so do be aware of that and that also goes if someone asks if they if they can help you with your luggage doesn't work as much now because you have to show your ticket to get close to the train station but back in the day that was one you had to be careful with if someone was going to help you with your luggage all right and then there is the hope we all have that the designer bag that they're selling on the street is really Gucci and really proud and really Louis Vuitton I mean the stores are right down the street right there and and they look kind of just like it look it's always a scam if it's a designer anything and it's not in the designer store here in Rome it's a scam now if you want to get those knockoffs that's fine but don't think for one second they're real and make sure you do that when you're talking about the price for it because it may be500 at the pr store you know what that's like 20 bucks on the ground okay not 500 not 50 maybe 20 or 10 even all right so I wanted to give you a heads up on some of these scams that we've seen while we've been here in Rome over the years so you can have a better time when you're here because we don't want anybody to have a bad time in Rome this place is amazing so go and enjoy it enjoy Rome enjoy your time here and just watch out for those some of those scams and if you know other scams about here in Rome cuz there are more put in the comments section below so other people can learn about the scams to look out for and if you have stories about getting scammed here in room put it down there in the comment section below so other people can learn from our mistakes anyway I wish you all the best I'll say ciao from here in Rome

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 70,329

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: Soyc9R959Wc

Length: 7min 57sec (477 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 02 2024