Before traveling to Paris we had read about countless scams that people try on tourists, but not giving it any real thought. However, they are real and these scams in Paris will likely be tried on you. How do I know? Well, let’s just say we had a few run-ins with the scammers.

The gold ring scam

First of all, I’m insulted. Insulted that some scammer thought I was stupid enough looking to try this ridiculous scam on.

This scam goes like this: a stranger will walk near you and bend over and pretend to pick up a gaudy oversize gold ring. Then as they stand up they will ask you if you dropped the ring. This is a distraction. They are really just going to try and rob you. Either the same guy our another person they are working with.

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Here is how it attempted on us. I was taking a time-lapse of the Arc de Triumph with my DSLR on a tripod while I held on to the strap loosely. About halfway through my 150 picture time-lapse, this idiot walks up and bends over in front of me.

Note the large gold ring in his hand. The picture is slightly fuzzy because I had the camera set to give the traffic a slight blur in my time-lapse.

In his hand is the widest fakest looking ring I have ever seen. I can see it in his hand as he stands up before he even starts his scam I tell him to get the fuck out of here. I am pissed because he’s ruining my time-lapse and wasting five minutes of my life. Now I have to start over from the first picture. He wasn’t too happy that I called him out and told him to fuck off. On the positive, I caught this idiot on my time-lapse and have picture proof of the event.

His response: “Me? Why Fuck me?” in a heavy non-french accent

Part of me wanted to see what he was going to do next. He clearly isn’t the fittest man that was going to grab my camera and outrun me. Even before he walked up I had a tight grip on the strap of my camera, which only tightened in his presence. Hannah was a bit more nervous and grab the camera and tripod while I continued to yell at him. So I guess we will never know what would’ve happened!

Beware of the ring scam in Paris and this chubby scammer!

When visiting Paris research what scams are common for the part of town your specific Paris hotel is located in. Click here to read our where to stay in Paris guide that explains each area of town. Better safe than sorry, now travel safely.