Yesterday I was wandering down a major tourist street in Paris by myself, with a map in my hand. A guy wanders up to me holding a large gold ring. He says in somewhat broken english, "sir, you dropped your ring." I told him that wasn't my ring. He says, "but it isn't my ring either, I am from Bosnia, it is good luck that I am here, you should have good luch too. You can take the ring." He shows me that it is a gold ring, that it doesn't fit him, and that I should just take it.
I'm not sure what scam starts with giving someone an apparently valuable object as a gift, but I'm cynical enough to believe that some Bosnian isn't going to find a large gold ring in Paris and then pick out a random guy to give it to. I refused a couple of times to take the ring, when some guy from one of the shops came running up saying to the supposed Bosnian, "You, go away--walk that way" (pointing a direction opposite that I had been walking), then to me, "You, keep going."
The Bosnian looked confused, but we both followed instructions, and that was the end of the encounter. Does anyone know what was going on here?
You a chick?
Maybe they've started kidnapping guys as sex slave now.
Obviously, the ring had microfilm hidden on it that had nuclear secrets on it, and the Bosnian was trying to get it off his person before the Mossad caught him. Expect to be picked up by one of the other intelligence services and given some special interrogation. Don't worry about the Mossad or CIA, though. The Mossad is too good to get thrown off track like that, and the CIA will probably pick up the shopkeeper instead of you.
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 08, 2011, 07:09:19 AM
You a chick?
Maybe they've started kidnapping guys as sex slave now.
I'm probably way down the list of people to kidnap as a sex slave, even among men, and I'm still uncertain how giving me a ring would start a chain of events ending with me as a sex slave.
Quote from: alfred russel on September 08, 2011, 07:05:56 AM
Yesterday I was wandering down a major tourist street in Paris by myself, with a map in my hand. A guy wanders up to me holding a large gold ring. He says in somewhat broken english, "sir, you dropped your ring." I told him that wasn't my ring. He says, "but it isn't my ring either, I am from Bosnia, it is good luck that I am here, you should have good luch too. You can take the ring." He shows me that it is a gold ring, that it doesn't fit him, and that I should just take it.
I'm not sure what scam starts with giving someone an apparently valuable object as a gift, but I'm cynical enough to believe that some Bosnian isn't going to find a large gold ring in Paris and then pick out a random guy to give it to. I refused a couple of times to take the ring, when some guy from one of the shops came running up saying to the supposed Bosnian, "You, go away--walk that way" (pointing a direction opposite that I had been walking), then to me, "You, keep going."
The Bosnian looked confused, but we both followed instructions, and that was the end of the encounter. Does anyone know what was going on here?
Obviously a homosexual pick up line, think of the symbolism involved. ;)
An old scam in Paris. If you take the ring, the scammer then asks you to "share your luck" by given them ten euros, or whatever. The ring, of course, is worthless.
Quote from: grumbler on September 08, 2011, 07:17:35 AM
An old scam in Paris. If you take the ring, the scammer then asks you to "share your luck" by given them ten euros, or whatever. The ring, of course, is worthless.
There speaks an old sea-dog. :cheers:
Quote from: grumbler on September 08, 2011, 07:17:35 AM
An old scam in Paris. If you take the ring, the scammer then asks you to "share your luck" by given them ten euros, or whatever. The ring, of course, is worthless.
Worthless to whom? The guy got 10 euros for it.
Quote from: mongers on September 08, 2011, 07:15:14 AM
Obviously a homosexual pick up line, think of the symbolism involved. ;)
Wow, I thought it was rough for straight men having to pay for women's drinks to pick them up, imagine how hard it is for gays if they have to pay for gold rings!
Quote from: grumbler on September 08, 2011, 07:17:35 AM
An old scam in Paris. If you take the ring, the scammer then asks you to "share your luck" by given them ten euros, or whatever. The ring, of course, is worthless.
That sounds like the winner--especially since the approach was that I had apparently dropped the ring. A less skeptical and honest person would probably lie and said they did drop it, and then feel duty bound to pay a finders fee to the guy.
Unfortunately for him, I not only had no interest in giving him money, I also didn't have any euros to begin with. My favorite similar story is in Rio, after landing and checking in, I went out of the hotel to get Reals from an ATM a few blocks away. Some moron tried to pick my pocket on my way to the ATM! :D
Is Europe just full of crime? Even in Atlanta on the corner of Forsyth and MLK, no one tried to pick my pocket--well, one might have tried, he was walking really close behind me, but I screamed at him to fuck off and it worked.
Actually, now that I think about it, there was an attempted scam by someone claiming to work for the parking lot, who was obviously homeless.
Well Rio isn't Europe...
Quote from: Ideologue on September 08, 2011, 08:29:04 AM
Is Europe just full of crime? Even in Atlanta on the corner of Forsyth and MLK, no one tried to pick my pocket--well, one might have tried, he was walking really close behind me, but I screamed at him to fuck off and it worked.
Actually, now that I think about it, there was an attempted scam by someone claiming to work for the parking lot, who was obviously homeless.
I never was robbed or pick-pocketed anywhere in Europe. Otoh, a colleague of mine got robbed at a knife point within 10 hours of arriving in NYC. :P
Quote from: garbon on September 08, 2011, 08:43:12 AM
Well Rio isn't Europe...
True. I didn't read that very closely. -_-
That's an extremely popular scam in Paris. It happened to me two years ago whilst walking along the Seine. A Roma woman dropped a ring as I passed her and picked it up and showed it to me. I had read about it on the 'Net so knew to walk away.
http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/07/France_Scam_Paris.htm
Also, one is more vulnerable as a tourist/visitor; the scammers know their business and a visitor will probably be carrying more cash, may be jetlagged and will certainly be easier to scam simply because they are concentrating on other things.......looking at the buildings in Paris for example.
I quite like this particular scam as, if one gives the chap a few euros for the ring, one is engaging in criminal activity. The correct response to the Bosnian is, of course, "Ah no, it's not mine either, I think we'd better find the nearest policeman and hand it in."
I never got this shit either in France or Italy. The cow like Danes looked too stupid to attempt something and while in London, I had a CCTV camera installed by the gub'mint in my ass scanning behind me for hoodies.
I feel left out.
Maybe they took pity on your disabled condition :hmm:
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on September 08, 2011, 09:12:03 AM
Maybe they took pity on your disabled condition :hmm:
That joke has also reached its sell by date.
My guess would have been his friends then demand you pay for the ring you just bought from him.
I do wonder why he would admit to being Bosnian, hardly a reputable country is that.
You may have a point, I will consign it to the dustbin of history.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on September 08, 2011, 09:33:14 AM
You may have a point, I will consign it to the dustbin of history.
I knew going through your trash would pay off some day. :shifty:
Quote from: Martinus on September 08, 2011, 08:51:38 AM
I never was robbed or pick-pocketed anywhere in Europe. Otoh, a colleague of mine got robbed at a knife point within 10 hours of arriving in NYC. :P
In all my years of living in London I only got pick-pocketed once - my iPod from the back pocket of a rucksack. However, within 30 minutes of arriving in Brussels, a pair of gypsy women feigning having problems getting a stroller onto the Metro nicked my passport and iPaq - remember those?!
Quote from: Brazen on September 08, 2011, 09:52:05 AM
Quote from: Martinus on September 08, 2011, 08:51:38 AM
I never was robbed or pick-pocketed anywhere in Europe. Otoh, a colleague of mine got robbed at a knife point within 10 hours of arriving in NYC. :P
In all my years of living in London I only got pick-pocketed once - my iPod from the back pocket of a rucksack. However, within 30 minutes of arriving in Brussels, a pair of gypsy women feigning having problems getting a stroller onto the Metro nicked my passport and iPaq - remember those?!
Why would Marti remember them? Are you accusing him of stealing them while he and a friend were disguised as gypsy women?
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on September 08, 2011, 09:01:50 AM
Also, one is more vulnerable as a tourist/visitor; the scammers know their business and a visitor will probably be carrying more cash, may be jetlagged and will certainly be easier to scam simply because they are concentrating on other things.......looking at the buildings in Paris for example.
If I'm traveling someplace sketchy (not in Europe or the first world), I tend to carry just enough cash to do what I want for the day, and leave all my credit cards and other cash in the safe in the hotel. I travel with 2 ATM cards, and always keep at least 1 at all times in the safe. I probably look like a great theft target, but looks can be deceiving. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't carry more cash just so if I do get robbed they won't be pissed off.
QuoteI quite like this particular scam as, if one gives the chap a few euros for the ring, one is engaging in criminal activity. The correct response to the Bosnian is, of course, "Ah no, it's not mine either, I think we'd better find the nearest policeman and hand it in."
I might have done that, had I known what was going on. I mean, I knew some sort of scam was going on, I just couldn't figure out how it was going to work.
I've been reading Chris Mullin's diaries (backbench Labour MP), I can't recall what page it is on but the identical scam was tried on him in London c.2007, it is clearly a common scam :lol:
Trying to find the reference but the index is not being helpful :mad:
Interesting scam, good to know about. Never know, maybe I'll get hit up for the same thing some day.
So Alfred, what were you wearing that made you look so obviously touristy? ;)
Quote from: KRonn on September 08, 2011, 11:14:59 AM
Interesting scam, good to know about. Never know, maybe I'll get hit up for the same thing some day.
So Alfred, what were you wearing that made you look so obviously touristy? ;)
I don't think it was so much what I was wearing, but that I was wandering down the champs elysee while looking at a map.
Quote from: dps on September 08, 2011, 10:10:03 AM
Why would Marti remember them? Are you accusing him of stealing them while he and a friend were disguised as gypsy women?
I presume because Brazen and Marty are personal friends and might talk about things that happen to them from time to time.
Heck she might have even been in Brussels to see him.
Quote from: alfred russel on September 08, 2011, 10:42:13 AM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on September 08, 2011, 09:01:50 AM
Also, one is more vulnerable as a tourist/visitor; the scammers know their business and a visitor will probably be carrying more cash, may be jetlagged and will certainly be easier to scam simply because they are concentrating on other things.......looking at the buildings in Paris for example.
If I'm traveling someplace sketchy (not in Europe or the first world), I tend to carry just enough cash to do what I want for the day, and leave all my credit cards and other cash in the safe in the hotel. I travel with 2 ATM cards, and always keep at least 1 at all times in the safe. I probably look like a great theft target, but looks can be deceiving. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't carry more cash just so if I do get robbed they won't be pissed off.
QuoteI quite like this particular scam as, if one gives the chap a few euros for the ring, one is engaging in criminal activity. The correct response to the Bosnian is, of course, "Ah no, it's not mine either, I think we'd better find the nearest policeman and hand it in."
I might have done that, had I known what was going on. I mean, I knew some sort of scam was going on, I just couldn't figure out how it was going to work.
They do that in Rochester. Most people carry a $20 behind their license so that they have something to give the robbers. If not they are likely to get stabbed or shot.
The best scams are the ones that exploit the greed of the victim. Although technically I am not sure if I would even qualify the "ring ploy" as a scam. There is no actual misrepresentation made by the scammer other than the claim he/she just found the ring - he/she is not claiming it is made of gold. Which makes the victim almost deserve to be cheated out of some money in a situation like this.
Quote from: Brazen on September 08, 2011, 09:52:05 AM
Quote from: Martinus on September 08, 2011, 08:51:38 AM
I never was robbed or pick-pocketed anywhere in Europe. Otoh, a colleague of mine got robbed at a knife point within 10 hours of arriving in NYC. :P
In all my years of living in London I only got pick-pocketed once - my iPod from the back pocket of a rucksack. However, within 30 minutes of arriving in Brussels, a pair of gypsy women feigning having problems getting a stroller onto the Metro nicked my passport and iPaq - remember those?!
Oh yeah I remember. I guess Warsaw/Krakow were safer than Brussels in this regard.
Funnily enough, a "Bosnian" tried this trick on my girlfriend and I in Paris last year too.
Bad luck for the scammer when we both replied - in Bosnian.
He scarpered off rather quickly.
Quote from: Warspite on September 08, 2011, 12:34:31 PM
Funnily enough, a "Bosnian" tried this trick on my girlfriend and I in Paris last year too.
Bad luck for the scammer when we both replied - in Bosnian.
He scarpered off rather quickly.
So...he lied about being from Bosnia? Is there some sort of advantage to being from Bosnia? Why would you pretend to be from Bosnia?
Quote from: Valmy on September 08, 2011, 12:35:47 PM
So...he lied about being from Bosnia? Is there some sort of advantage to being from Bosnia? Why would you pretend to be from Bosnia?
The obvious advantage is that Bosnians are not gypsies.
Quote from: Valmy on September 08, 2011, 12:35:47 PM
Quote from: Warspite on September 08, 2011, 12:34:31 PM
Funnily enough, a "Bosnian" tried this trick on my girlfriend and I in Paris last year too.
Bad luck for the scammer when we both replied - in Bosnian.
He scarpered off rather quickly.
So...he lied about being from Bosnia? Is there some sort of advantage to being from Bosnia? Why would you pretend to be from Bosnia?
Perhaps because it's a place people know and tend to have sympathy with its people? It puzzles me too. That said, there were a lot of "Bosnian" beggars back in the late 1990s panhandling their way around European capital cities, obviously trying for the refugee sympathy buck.
Quote from: Valmy on September 08, 2011, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: dps on September 08, 2011, 10:10:03 AM
Why would Marti remember them? Are you accusing him of stealing them while he and a friend were disguised as gypsy women?
I presume because Brazen and Marty are personal friends and might talk about things that happen to them from time to time.
Heck she might have even been in Brussels to see him.
I had thought those referred to the iPaq
Quote from: garbon on September 08, 2011, 01:08:03 PM
I had thought those referred to the iPaq
Right Marty might remember those things being stolen because Brazen might have brought it up in a conversation. And, indeed, he does.
Quote from: Valmy on September 08, 2011, 01:13:06 PM
Quote from: garbon on September 08, 2011, 01:08:03 PM
I had thought those referred to the iPaq
Right Marty might remember those things being stolen because Brazen might have brought it up in a conversation. And, indeed, he does.
No I meant the actual device - as in that such a device existed. I didn't remember that one existed - as I never knew about them. -_-
Quote from: Brazen on September 08, 2011, 09:52:05 AM
[iPaq - remember those?!
Still have my old one around somewhere. Even got a little fold-up keyboard for it.