When you’re traveling around the world and you don’t want to become a victim of scammers in various places, you need to be informed. And that’s what this TikToker did, as he shared a story about how scammers nearly mugged him while he was travelling in Paris. At the end of the video, he mentioned that people should be aware of this vicious, but at first sight innocent scam, as it was a very scary experience for him.
More info:TikTok
Image credits:Kelian Pfleger (not the actual photo)
“It happened to me too. I mean, it happens to everyone once in your lifetime in Paris”
“But yeah, I was a victim to the bracelet scam in Montmartre, and sorry for my eyes and voice but I’m kind of like shocked. The whole thing was very scary.”
“I was in Montmartre with my friend and we were just walking down the stairs and we were having a good time. And then as we got to the bottom of the stairs, I wasn’t even looking around. I was just like talking to her. I see this man coming up to me and it was very intimidating because he was a very big, tall man. He came to me and he said: ‘Take it, take it.’ And I was like ‘No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you.’ Until he grabs my arm aggressively, like, it hurt me.”
Image credits:@fabriziovmoroni
“He literally said ‘It’s the friendship symbol. It’s offensive if you don’t take it'”
Image credits:Guilhem Vellut (not the actual photo)
“I had my wallet in my pocket, my phone in my other pocket. I was like, it literally takes them one second now to rob me of everything and just leave”
“And there was nobody around, no police. And this was certainly not the first time that they did this.”
“At some point I had the strength, I don’t even know what to say, the courage to, like, I was like ‘Let me go’ and like, I managed to push two of them aside and run. And I ran for my life without even looking back.”
“So, please, please, please be careful if you ever go to Montmartre. Make sure that you walk down the outer stairs, the one on the sides, not the central one that gets to the very bottom of it. And stay safe.”
“And if you ever see anyone approaching you with a bracelet, just run away”
While the situation surely shocked Fabrizio, he stated that in the long run, it didn’t impact his overall perception of the city: “I live in Paris so that would mean feeling unsafe in my own city.”
He also expressed that after getting out of the situation, he didn’t report it anywhere, like local authorities or the embassy, and that is because he had heard that usually, no one acts on it, so it seemed pointless to him.
Besides, Fabrizio mentioned that there’s not enough awareness spread among tourists about scams like this one: “That’s exactly why I have decided to share my story so that more people could be aware of the situation.”
Image credits:Satbir Singh (not the actual photo)
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