9 Common Tourist Scams in France & How to Avoid Them

France, located in Western Europe, serves as a famous tourist spot for its alpine villages, city life with mediaeval culture, and stunning coastlines of the French Riviera. Apart from Paris, the centre of attraction, millions of tourists visit this country to experience the spectacular harbour lanes of Normandy and the snow-covered Alps. 

Like other countries, tourist scams in France can be a common scenario, and one must be aware of the possible hassles they may encounter. So, plan accordingly to safeguard yourself from such unsettling situations.

Some of the top scams in France are mentioned below:

1. Gold or Silver Ring Scam

The gold or silver ring scam is considered an oldie and is the most popular tourist scam in Paris. In this scenario, scammers of different ages approach tourists with shiny rings and ask whether it belongs to them. 

Upon the denial, they establish that the rings hold great value and try to sell them to the bystanders. 

Common Around: Paris, including Jardins des Tuileries, Seine, Madeleine, and near major metro stations. 

2. Selling Friendship Bracelets

This is a trick often performed by a group of scammers who approach foreign tourists in a mostly crowded area. Here, they will approach in a friendly manner and will start tying knots with different colourful strings to your wrist. 

By diverting your attention with this stunt, a person from the scammer group can sneak away your wallets or other valuable belongings. 

Common Around: Sacre-Coeur, Paris

3. ATM Scams

Tourists visiting Marseille often report fraud, where scammers insert fake slot areas that will malfunction the card and get stuck. During this scenario, the tourist will leave the machine and will seek help outside the ATM booth. 

Scammers will take advantage of your absence and will take away the card. 

Common Around: Across the country. 

4. Sign the Petition Scam

This fraud is one of the top scams in Paris, France, which made a number of tourists fall into the trap of scammers. Scammers, mostly a group of women or teenagers, will approach foreign tourists for a signature on a petition. 

This is mostly for a noble cause like an initiative for women's education, reducing child labour, etc. Once the tourists sign the petition, scammers will demand money as donations for the cause. 

Common Around: Notre Dame, Louvre/Tuileries Gardens, Paris 

5. Magic Tricks

Magic tricks and gambling are common tourist scams in France, where scammers in groups will approach you in a crowded place, asking you to take part in some common games. They will ask you to guess any coin, card, or colour, and upon losing your chances of guessing, scammers will demand money from you aggressively. 

Common Around: Across the country.

6. Bar or Pub Bills Scam

This fraud is generally prevalent in Paris, where foreign tourists are charged high prices for food or drinks. Different roadside cafes take advantage of their innocence and charge extra money other than what is written on the menu. 

To avoid this scam, checking the menu before ordering or paying for your drinks or food is important. 

Common Around: Paris

7. The Rose Scam

Being one of the popular tourist scams in Paris, scammers performing this fraud often target young people or couples near any restaurant. These tourists are often approached by scammers with a rose as a gift. If you accept this, you will be asked to pay for that rose. 

To avoid this kind of scammers, change your path or look away from any strangers who you find approaching you, holding a rose. 

Common Around: Cafes and tourist spots near Paris 

8. Pickpocketing

Pickpocketing is the most popular fraud that tourists encounter, generally in crowded places like tourist spots, crowded trains, or in the metro. In such a scenario, more than one scammer can be involved in this act. 

Tourists are often looted by distracting them in a crowded space. For this reason, keeping a close eye on your valuable belongings while travelling to a crowded place is important. 

Common Around: Across the country

9. The String Trick

source: ytimg

This is one of the oldest scams in France, where a scammer will offer to show magic tricks by wrapping strings around his or her finger. While you will be distracted and your hands engaged in the game, another person from the scammer's group will pickpocket your valuable belongings. 

Common Around: Across the country 

As you can see, tourist scams in Maldives can be dangerous and harmful, especially during your visit. You must purchase a policy for Travel Insurance to the Maldives to ensure safety and financial assistance in times of need. Apart from that, here are a few other tips for you to avoid scams when travelling across the Maldives:

• Always check the authenticity of a website before booking any services. Check its reviews from other sites or seek assistance from genuine travel agents.
• Avoid making advance payments if you are not sure of the travel agents or agencies.
• Choose reliable ATMs of well-known banks when withdrawing cash in the Maldives. If the ATM still malfunctions, visit the bank and seek assistance instead of accepting help from any stranger.
• When travelling in a taxi, make sure that the driver is following the meter to calculate prices. Moreover, you can also turn on Google Maps on your phone to trace the direction and prevent the driver from taking unnecessarily longer routes.
• When visiting bars and pubs, avoid groups of locals or strangers who offer to order together and split the bills. You should check the menu and prices first before ordering for others.
• Avoid carrying your valuable belongings while on site-seeing as a caution against pickpockets. Here, getting a Travel Insurance Policy that offers emergency financial assistance can be helpful.
• Keep your important documents and belongings safe. If you lose your passport or any other document that is pivotal to your stay, you can contact the High Commission of India in Maldives.

When in an emergency, the ideal way is to seek assistance from the police of France. Tourists from India can reach out to the Indian Embassy in France regarding any kind of hassles. In addition, while, one must keep the emergency helpline numbers of the French authorities while travelling for any emergencies: 

• Embassy of India, France: +33-648340063 

• Police: 17

• Fire Service: 18

• Medical Service or Ambulance: 15 

The above is a profound guide related to all the information about tourist scams in France. Tourists visiting this country must be aware of these frauds and scams and know the ways to combat the same. Moreover, following scam avoidance tips can also help one to stay clear of any traps.