Paris > Practical advice > Gold ring scam

Paris Gold Ring Scam

ABOVE: "Is this your ring?" (Cheryl took this photo while being accosted by a ring scammer.)

By Durant Imboden

Paris is safer than many large cities, and you're unlikely to get murdered or mugged while riding the Métro or rubbernecking at the Moulin Rouge. However, the city is famous (or perhaps infamous) for its pickpockets, and scam artists--such as the String Men of Sacré-Coeur or practitioners of the "Petition" Scam--can be a minor annoyance.

One of the best-known Parisian cons is the Gold Ring Scam. Here's how it works:

• The con artist pretends to find a gold ring on the sidewalk, shows it to a tourist, and asks "Is this your ring?"

• When the tourist says "No," the scammer offers to sell it.

• If the tourist falls for the scam, the con artist negotiates a price.

• The tourist ends up with a gold-colored ring made of cheap metal, and the con artist walks away with the gullible tourist's cash.

While walking near the Eiffel Tower on a Saturday, we were accosted by three separate "Gold Ring" scammers within an hour. Cheryl had fended off a ring scammer in the 9th arrondissement earlier in the week, so she was prepared:

Scammer: "Is this your ring?"

Cheryl: "No. Did you find it? This is your lucky day!"

Scammer: "You can have it for fifty euro."

Cheryl: "Oh, no. You keep it.

[Scammer looks perplexed, obviously thinking that she's encountered a tourist who doesn't know how the scam is supposed to work.]

Scammer: "Twenty euro?"

Cheryl: "No, it's yours. You're so lucky that you found it!"

Other observations:

• Most of the ring scammers don't even try very hard. In each case, we could see the con artist holding the ring in her or her palm while pretending to pick it up from the sidewalk.

• Some tourists actually fall for the scam. We met an American woman who admitted that she'd paid €10 for a "gold ring," and we saw a man taking money from his wallet and giving it to a ring scammer. (See photos below.)

• Ring scamming is an equal-opportunity occupation: Of the four ring scammers who accosted us in Paris recently, two were Roma women (what used to be called "Gypsies"), one was a middle-aged black man, and one was a young white man.

• Update: Since publishing this article, we've had reports of the same scam in other cities (among them, Rome and London). So, no matter where you are, just remember: All that glitters is not gold, especially if it looks like it was stolen from the Curtain Rod Accessories department of Drapes R Us.

• To view scammers in action, see the captioned photos below:

More photos of a Paris "gold ring" scammer:

In this photo, a ring scammer (blue sweatshirt) talks to a couple on a walking path above the Seine. The child is her son or apprentice.

After failing to con the couple or us (see dialogue above), the con artist goes down a staircase to look for better pickings along the quay.

Within a couple of minutes, she's found two victims. (The man in the center is taking money from his wallet.)

About the author:

Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation.

After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (including Paris for Visitors) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post.

For more information, see About our site, press clippings, and reader testimonials.

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