As the number of tourists in cities of note in Europe, so do the activities of the thousands of trick thieves increase.
Tourists are the main target as:
- they generally have cash on them.
- they don't know the current danger spots/scenarios.
- they don't want to waste their precious holiday time with police reporting, which means that the same trick can be done over and over again at the same spot.
- any photographers will have their hands full!
An example.
Someone in my family was in Barcelona last week with a friend.
They know all about trick thieves and the reputation of Barcelona, particularly.
And they have seen the TV documentary about Roma girls travelling into the city centre for their daily "work".
Not only were they given a last minute warning from me - but the flat renting agency also put a warning in their last mail!
Anyway, they were taken in by one of the classic tricks.
Approached by 2 young female "students" in a central park.
"you have some birdshit on your" - "let us help you get it off".
Strangely these bird droppings smelt dreadful - which is quite unusual.
And the "students" happened to have cleaning materials with them.
They didn't realise what had happened during the cleaning process until an hour later!
The good thing is that they only go after cash.
So be very wary of any contact with people in difficulty, especialy where there is physical contact or you have to hold something in your hand (maps, for instance) or a very unusual occurance. People can be of all ages, although the park/bird shit scenario is usually done by young girls. I have heard that some travellors agree a safe word between them so that if someone gets suspicious they can alert the others.
Perhaps our Spanish friends can give some other current scams?
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