Pickpockets in Paris
Seemingly romantic Paris, actually have a dark side, which in here I am going to share with you how to prevent it and some real cases that I encountered.
These days I’m totally relaxed after I returned from LA to Paris. In LA, there are no pickpockets, but they have other issue. One day I have had lunch with my friend in LA, we originally sat in the outdoor area, but it’s too cold to sat in outside, so we move into the indoor seats. However, I totally forgot my bag to taking with me, I suddenly realize that I forgot my bag after we finished our meal. So I run out to the outside as quickly as possible to find it.
Thank God, A kindness couple asked me ”Are you searching your bag?”
then I answer them ”yes”
Accordingly they told me that the bag is already in the counter, which they take it to the counter after they found it. In the end, I got my bag back. If this drama happened in Paris, I think I probably couldn’t find it back.
Recently, i had my Iphone stolen by a pickpocket while i was on the subway! It’s so sad that I lost all pictures in my phone, since I didn’t back up.
Therefore, I’m going to share few things that you should do very carefully in Paris.
看似浪漫的巴黎，其實也有黑暗面，這邊這跟大家分享，該如何防範、和壹些我自己真實遇到的案例
這幾天從 LA 回巴黎後，完全鬆懈太多了！怎麼說鬆懈？因為 LA 的治安比巴黎好太多太多了，導致讓我忘記巴黎扒手的厲害！有次在 LA 跟朋友吃飯時，原本我們是坐戶外區，但因氣溫有些低，所以我們換到室內的座位。這時好笑的來了！我遺忘了我的包包，就這樣把它擱在外頭位置上，而我還是在用完餐點後才想起，於是匆匆地去外頭找包包。在尋找時，有一對好心的夫妻，告訴我：他幫我拿到櫃檯去放了。最後才順利將我的包包找回來啊…（完全粗線條）如果發生在巴黎，我想是找不回來了吧！
我最近遭到了扒手的毒手，遺失了我的手機…遺失了我手機裡所有的照片、所有資料。
接下來我為大家整理了一些在巴黎該注意的事項：
1. Ask you about ”Can you speak English?”
If someone asks you ”Can you speak English?” If you say yes, they would hope you to support the charity activities. They will steal things or ask you to donate later when you sign it. There are some Gypsy girl wearing a headscarf and a long skirt near the Paris Tower or some young man show up near the Notre Dame.
若有人問你 Can you speak English ? 如果回答說 Yes ，他們希望你支持慈善機構活動，當你簽名的時候，他們會下手偷東西，或在之後要求你捐款。（在巴黎鐵塔附近有，吉普賽女生包頭巾、穿著長裙）
2. Be careful when somebody touch you.
In Europe, when someone approached actively, nine out of ten is not a good thing. Be careful when someone touching you on the street or subway, you have to check your bag immediately. Remember, there is no physical contact between people in Europe, unless they’re friend.
在歐洲當有人主動接近，十之八九不是好事，若被搭訕往往都是爛桃花（大部分），路上、地鐵上有人碰觸時要小心，絕對要檢查包包！就像一些電影裡的情景，一個碰觸，你的錢包 / 手機就被偷了！一般人與人之間是不會有肢體接觸的
3. Tie the bracelets and force you to buy.
On the stairs in front of the Sacré-Cœur Paris, some people will tie their bracelets to you and force you to buy
在巴黎聖心堂前的階梯，有些黑人會綁人手鍊，強迫人購買
4. Issue notes on public transportation.
People who issue notes on public transportation, they will ask you to donate money, which don’t take it. There are usually English and French versions, writing on ”I ’m homeless, I have 2 keds please help me to servive with my keds. God bless you.” Such Similar words.
大眾運輸上發紙條的人，不要拿，拿了代表要你捐錢。通常都會有英、法文版本：I’m homeless, I have 2 keds please help me to servive with my keds. God bless you…類似的話
5. Don’t play the guess the cards game
Guess the cards game is a scam, so don’t play it. I encountered it near the Eiffel Tower, I saw a tourist who from Southeast Asia went to play. For the first of all, he got 10 euros, but in the end he paid about 30 euros before leaving!
猜牌賭錢千萬不要玩，都是騙局。我在巴黎鐵塔附近就有遇到（之前有拍照，但都在前一支手機裡…所以沒辦法給大家看）那時我有看到，有個從東南亞來的觀光客就去玩了，結果一玩，就沒完沒了！最後還是付了約30歐左右才走！
6. Don’t for a coffee to answer it.
If anyone ask you for a coffee when you walking on the street, never answer it! Because some of them will take medicine in coffee, that a type medicine that promises all his requirements. A cup of 5 euros coffee, I believe you can bought it by yourself. Some time ago, a friend of mine, she was hiting on by a stranger on her way to the school and she just turned him down. As a result, the man just followed her all the way to the school. It would be awful if she went home!
走在街上，若有人搭訕要請你喝咖啡，絕對不要去！因為有些會在咖啡裡下藥，一種讓人答應他所有要求的那種，要小心人財兩失。（一杯咖啡五歐自己去買就好！）前陣子有朋友在去學校的地鐵上被搭訕了，結果那個人一路上跟著他走到學校，如果是回家就慘了呀！
7. Don’t reply the knock
If someone comes knocking on your door and says he want to check some things like gas and so on, don’t open the door. Unless the landlord tells you in advance.
如果有人來敲你的門，說要檢查東西如：瓦斯等等，千萬別開門，除非房東有提前跟你說，否則絕對別開門。
8. Don’t answer that someone willing to help you when you towing your luggage.
If someone is willing to help you when you are towing your luggage, don’t promise it. They will steal your belongings in this short time. This is a real case that happened to my friend.
你拖行李時，若有人好心要幫你，千萬別答應，他們會在這短短的時間內偷取你的物品。這是真實發生在我朋友身上的案例：朋友當時來巴黎自助旅行，到了民宿的門口要拿行李上去時，有個人熱心地跟他說：看你這麼重，我幫你拿上去。朋友想說這人好熱心，就答應了！結果他到達民宿房間後，打開行李箱，發現它裡頭最重的包包、物品被偷了。不要懷疑法國的扒手，就是這麼厲害！
9.Do not hang bags and jackets on the back of the chair
Do not hang bags and jackets on the back of the chair, especially if someone is sitting right behind you. At this time he will crawl away the items you put in your jacket.
勿將包包、外套掛在椅背上，尤其是有人坐在你身上。這時候他就會爬走你放在外套裡的物品
10. Don’t put your phone on the table.
Don’t leave valuables on café tables.
Don’t put your mobile phone on the table. Unless you look at your mobile phone all the time. Some people will cover their hands with articles such as newspapers, etc.
Just picture it : It’s a gorgeous spring day. You’re on a terrace at a Parisian café, people watching, soaking in the sun and enjoying a glass of rosé. Next to your glass is probably a small bowl of peanuts, maybe an ashtray, the check, and your phone that captured this Instagram-worthy moment as you watch the “likes” pour in. But hold on. Now there is a piece of paper obstructing the view of your table, there are people hovering over it speaking to you, and you have no idea what is going on or what to say. Before you know it, it’s over and they’re gone. Guess what. You just got robbed. The paper (which is sometimes in the form of a petition) is used to distract and confuse you while the thief slides his hands underneath it to grab your phone or worse, your wallet. He is gone before you even acknowledged him.
手機也勿放在桌上（除非你時時刻刻都看著你的手機），有些人會用報紙等物品遮住自己的手，在經過的時候扒走你的手機
想像一下：這是一個美麗的春天。你正在巴黎一家咖啡館的戶外座，浸泡在陽光下和享用桃紅葡萄酒。在你的杯子旁邊可能是一小碗花生，也許是煙灰缸，錢包和你的手機，當你滑著Instagram，或捕捉到了這個值得分享的時刻。突然，有一張紙遮住了桌子的視線，有人盤旋在桌子上對你說話，而你卻不知道發生了什麼或在說什麼。在不知不覺中，一切都結束了後他們走了。你猜猜發生什麼事了？你剛剛已經被搶。紙（有時以請願書的形式）用於分散您的注意力並使你感到困惑，同時小偷將他的手滑到紙下面，以抓住你的手機，甚至是你的錢包。在你發現是他之後，他早就走了。
11. ATM
If you are withdraw money at the ATM, don’t turned your eyes away by strangers and cover with your hands when pressing the password. Don’t let the cash appear before others and don’t bring a lot of cash.
若在 ATM 領錢時，別被陌生人轉移視線，按密碼時用手遮住，勿讓現金外露，勿帶大量的現金
12. Bags
Bags should be slung on the front, and backpacks should be directly on the front.
包包要斜背在前面，後揹包直接背在前面
13. Do not put wallets or mobile phone in jacket pockets.
Do not put wallets or mobile phones in jacket pockets. It’s a real happened on me. At that time, I was confirming the subway ticket at that time, I put my mobile phone in my coat pocket for a moment, and then it was taken away by a pickpocket.
外套口袋勿放錢包、手機。我自己當時就是在確認地鐵票，暫時將手機放在大衣口袋裡，結果就被扒走了….
14. Don’t Put something in the back pocket of pants.
Don’t Put the wallet or mobile phone in the back pocket of pants.
勿將錢包放至身後的口袋
15. Take your bag with you.
When you are alone in the park and someone asks you to take a picture for them, you have to take your bag with you. If you put it on the ground, they will take your bag from behind by different people.
獨自一人在公園時，如果有人請你幫忙拍照，包包絕對要拿在身上！若放在地放，小心他們會有人從後面拿走你的包包
16. put your bag on your lap.
When you take the escalator, subway or bus, the bag should be on your lap. Please be careful of the people behind you to take away from you
坐手扶梯、坐地鐵、坐公車，包包都要放在自己的腿上，要小心後方的人爬走你的東西
what else?
1.Don’t say that is yours.
The pickpocket pretends to pick up a gold ring off the pavement, presents it to you and asks if it belongs to you. If you lie and say that it’s yours, the thief will engage in conversation while their buddy robs you. If you say that it is not yours but like it anyway (which is strongly advised against), they will negotiate a price to sell it to you while their buddy robs you.
Their game is all about distraction. Most targets are puzzled and have no clue what the scammer is talking about, so they end up distracted and a target to the accomplice who is lurking in the shadows.
What to Do： Say nothing or simply nod your head that it is not your ring, and walk away. You didn’t really like the ring anyway.
1.不要說那是你的。
扒手假裝從人行道上撿起一個金戒指，交給你，並詢問它是否屬於你。如果你撒謊說是你的，他們會在一邊交談的時候，一邊扒走你身上的東西。如果您說這不是你的，但還是喜歡它，則他們會協商價格以將其賣給你，而他們的好友還是會在旁邊扒你的東西。
他們的遊戲全是為了分散注意力。大多數目標很困惑，不知道詐騙者在說什麼，因此他們最終分散了注意力，成為潛伏在陰影中的同伙的目標。
怎麼做：什麼也不說，或者只是點頭說這不是你的戒指，然後走開。反正你也不是很喜歡這枚戒指。
2. Sign My Petition
It’s pretty basic as far as scheming goes, but like The Ring Scam, it must work because this is another “classic” for the Paris pickpocket.
This one functions similarly to The Ring Scam, but in place of a ring is a petition for some noble cause that you are asked to sign. While you are signing your name, giving out your email address, guess what is happening? Their buddy is robbing you.
What to Do: For the love of all things French, do not sign the petition! and walk aways like usual.
2.簽署我的請願書
就計劃而言，這是非常基本的，但是像《 The Ring Scam》一樣，它必須有效，因為這是巴黎扒手的另一個“經典”。
此功能類似於“ The Ring Scam”，但由於某些貴族原因而要求你簽名，因此取代了戒指。當你簽名時，你猜發生了什麼事？他們的伙伴在扒走你身上的東西啊。
怎麼辦：請不要在請願書上簽名！像往常一樣走開
3. The Grab and Run.
It’s pretty primal as far as pickpocketing goes but it is the most common in Paris. A thief will prey on someone mindlessly playing on their phone or blithely listening to music on the métro, and just before the doors close at a stop, they grab your phones right out of your hands (which I imagine for those wearing headphones would incite quite the shock) and run off the metro.
What to Do : Don’t stand in front of the door on Metro.
3.搶走。
就扒竊而言，這很原始，但這是巴黎最常見的情況。很多人會在地鐵上地鐵上盡情聽音樂或玩手機，然而這時候，小偷會趁著地鐵開門至快關門的那一瞬間，搶走你的手機，然後逃離地鐵。
怎麼做：不要站在地鐵的門前。
2 real case happened on me.
1. Knock the door and check gas
This is the case that really happened to me. At that time, someone knocked on the door and said that he had to check the gas every year. The roommate have no doubted him and opened the door to let him in. As a result, he said that he needed to clean, and the two people needed 85 euros. However, we started to wonder. If you want to clean, why the landlord didn’t tell us in advance? So we send a text and call the landlord to confirm it, but landlord didn’t replay us immediately.
Therefore, we told him that after we discuss with landlord, we will inform you to come and clean. You probably can come back tomorrow or next week. But he said that he don’t have time to come later. So we asked him to leave his business card or contact information, we will contact you again; however, he didn’t give us any contact information, which we‘re sure it was weird. Because in usual way he willing to leave any information of his company. If he don’t have time, the company also can send other people come to clean. In the end, we told him that we don’t need to clean now and asked him to leave.
After he left, my roommate used peep-hole to see does he gonna go up to check other houses. But he didn’t which he just go down to leave. Theoretically, if it is checked every year, isn’t every household need to check? Why go down? It’s impossible to check down from the top.
After I searching the news that he probably pretending that the gas need to be cleaned and collecting fees. Also my roommate said her friend told her that he maybe a thief to look at the pattern of house first, which we have to be more careful to lock the door.
這是真實發生在我身上的案例。當時有人敲門說要做每年都要做檢查瓦斯的動作，室友就不疑有他，開門讓他進來，結果他說要清洗，而兩個人需要85歐。我們開始懷疑，我們想說：如果要清洗，房東怎麼沒有事先跟我們說呢？於是傳簡訊、打電話給房東確認。剛好那時房東在忙，沒能回訊給我們。
我們就向他表示：等我們跟房東確認好後，再請你過來清洗。你能不能明天或下星期再過來？他：我之後沒時間過來。我們：那請你留下你的名片、聯絡方式，我們再聯繫你。結果他沒有給我們任何的聯絡方式。
我們認爲這更奇怪了，通常不是都會有名片之類的嗎？況且怎麼可能沒辦法抽出其他時間來，如果他不行，公司總能派其他人來吧？重點是他身上還有一股酒味。
中間還因他只會說法文，我用手機給他，用 google 翻譯…好險最後室友請他朋友跟他翻譯說：我們需要跟房東確認，現在不需要清洗。他才終於離開！
他離開後，室友用貓眼看他是否有走到對面。他是有走到對面，但他敲個門，沒等他開門就離開就往下走了。照理來說，如果是每年都要檢查，不是每一戶都要檢查嗎？為何往下走呢？總不可能從最上面往下檢查吧
之後我爬了一下新聞，台灣的新聞是：假裝要清洗，收去清洗費用 ; 室友朋友則是說：可能是小偷，先來看格局，要小心鎖門！
有個大陸朋友跟我說：這種敲門要幹嘛的千萬都別開門，除非房東有事先跟你說。之前有個新聞是：一個綁匪搶劫珠寶店，又綁了一個女生。最後那個女生被他用到重傷。那個女生就是因為綁匪說要檢查瓦斯而開門，所以就遭遇了這種事…
2. Don’t sign any paper for donate the money to charity activity in the street.
One time, I was walking on the street with my friend near the Notre-Dame. We met some young people who just ask passersby to sign the paper to donate the money for charity activity. We just passed at the fastest speed and said no. However, I just noticed someone that he using the paper to cover his hand and wanted to steal the sunglasses that I hung on my clothes. So I just yelling him and said ” what are you doing? ”. He know that he was caught by stealing my sunglasses, and then he let go of my sunglasses, that he pretend nothing happened and leave.
Everyone say Paris is the place where is the most romantic city, but as I said in the beginning that actually have a dark side in this romantic city. Today I share this experience with you guys, I hope you guys can be more careful when you visiting Paris and still have a great trip in here.
大家都說巴黎是最浪漫的城市，但正如我在一開始所說的那樣，這座浪漫的城市實際上也有許多黑暗面。 今天，我與大家分享這一些我親自體驗過的經驗，希望你們在參觀巴黎時能更加小心，並在此過得愉快。
Fantastic post however I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Bless you!|
For sure, I will explain further in next article. Thank you for your advise.