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
A TikToker went viral after posting a video of how he was nearly mugged by a bunch of scammers after getting involved in a friendship bracelet ruse
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'"
"And the more I would kinda like resist to it, the more men, other scammers would start walking towards me. And the other man was like 'Respect him. Respect him. Stay still.' And I was like 'I am respecting him, I just don't want it, please let me go.' And by the time I said this, there were literally like six or seven men surrounding me. I was literally in the middle of them around me. My arm was, of course, still blocked."
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"
Image credits: @fabriziovmoroni
The video was posted on TikTok by the platform’s user @fabriziovmoroni or just Fabrizio Villari Moroni. In the account bio, he describes himself as the “Italian in Paris.” There he has over 145K followers and nearly 15M likes. Also, he is active on Instagram with the same username, so make sure to check his account out. Bored Panda reached out to the creator and he agreed to share some more context about the situation.
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.”
The scam that Fabrizio fell victim to is, just as he called it, the “Friendship Bracelet Scam”. In some cases it can also be called the “French String Scam.” This scam is conducted by a scammer gifting a friendship bracelet, saying it is a sign of friendship, and while the person is distracted, their pockets and bags are robbed. Or even, as in Fabrizio’s case, more scammers show up, who surround and mug a person.
Image credits: Satbir Singh (not the actual photo)
Most frequently the scam was noticed to be carried out in Paris, in the Montmartre area, just where the TikToker was attacked as well. The scammers usually target tourists by approaching them near the giant staircase that leads from the Metro to the Sacre-Coeur area of the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur. So, we can be certain that Fabrizio isn’t the first and isn’t the last person who has been attacked there. We just wonder why the authorities do not do anything about it. After all, the exact place and tactic is so well known that descriptions of it can be found on the internet.
So, to avoid becoming a victim of the friendship bracelet scam, people who plan on going to Montmartre should make sure to have a pickpocket-proof bag and be extremely attentive and careful when in the described areas. And if a scammer still approaches, a person should keep walking and not show any engagement in the scam methods. This way scammers soon will leave to look for another person. And in cases like Fabrizio's, where they get a person by their wrist, a victim should remain calm and when the perfect moment presents itself, get out and head for crowded areas or even call the police.
As anyone could have guessed, people on the internet were shocked by such a nasty scam happening in broad daylight. They expressed their compassion for the OP. And then a bunch of other people came up with similar or even more terrifying stories of their muggings in the same place. For example, one of the commenters said that during their attack, the scammers even showed a knife to them. And, well, that must have been very traumatizing. Also, a few of the rest of the internet folks wondered where Paris police are looking when such horrible things are happening, a point we made earlier.
"It's literal aggression": internet folks were outraged by this hostile hoax and felt sorry for the TikToker
