{"id":122588,"date":"2023-12-10T10:01:08","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T10:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gendermyn.com\/?p=122588"},"modified":"2023-12-10T10:01:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10T10:01:08","slug":"tourist-warns-of-new-street-scam-involving-friendship-bracelet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gendermyn.com\/travel\/tourist-warns-of-new-street-scam-involving-friendship-bracelet\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourist warns of new street scam involving friendship bracelet"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span>EXCLUSIVE<\/span> Tourist warns of terrifying new street scam using a friendship bracelet<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Italian tourist\u00a0Fabrizio Moroni, made a video recounting the &#8216;scary&#8217; experience<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0I was scammed at the airport in Paris by a fake taxi driver<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each year, millions of people flock to Paris to see the Eiffel tower, sip on coffee its quaint streets and eat delicious food.<\/p>\n<p>But recently visitors are being warned to be extra vigilant as ever more street scams are popping up in the French capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, an Italian tourist in Monmarte, Paris, has warned of a terrifying new scam that he fell victim to in &#8216;broad daylight&#8217; and left him visibly shaken.<\/p>\n<p>Fabrizio Moroni, who goes by @fabriziovmoroni on TikTok, moved to Paris to study French in September this year &#8211; he&#8217;s also a content creator who documents his travels.<\/p>\n<p>The student made a video recounting his scary experience and how he escaped &#8211; the\u00a0clip has been seen by more than 640,000 people in just a few days, with many others in the comments revealing that they&#8217;ve been in a similar situation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/05\/15\/78602799-12827421-image-a-69_1701791372631.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>An Italian tourist in Monmarte, Paris, has warned of a terrifying scam that he fell victim to in &#8216;broad daylight&#8217; and left him visibly shaken<\/p>\n<p>stay safe out there \ud83e\udd0d #fabri #paris #france #braceletscam @Amanda Rollins thought of you <\/p>\n<p>Red faced and teary eyed, he told viewers &#8216;It happened to me too, I mean it happens to everyone once in your lifetime in Paris but yeah, I was a victim to a bracelet scam in Monmarte.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Sorry for my eyes and voice but I&#8217;m kind of shocked, the whole thing was very scary&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He explained\u00a0&#8216;I was in Monmarte with my friend and we were just walking down the stairs and having a good time and then as we got to the bottom of the stairs, I wasn&#8217;t even looking around I was just talking to her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I see this man coming up to me and he was very kind of intimidating cause he was a very big tall man.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He came to me and he said &#8216;take it, take it&#8217;. I was like &#8216;no thank you, no thank you,&#8217; until he grabs my arm aggressively.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Like, it hurt me. He literally said &#8216;it&#8217;s a friendship symbol, it&#8217;s offensive if you don&#8217;t take it&#8217; and the more I would kind of resist to it, then more men, other scammers, would start walking towards me.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>As Fabrizio began to realise he was being circled, other men who were with the scammer began to chime in.<\/p>\n<p>He said &#8216;The other man was like &#8216;respect him, respect him&#8217;, stay still. I was like &#8216;I am respecting him, I just don&#8217;t want it &#8211; please let me go&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/08\/78594255-12827421-Fabrizio_Moroni_who_goes_by_fabriziovmoroni_on_TikTok_made_a_vid-a-66_1702110049679.jpg\" height=\"508\" width=\"306\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/08\/78594259-12827421-Red_faced_and_teary_eyed_he_told_viewers_It_happened_to_me_too_I-a-65_1702110049628.jpg\" height=\"508\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>Fabrizio Moroni, who goes by @fabriziovmoroni on TikTok , made a video recounting the scary experience and how he escaped<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;By the time I said this there were literally six or seven men surrounding me and I was in the middle of them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;My arm was of course still blocked, I had my wallet in my pocket and my phone in my other pocket.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0&#8216;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&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The Italian added &#8216;This was certainly not the first time that they did this.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;At some point I had this strength, I don&#8217;t even know what to say, the courage, to say let me go and I managed to push two of them aside and run.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I ran for my life, I literally ran without even looking back. So please, please be careful if you ever go to Monmarte&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The terrifying incident took place on the steps of the Sacre Coeur Church in Montmartre &#8211; a popular area for tourists.<\/p>\n<p>He warned &#8216;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.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/08\/78602797-12827421-The_terrifying_incident_took_place_on_the_steps_of_the_Sacre_Coe-a-68_1702110049721.jpg\" height=\"849\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The terrifying incident took place on the steps of the Sacre Coeur Church in Montmartre (pictured) &#8211; a popular area for tourists<\/p>\n<h3>READ MORE:\u00a0Beware the fake artwork scam: Traveller warns tourists about a popular street hustle in Florence &#8211; and what to do if you fall prey to it<\/h3>\n<p>\u00a0&#8216;If you ever see anyone approaching you with a bracelet just run away&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fabrizio told MailOnline &#8216;It was very shocking, I go to this place every other weekend and it never occured to me this would happen, but I do usually take the other stairs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I usually go around and take the outer stairs but this time I didn&#8217;t think about it. I was with my friend and the whole thing happened in a matter of seconds. I didn&#8217;t have the time to process what was going on.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the first time someone has tried to scam him since he moved to the French capital and the experience has left him feeling more unsafe.<\/p>\n<p>The student explained &#8216;I knew that they would stop you and try to sell you a bracelet in a friendly way, but I didn&#8217;t expect them to be as aggressive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I remember once, it was about to happen to me to in Milano but I said no a few times and they left, but in this case, the more I said no, the more the guys would surround me.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The guy that kept saying &#8216;respect him&#8217; started\u00a0putting it in a way that I was the problem, that I was being disrespectful, that I was not being kind to them, whereas I was literally being assaulted by seven men&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>When Fabrizio mouthed &#8216;help&#8217; to his friends, the fraudsters allegedly got even angrier.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He believes there&#8217;s &#8216;nothing he could have done&#8217; and for a second he even thought : &#8216;Is this it?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The student said &#8216;My friend tried to step in but they got in the way, so she really couldn&#8217;t do anything, and a guy also tried to to grab her her wrist.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/08\/78604463-12827421-It_s_the_first_time_someone_has_tried_to_scam_him_since_he_moved-a-70_1702110050330.jpg\" height=\"515\" width=\"306\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/08\/78604465-12827421-He_explained_At_some_point_I_had_this_strength_I_don_t_even_know-a-69_1702110050242.jpg\" height=\"515\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>He explained &#8216;At some point I had this strength, I don&#8217;t even know what to say, the courage, to say let me go and I managed to push two of them aside and run&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;In this moment I found this strength to kind of push them away and then we started to run&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>As well as making sure you take the other set of stairs, walk around or opt for a cable car instead, a more general rule is to\u00a0&#8216;never take anything from anyone&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He explained that even though in his case, it was literally tied to him, in less extreme incidents, people &#8216;want to\u00a0<span>be kind and they accept\u00a0<\/span>because they trust the person that it will be for free&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Adding &#8216;But then, the moment they accept the bracelet, they will start\u00a0asking you for money in a very forceful way.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There are many scams going on and until last week, I\u00a0didn&#8217;t feel like they actually were there, because I never was victim to any of those.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Ever since that I&#8217;m more like, okay, yeah, I actually have to be more careful.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Despite still being shaken up by the incident, Fabrizio says that it&#8217;s a very common scam around Europe and he doesn&#8217;t believe Paris itself is a dangerous place &#8211; he just wants to warn that tourists get &#8216;targeted&#8217; more than French people.<\/p>\n<p>Remaining positive, he advised &#8216;this shouldn&#8217;t scare people away from visiting Paris.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It should just let them know that as much as any other major city, people have to be a little more careful, especially when visiting the most touristic areas in the city like this one or the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Commenters quickly chimed in to share their own similar experiences and help warn others.<\/p>\n<p>One user revealed &#8216;Same thing in Montmartre and they also showed a knife&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/09\/08\/78602795-12827421-Remaining_positive_he_advised_this_shouldn_t_scare_people_away_f-a-67_1702110049695.jpg\" height=\"1017\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Remaining positive, he advised &#8216;this shouldn&#8217;t scare people away from visiting Paris. It should just let them know that as much as any other major city, people have to be a little more careful&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Another wrote &#8216;it happenned to me in the exact same situation, walking down these stars. Less agressive but disturbing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I took it off in public toilets and washed\u00a0my hands. I didn&#8217;t wanted to take this energy home&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Fabrizio replied &#8216;I only kept it to make this video but I threw it right after&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Someone else added &#8216;It happened to me too and I\u2019m French, but it helped because I know what to do.\u00a0It\u2019s just because I know how to threaten them in French and to get them out of my face you can also scream&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>However, the TikToker said &#8216;Unfortunately there was nothing I could have done to avoid it, except for not taking those damn stairs&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Another questioned &#8216;Yikes. I\u2019m going there next weekend. Was it late?,&#8217; to which he revealed &#8216;2pm broad daylight&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, others penned &#8216;Also happened to me in London and Athens!! Be careful and try to appear confident&#8217; and &#8216;this happened to me too!! but one of my friends came up and pushed the guys off me, thank goodness for that&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>One viewer advised &#8216;Happened to me in 2011, happened to my partner in 2017. Keep your hands in your pockets, be COLD and ignore people.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/travel\/article-12827421\/Tourist-warns-terrifying-new-street-scam-using-friendship-braclet.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE Tourist warns of terrifying new street scam using a friendship bracelet Italian tourist\u00a0Fabrizio Moroni, made a video recounting the &#8216;scary&#8217; experience READ MORE:\u00a0I was scammed at the airport in Paris by a fake taxi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tourist warns of new street scam involving friendship bracelet - gendermyn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gendermyn.com\/travel\/tourist-warns-of-new-street-scam-involving-friendship-bracelet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tourist warns of new street scam involving friendship bracelet - gendermyn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EXCLUSIVE Tourist warns of terrifying new street scam using a friendship bracelet Italian tourist\u00a0Fabrizio Moroni, made a video recounting the &#8216;scary&#8217; 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