Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The "ring" thing

We had heard about the ring scam where someone comes up to you and pretends that they found a Man%26#39;s wedding ring and asks if it is yours. Thankfully I had read about it on the TA. We werent there 5 minutes when a woman came up to us at the Tulleries Gardens. The next day, we were walking along the Seine- near the Eiffel Tower and a man came up to us. Thanks for letting us know. Once you say %26quot;no%26quot; , they go away. No problems.




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And that%26#39;s the bottom line.



«Once you say %26quot;no%26quot; , they go away. No problems.»



No need to start yet another thread where we all end up agreeing that walking past these otherwise harmless beggars with a simple %26quot;NO%26quot; is the best advice. Thank you for your post MM.




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The first time I encountered the %26quot;ring thing%26quot; was a few years ago when I was unarmed with the TA info. After about 15 seconds I figured the thing didn%26#39;t make sense and I thought I%26#39;d have a little fun with it (maybe not the brightest idea).





She wanted to %26quot;give%26quot; me the ring because her %26quot;religion wouldn%26#39;t permit her to wear it%26quot; (even though it was a man%26#39;s ring). So, I took it and said %26quot;Merci.%26quot; Then she wanted money for a sandwich at which point I handed her back the ring. It%26#39;s almost always true, there%26#39;s no free lunch!




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And I%26#39;d also like to say that I prefer %26quot;The Ring Thing%26quot; as the correct term over the %26quot;Scam%26quot; label. It%26#39;s much more realistic.



The %26quot;Three-card Monte%26quot; is a %26quot;scam%26quot;, the %26quot;Ring Thing%26quot; is just creative begging. The former results in the %26quot;mark%26quot; voluntarily listening to a pitch for a handout, the latter results in the %26quot;mark%26quot; actually losing some money by criminal design. No comparison.




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«The %26quot;Three-card Monte%26quot; is a %26quot;scam%26quot;, the %26quot;Ring Thing%26quot; is just creative begging.»





«The former results in the %26quot;mark%26quot; voluntarily listening to a pitch for a handout, the latter results in the %26quot;mark%26quot; actually losing some money by criminal design.»





Well I managed to reverse the points of the message. If it isn%26#39;t obvious, I don%26#39;t see the perpetrators of the %26quot;Ring Thing%26quot; as a real threat unless you allow yourself to become engaged in any form of conversation.




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Last time we were in Paris I took some dime store %26quot;Gold%26quot; rings with me and whenever this scam came up I would offer to trade with them,



MORE FUN




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I can%26#39;t help but wonder about how much one person would make a day at this scheme. Evidently enough that a lot of them keep doing it.





Nana




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bowls101: I like your humor. Good one.




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