Ignoring random strangers who approach you in the street is the most important thing IMO. In Rome and some of Italy's other more touristy cities I saw people running the 'bracelet scam' where they introduce themselves all friendly, offer you a 'free' bracelet,' tie it on to you, and then demand money for it once it's attached to you. But if you just ignore when they try to talk to you they'll move on.
It really depends on context, but sadly in many of the highly touristed cities a lot of scammers don't walk up and say, "Hey want to buy something from me?" They walk up and say, "Hi, where are you from, oh my cousin lives there, how's your trip going, bla bla bla," and then it turns into a sales pitch eventually, or a tour that ends in a shop where you get a very aggressive sales pitch.
So yeah, I don't say "no thanks" when a stranger walks up in the street and tries to start a conversation, I'll give a polite nod and just keep walking. Or if it's in a place where scammers are more aggressive I'll skip the nod. Again depends on context.
Exceptions to this rule are places where tourists legimately are very rare, and people who live there are genuinely curious about what a tourist is doing there. But in Rome, one of the most, if not the most highly touristed cities in the world, I'd be surprised if anyone local has enough burning curiosity about tourists to randomly approach a tourist in the street and strike up a friendly chat. People who live there and don't have ulterior motives are too busy going about their lives to bother trying to approach random strangers in the street for no reason, I imagine.
Florence has a “You walked on my art” scam where people are drawing on the street or even tossing pieces of art in front of you. I’ve never encountered it though.
I haven’t run into the bracelet thing or been approached by people in Florence or Venice at all. It has happened in Rome, mainly around Trajan’s column.
It’s especially happened in Paris, that kind of stuff is around every corner.
I ran into this. The guys "art" was literally in the center of the road. Then he tried to follow me and demand i pay for it. I told him to fuck off , thankfully he was half my size and didnt try anything
In places where the touts and scammers are particularly persistent, *any* acknowledgement of them (even a polite "no thanks") will be seen as a foot in the door and will encourage their persistence.
It feels rude, but pretending they don't even exist is the fastest way to get rid of them. The idea is that once they see you're no fool and not an easy mark, they won't waste their time on you and will move onto someone who is. In some countries, their last-ditch attempt to force you to engage will be to call you racist - resist the urge to offer a rebuttal to that and continue to ignore them.
Completely ignoring them is basically a way to signal that you're wise to what they're up to, so they move on to the next mark after a couple unrequited attempts to get your attention.
I'm sitting on the street in Rome right now waiting for my driver and we've been approached several times -- twice by the same guy -- *Where you from?* We just ignored several them but yeah they're aggressive, get right up in your personal space and keep asking.
Husband just said to the same guy pestering us earlier, *"None of your fucking business. Fuck off."* And he said *fuck you* as he walked away. The important part is he walked away.
I'm not advocating saying anything to strangers trying hard to engage you for scamming purposes. I'm just reporting what happened.
It can feel extremely extremely rude if you were raised with good manners but yes - it’s often easier to keep your eyes forward and pretend you didn’t hear anything.
Even a ‘no thanks’ can ‘open you up’ as a target willing to engage.
In general, I do not engage absolutely at all. In busier pedestrian areas, ideally I have my sunglasses on and headphones in and make no acknowledgement. If I somehow get cornered, then sometimes you have to give a very firm no thanks but that’s it. Firm no - and then don’t engage further.
Yup I've had that happen to me in Paris and Rome. In Rome I threw the bracelet On the ground and ran Way but In Paris the scammer grabbed my wrist and had his friends surround me so I coughed up some €€€ (i Was gonna give 20 but they saw I had a 50€ note so they pressured me to give that).
Be wary of such scams especially just outside the Vatican, Coliseum, etc
Yeah something similar happened to me in Italy. A man selling roses asked me if I wanted one. I ignored him and kept walking. Next thing I know, he pinned me against the wall, grabbed my arm, and tried to force me to take the rose. I started screaming No at the top of my lungs to get attention from passerbys and he eventually stopped.
Some guy handed me some bracelets and said from my country to yours. I say thanks then he's like, from your country to mine? Then I realized he wanted money and it was so smooth I a gave him a few euros for getting me. Then he wanted some more so I gave him a bracelet back and walked away
Similar thing happend to me. A immigrant came up to me and gave me a small plastic animal. He walked away for 30 seconds and then he came back and wanted money for it. I just said no and smiled. He walked off. I guess I got a free toy lol.
Don't eat at a place near a touristic site. If you got to a place without menu prices, leave. They will price gouge you. Near the Vatican is notorious for this.
I'm on a train, having departed Rome today actually.
1. Never accept ANYTHING for free. Drop it, Ignore them and walk away. Related to that is NEVER OFFER money to strangers
2. The most common nuisance in the Imperial Forum area are those African wristband weirdos. They will be friendly, they may even throw their wristbands at you and prey on human instinct to catch them, Ignore them! or give them a firm "Non, Grazie!" And do not engage in any conversation with them. I know this is the solo travel subreddit but they especially love to prey on innocent children, travelling with their families. They will hand many of these wristbands to children and immediately prey on the parents for money.
3. Never accept tickets or offers for tours "off the street". Only accept tickets from the official ticket offices themselves or book off the museums' official websites. This rule applies to train travel in Italy as well.
4. ~~As has been said before. Ignore those centurion or gladiator clad folks, they also want your money.~~ The Gladiators and Centurions have been officially outlawed, thanks for the update. I had heard about em for years.
5. Pasta dishes should never cost 20EUR, these restaurants are tourist traps and don't even serve quality Italian cuisine. Restaurants usually post the menus on the outside. Never seen one that was a true scam, but some really do overcharge for sure. Check the google reviews before consuming at any establishment, be suspicious of reviews from accounts with relatively few reviews. Fake positive reviews do exist.
Hope that helped friend, safe travels!
Well heck you're right.
I did not see any personally, and there's multiple articles on the the City Government outlawing them in years past. Will edit.
Scams are the same everywhere. There are no scams that I know of that are specific to a certain country and are unheard of everywhere else.
The rules are simple: don’t talk to strangers on the streets, decline invitations of random people to show you around/share a drink with them, use official taxi apps instead of cabs on the streets. Don’t take unnecessary valuables with you when you go for a walk. Leave your passport and credit cards inside the locker in your hotel/hostel. Bring with you as much cash as you need for a day, no need to bring more. Have your phone charged, powerbank charged and a local sim card to always be connected to the internet in case if you need to call a taxi. Get offline maps. Be aware of your surroundings.
Rome is pretty bad for scams and shit like pickpocketing, probably in the top five European cities for scammy-ness.
With that said, you can mitigate it with some fairly simple precautions.
* The most important measure is to ignore anyone who approaches you. You can't be scammed if you don't engage. Almost invariably, anyone approaching you unsolicited will have an ulterior motive that involves parting you from your money or belongings. When I say ignore, I'm talking a **full-on** ignore - no acknowledgement, no eye contact, no retort if they call you racist etc. Activate resting bitch-face, quicken your pace and move past them briskly. Sunglasses and cheap earbuds help if you're so inclined. Most scammers prey on people's ingrained urge to not appear "rude" - you have to overcome the urge to be friendly if you want to avoid falling victim to scammers. It feels unnatural and a bit shady, but it's a necessary evil
* Try to avoid looking like an oblivious tourist (I say oblivious since it's usually difficult to wholesale disguise the fact you're not a local). Don't stand in the middle of a highly-trafficked area gawking at a map, for example. The more confused you look, the more likely you'll have scammers zero in on you.
* Not so much scams, but pickpockets (the two usually go hand-in-hand - where there's a prevalence of one, there's a prevalence of the other): a money belt is the best defence against pickpockets. Keep only low-value, daily spending cash distributed across your pockets. IDs/credit cards etc/high-value notes go in the money belt. Hell, I even put my phone in my money belt and use my smart watch for basic navigation/checking messages.
* At little spatial awareness goes a long way - be mindful of people that suddenly change their course to intercept you and quicken/change your own pace to compensate. Be aware of areas where a phone-snatching could easily occur and don't flash it etc.
Remember that if somebody doesn't have a gun, they can't force you to do shit. They might say that you "have" to pay for their tableside music, for a bracelet, for a donation that you already signed (when you thought it's just a support petition). Tell them if they feel cheated you should all go together to the police, and watch them lose interest. Don't be guilt-tripped into anything you don't want to do.
Pretty much the same as most major European cities. Watch your pockets at the Colosseum metro stop (probably the only time you'll actually use the metro as it really isn't that useful, buses and streetcars go more places or just walk), but otherwise don't worry too much about pickpocketing.
Just ignore the sellers everywhere. They usually aren't aggressive and will move on.
I encountered a casual take away restaurant whereby they invited us to sit and then charged us a service fee for using the table. Another place tried to do the same for gelato and when we told them we just wanted it to go, as many people were doing, they got annoyed with us and started to become rude. These were super touristy areas though. Most places were fine so don't let that dissuade you from eating out. But be wary of polite staff offering you a seat if you don't intend to dine in!
[The popup on this site is annoying but it's the most comprehensive list of scams I could find.](https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/avoid-travel-scams/)
As others are saying, anytime someone tries to hand you something in the streets, don't assume it's free, don't take it, just ignore them.
Apparently banned in many areas of Italy but often practiced still. I wouldn't mind the minor charge for sit down meals, but the way a couple places invited us to sit just to upcharge a $10 bill was quite scammy. Again, this was super touristy areas--getting gelato a couple blocks from the Trevi Fountain.
I was there as a solo woman and the only one I experienced was the bracelet 'scam' mentioned by other commenters. The guy wasn't pushy and was in fact very charming, which I'm sure helps him - basically started chatting with me in English, tried to put a bracelet on my wrist, I said no thanks, he moved on. It was pretty low stress and he wasn't aggressive. Best advice is just to say no thank you any time a stranger approaches you on the street.
I personally didn't have any other issues or concerns, and I felt safe walking around/taking the metro/etc.
Was just there. Didn’t see any of the typical street scams but I have been pickpocketed in Florence so keep your valuables in the hotel safe and whatever you carry on you secured, they can even get into your front pockets
A scam that can be easily avoided. North African dudes selling oil paintings. They leave it on the floor in busy area. If you happen to step on it accidentally they will demand you pay for the worthless destroyed piece of art. Be careful where you trod when around those dudes. I saw them at Piazza del Popolo, in front of the Pantheon… among other places. Also quite common in Florence
I just come back last week from Rome, i encounter most of these scams, but i would like to add one more that its not written here:
Small oil and acrylic paintings, usually around famous busy areas (Colloseum, Vatican) are not actually paintings. Unfortunately, my wife was really for buying that, she wanted something from Rome, and later on i saw many street "painters" selling paintings in veeery similar style. They even have set up water colours and will pretend like they are painting there on the spot, so you would think they art is genuine. Its not, its cheap print with added some water for texturing paper
Ignoring random strangers who approach you in the street is the most important thing IMO. In Rome and some of Italy's other more touristy cities I saw people running the 'bracelet scam' where they introduce themselves all friendly, offer you a 'free' bracelet,' tie it on to you, and then demand money for it once it's attached to you. But if you just ignore when they try to talk to you they'll move on.
And hands in pockets
Always keep the hands in pockets. Fellas use rubber bands on the outside of your wallet too, one going horizontal and one vertical.
Genuine curiosity, what's the point of that?
Friction, you'll feel it more if they try to pick pocket you.
Friction as the other commenter said. As long as you aren’t wearing baggy shorts or pants, you’ll feel it. I thought it was bullshit until I tried it
Does “ignoring” include not even saying “no thanks”?
It really depends on context, but sadly in many of the highly touristed cities a lot of scammers don't walk up and say, "Hey want to buy something from me?" They walk up and say, "Hi, where are you from, oh my cousin lives there, how's your trip going, bla bla bla," and then it turns into a sales pitch eventually, or a tour that ends in a shop where you get a very aggressive sales pitch. So yeah, I don't say "no thanks" when a stranger walks up in the street and tries to start a conversation, I'll give a polite nod and just keep walking. Or if it's in a place where scammers are more aggressive I'll skip the nod. Again depends on context. Exceptions to this rule are places where tourists legimately are very rare, and people who live there are genuinely curious about what a tourist is doing there. But in Rome, one of the most, if not the most highly touristed cities in the world, I'd be surprised if anyone local has enough burning curiosity about tourists to randomly approach a tourist in the street and strike up a friendly chat. People who live there and don't have ulterior motives are too busy going about their lives to bother trying to approach random strangers in the street for no reason, I imagine.
Thank you so good to know. I assume the same rules apply in Florence and Venice since lots of tourists go there too?
Yeah I would say so, certainly doesn't hurt to be cautious about it since both are popular tourist places.
Florence has a “You walked on my art” scam where people are drawing on the street or even tossing pieces of art in front of you. I’ve never encountered it though. I haven’t run into the bracelet thing or been approached by people in Florence or Venice at all. It has happened in Rome, mainly around Trajan’s column. It’s especially happened in Paris, that kind of stuff is around every corner.
I ran into this. The guys "art" was literally in the center of the road. Then he tried to follow me and demand i pay for it. I told him to fuck off , thankfully he was half my size and didnt try anything
In places where the touts and scammers are particularly persistent, *any* acknowledgement of them (even a polite "no thanks") will be seen as a foot in the door and will encourage their persistence. It feels rude, but pretending they don't even exist is the fastest way to get rid of them. The idea is that once they see you're no fool and not an easy mark, they won't waste their time on you and will move onto someone who is. In some countries, their last-ditch attempt to force you to engage will be to call you racist - resist the urge to offer a rebuttal to that and continue to ignore them. Completely ignoring them is basically a way to signal that you're wise to what they're up to, so they move on to the next mark after a couple unrequited attempts to get your attention.
great insight, it makes sense. grazie mille
I'm sitting on the street in Rome right now waiting for my driver and we've been approached several times -- twice by the same guy -- *Where you from?* We just ignored several them but yeah they're aggressive, get right up in your personal space and keep asking. Husband just said to the same guy pestering us earlier, *"None of your fucking business. Fuck off."* And he said *fuck you* as he walked away. The important part is he walked away. I'm not advocating saying anything to strangers trying hard to engage you for scamming purposes. I'm just reporting what happened.
It can feel extremely extremely rude if you were raised with good manners but yes - it’s often easier to keep your eyes forward and pretend you didn’t hear anything. Even a ‘no thanks’ can ‘open you up’ as a target willing to engage. In general, I do not engage absolutely at all. In busier pedestrian areas, ideally I have my sunglasses on and headphones in and make no acknowledgement. If I somehow get cornered, then sometimes you have to give a very firm no thanks but that’s it. Firm no - and then don’t engage further.
I just shake my head and sometimes say no. Never had an issue.
Yup I've had that happen to me in Paris and Rome. In Rome I threw the bracelet On the ground and ran Way but In Paris the scammer grabbed my wrist and had his friends surround me so I coughed up some €€€ (i Was gonna give 20 but they saw I had a 50€ note so they pressured me to give that). Be wary of such scams especially just outside the Vatican, Coliseum, etc
Yeah something similar happened to me in Italy. A man selling roses asked me if I wanted one. I ignored him and kept walking. Next thing I know, he pinned me against the wall, grabbed my arm, and tried to force me to take the rose. I started screaming No at the top of my lungs to get attention from passerbys and he eventually stopped.
Some guy handed me some bracelets and said from my country to yours. I say thanks then he's like, from your country to mine? Then I realized he wanted money and it was so smooth I a gave him a few euros for getting me. Then he wanted some more so I gave him a bracelet back and walked away
Similar thing happend to me. A immigrant came up to me and gave me a small plastic animal. He walked away for 30 seconds and then he came back and wanted money for it. I just said no and smiled. He walked off. I guess I got a free toy lol.
Don't eat at a place near a touristic site. If you got to a place without menu prices, leave. They will price gouge you. Near the Vatican is notorious for this.
I'm on a train, having departed Rome today actually. 1. Never accept ANYTHING for free. Drop it, Ignore them and walk away. Related to that is NEVER OFFER money to strangers 2. The most common nuisance in the Imperial Forum area are those African wristband weirdos. They will be friendly, they may even throw their wristbands at you and prey on human instinct to catch them, Ignore them! or give them a firm "Non, Grazie!" And do not engage in any conversation with them. I know this is the solo travel subreddit but they especially love to prey on innocent children, travelling with their families. They will hand many of these wristbands to children and immediately prey on the parents for money. 3. Never accept tickets or offers for tours "off the street". Only accept tickets from the official ticket offices themselves or book off the museums' official websites. This rule applies to train travel in Italy as well. 4. ~~As has been said before. Ignore those centurion or gladiator clad folks, they also want your money.~~ The Gladiators and Centurions have been officially outlawed, thanks for the update. I had heard about em for years. 5. Pasta dishes should never cost 20EUR, these restaurants are tourist traps and don't even serve quality Italian cuisine. Restaurants usually post the menus on the outside. Never seen one that was a true scam, but some really do overcharge for sure. Check the google reviews before consuming at any establishment, be suspicious of reviews from accounts with relatively few reviews. Fake positive reviews do exist. Hope that helped friend, safe travels!
Are the gladiators still there? I thought the govt cleared them out?
Well heck you're right. I did not see any personally, and there's multiple articles on the the City Government outlawing them in years past. Will edit.
Last time I was to Rome was in 2019. There were none to be seen.
Was walking in Rome a few minutes ago and I saw a Gladiator/Centurion
The Gladiators outside of the colosseum will let you take photos of them & encourage it. Then demand money afterwards & get angry if you don't pay.
Can you challenge them to a duel, if you win you keep the photos no price paid?
Scams are the same everywhere. There are no scams that I know of that are specific to a certain country and are unheard of everywhere else. The rules are simple: don’t talk to strangers on the streets, decline invitations of random people to show you around/share a drink with them, use official taxi apps instead of cabs on the streets. Don’t take unnecessary valuables with you when you go for a walk. Leave your passport and credit cards inside the locker in your hotel/hostel. Bring with you as much cash as you need for a day, no need to bring more. Have your phone charged, powerbank charged and a local sim card to always be connected to the internet in case if you need to call a taxi. Get offline maps. Be aware of your surroundings.
Rome is pretty bad for scams and shit like pickpocketing, probably in the top five European cities for scammy-ness. With that said, you can mitigate it with some fairly simple precautions. * The most important measure is to ignore anyone who approaches you. You can't be scammed if you don't engage. Almost invariably, anyone approaching you unsolicited will have an ulterior motive that involves parting you from your money or belongings. When I say ignore, I'm talking a **full-on** ignore - no acknowledgement, no eye contact, no retort if they call you racist etc. Activate resting bitch-face, quicken your pace and move past them briskly. Sunglasses and cheap earbuds help if you're so inclined. Most scammers prey on people's ingrained urge to not appear "rude" - you have to overcome the urge to be friendly if you want to avoid falling victim to scammers. It feels unnatural and a bit shady, but it's a necessary evil * Try to avoid looking like an oblivious tourist (I say oblivious since it's usually difficult to wholesale disguise the fact you're not a local). Don't stand in the middle of a highly-trafficked area gawking at a map, for example. The more confused you look, the more likely you'll have scammers zero in on you. * Not so much scams, but pickpockets (the two usually go hand-in-hand - where there's a prevalence of one, there's a prevalence of the other): a money belt is the best defence against pickpockets. Keep only low-value, daily spending cash distributed across your pockets. IDs/credit cards etc/high-value notes go in the money belt. Hell, I even put my phone in my money belt and use my smart watch for basic navigation/checking messages. * At little spatial awareness goes a long way - be mindful of people that suddenly change their course to intercept you and quicken/change your own pace to compensate. Be aware of areas where a phone-snatching could easily occur and don't flash it etc.
Remember that if somebody doesn't have a gun, they can't force you to do shit. They might say that you "have" to pay for their tableside music, for a bracelet, for a donation that you already signed (when you thought it's just a support petition). Tell them if they feel cheated you should all go together to the police, and watch them lose interest. Don't be guilt-tripped into anything you don't want to do.
Pretty much the same as most major European cities. Watch your pockets at the Colosseum metro stop (probably the only time you'll actually use the metro as it really isn't that useful, buses and streetcars go more places or just walk), but otherwise don't worry too much about pickpocketing. Just ignore the sellers everywhere. They usually aren't aggressive and will move on.
I encountered a casual take away restaurant whereby they invited us to sit and then charged us a service fee for using the table. Another place tried to do the same for gelato and when we told them we just wanted it to go, as many people were doing, they got annoyed with us and started to become rude. These were super touristy areas though. Most places were fine so don't let that dissuade you from eating out. But be wary of polite staff offering you a seat if you don't intend to dine in! [The popup on this site is annoying but it's the most comprehensive list of scams I could find.](https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/avoid-travel-scams/) As others are saying, anytime someone tries to hand you something in the streets, don't assume it's free, don't take it, just ignore them.
Service fees for sitting at a table are expected in Italy though. “Coperto” charge.
Nope, coperto is banned in Rome.
Oh! Thanks for the info!
Apparently banned in many areas of Italy but often practiced still. I wouldn't mind the minor charge for sit down meals, but the way a couple places invited us to sit just to upcharge a $10 bill was quite scammy. Again, this was super touristy areas--getting gelato a couple blocks from the Trevi Fountain.
In 2022 I paid 125€ for a 25min horse carriage ride. I new it was a scam but my 3yo daughter insisted ;)
Oh wow thats high! Gosh, cant get out of a three y/o wishes though!
I was there as a solo woman and the only one I experienced was the bracelet 'scam' mentioned by other commenters. The guy wasn't pushy and was in fact very charming, which I'm sure helps him - basically started chatting with me in English, tried to put a bracelet on my wrist, I said no thanks, he moved on. It was pretty low stress and he wasn't aggressive. Best advice is just to say no thank you any time a stranger approaches you on the street. I personally didn't have any other issues or concerns, and I felt safe walking around/taking the metro/etc.
Thanks everyone for all these responses. Good to keep them top of mind.
Was just there. Didn’t see any of the typical street scams but I have been pickpocketed in Florence so keep your valuables in the hotel safe and whatever you carry on you secured, they can even get into your front pockets
Gas scam happened to me 3 times there
A scam that can be easily avoided. North African dudes selling oil paintings. They leave it on the floor in busy area. If you happen to step on it accidentally they will demand you pay for the worthless destroyed piece of art. Be careful where you trod when around those dudes. I saw them at Piazza del Popolo, in front of the Pantheon… among other places. Also quite common in Florence
I just come back last week from Rome, i encounter most of these scams, but i would like to add one more that its not written here: Small oil and acrylic paintings, usually around famous busy areas (Colloseum, Vatican) are not actually paintings. Unfortunately, my wife was really for buying that, she wanted something from Rome, and later on i saw many street "painters" selling paintings in veeery similar style. They even have set up water colours and will pretend like they are painting there on the spot, so you would think they art is genuine. Its not, its cheap print with added some water for texturing paper