Every year, millions of people flock to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, drink a cup of coffee in the picturesque streets and eat delicious food.
But recently visitors have been warned to be extra careful as more and more scams appear on the streets of the French capital.
Now an Italian tourist in Monmarte, Paris, has warned of a terrifying new scam he fell victim to “in broad daylight”, leaving him visibly shaken.
Fabrizio Moroni, who goes by @fabriziovmoroni on TikTok, moved to Paris in September this year to learn French. He is also a content creator who documents his travels.
The student made a video in which he talks about his terrifying experience and his escape. The clip was seen by more than 640,000 people within days, and many others revealed in the comments that they were in a similar situation.
An Italian tourist in Montmarte, Paris, has warned of a horrific scam he fell victim to “in broad daylight” which left him visibly shaken.
With a red face and tears in his eyes, he told viewers: “It happened to me too, I mean it happens to everyone in Paris once in their life, but yes, I was a victim of a bracelet -scams in Montmarte.”
“I’m sorry for my eyes and my voice, but I’m quite shocked, it was all very scary.”
He explained: “I was in Monmarte with my girlfriend and we just walked down the stairs and had a good time, and when we got to the bottom of the stairs I didn’t even look around, I just talked to her.”
“I saw this man coming towards me and he was quite intimidating because he was a very big, tall man.
“He came to me and said: ‘Take it, take it. I thought, “No thanks, no thanks,” until he aggressively grabbed my arm.
“It hurt me. He literally said: “It’s a symbol of friendship, it’s offensive if you don’t accept it.” And the more I resisted, the more men, other scammers, came to me.
When Fabrizio realized he was surrounded, other men who were with the impostor began to intervene.
He said: “The other man said: ‘Respect him, respect him’, keep calm.” I said, “I respect him, I just don’t want it – please leave me alone.”
Fabrizio Moroni, who goes by the name @fabriziovmoroni on TikTok, made a video recounting the scary experience and his escape
“When I said that, there were literally six or seven men standing around me and I was in the middle of it.
“My arm was clearly still locked, I had my wallet in my pocket and my phone in the other pocket.”
“I thought they were literally going to take a second to take everything from me and just leave, and there was no one around, no police.”
The Italian added: “It certainly wasn’t the first time they did it.”
“At one point I had the strength, I don’t even know what to say, the courage to say: ‘Let me go’, and I managed to push two of them aside and run away .
“I ran for my life, I literally ran without even looking back. So be careful if you ever go to Monmarte.”
The horrific incident took place on the steps of the Sacré-Coeur church in Montmartre, a popular tourist district.
He warned: “Make sure you go down the outer stairs, the ones on the sides, and not the middle ones at the bottom, and stay safe.”
The horrific incident took place on the steps of the Sacré Coeur church in Montmartre (pictured) – a popular tourist area
“If you ever see someone walking towards you with a bracelet, just run away.”
Fabrizio told MailOnline: “It was very shocking, I go to this place every other weekend and it never occurred to me that something like this would happen, but I usually take the other stairs.”
“I usually go around it and take the outside stairs, but this time I didn’t think about it. I was with my girlfriend and everything happened in seconds. I didn’t have time to process what was going on.’
It’s the first time since he moved to the French capital that someone has tried to cheat on him, and the experience makes him even more insecure.
The student explained: “I knew they would stop you and try to sell you a bracelet in a friendly way, but I didn’t expect them to be so aggressive.
“I remember it was supposed to happen to me once in Milan but I said no a few times and they left, but in this case the more I said no the more the boys surrounded me .
“The guy who kept saying ‘respect him’ started saying it like I was the problem, that I was disrespectful, that I wasn’t nice to them, when I was attacked by literally seven men.”
When Fabrizio told his friends “Help”, the scammers became even more angry.
He believes there was “nothing he could have done” and briefly thought, “Is this it?”
The student said: “My friend tried to intervene but they were in the way so she couldn’t do anything and a man also tried to grab her wrist.”
He explained: “At one point I had the strength, I don’t even know what to say, the courage to say let me go, and I managed to push two of them aside and run away .”
“At that moment I found the strength to push her away a little and then we started running.”
Besides being careful about taking the other stairs, walking around, or taking a cable car, the more general rule is, “Don’t take anything from anyone.”
He explained that while in his case it was literally attached to him, in less extreme incidents people “want it”. Be nice and they will accept it because they trust the person that it will be free.”
“But once they accept the bracelet, they will ask you for money in a very forceful way.
“There are a lot of scams and until last week I didn’t feel that it was actually happening because I had never been a victim of it.”
“Since then I’ve been thinking: Okay, yes, actually I should be more careful.”
Although Fabrizio is still shocked by the incident, he says it is a common scam across Europe and he does not believe Paris itself is a dangerous place. He just wants to warn that tourists are targeted more than French people.
He remained positive and advised: “This should not stop people from visiting Paris.”
“It should let them know that, like in any other big city, people have to be a little more careful, especially when they visit the most touristic areas of the city, like this, the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre.”
Commenters quickly jumped in to share their own similar experiences and warn others.
One user revealed: “The same goes for Montmartre and a knife was also shown there.”
He remained positive and advised: “It shouldn’t stop people from visiting Paris. It’s just to make them realize that, like in any other big city, people have to be a little more careful.”
Another wrote: “This happened to me in the exact same situation when I walked past these stars.” Less aggressive, but disturbing.
“I took it off in public toilets and washed my hands. I didn’t want to take that energy home with me.”
Fabrizio replied: “I just kept it to make this video, but I immediately threw it away.”
Someone else added: “It happened to me too, I’m French, but it helped because I know what to do.” It’s only because I know how to threaten them in French and um You can also shout to get them out of my face.
However, the TikToker said: “Unfortunately, there’s nothing I could have done to avoid it, other than not taking those damn stairs.”
Another asked, “Yes.” I’m going there next weekend. “Was it late?”, to which he revealed “2pm in broad daylight”.
Meanwhile, others wrote: “It happened to me in London and Athens too!! Be careful and try to appear confident” and “It happened to me too!!” But one of my friends came and pushed the boys away from me, thank God for that.
One viewer advised: “It happened to me in 2011, it happened to my partner in 2017. Keep your hands in your pockets, stay cool and ignore people.”
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James is an author and travel journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a love for exploring new cultures and discovering unique destinations, James brings his readers on a journey with him through his articles.
