Natalie Dunn, from Auckland, said her mother fell foul of Paris pickpockets at the Louvre. Photo/ 123RF, supplied
Natalie Dunn, from Auckland, said her mother fell foul of Paris pickpockets at the Louvre. Photo/ 123RF, supplied
A Kiwi traveller has raised alarm about “women with clipboards”, claiming her mother was scammed out of $700 taken in broad daylight at one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions.
Traveller Natalie Dunn was visiting Paris on a tour of Europe with her mother and they wanted to take in all the sights of the busy Olympic city.
“I was keen to explore the museum, where the Mona Lisa painting is,” the 26-year-old AUT student told the Herald.
No sooner had they got off the tourist bus when the travellers were mobbed by women asking for a moment of their time, if they would add their names to a petition and a €1 donation.
“We were approached by three women, all with clipboards, who were quite pretty and rather well dressed.”
She said they were quite pushy but seemed harmless. The petition was “about both funding of the museum, and from memory, the deaf as well” and while Dunn did not sign the petition her mother was happy to help.
After opening her wallet for change, they carried on into the museum and “the three women with the clipboards dispersed quickly”.
Dunn said she should have known they were being targeted, the moment they stepped off the “hop-on hop-off” bus.
“It was at this point that my mum opened her wallet - and realised that her Є400 [$700 approx] were gone!”
It was a mistake she said cost her more than the cash, spending the whole day in a Paris police station. They went straight there to report the pickpocketing, but there wasn’t much else they could do.
Her mother had tried to claim back the stolen money through her travel insurance, to no avail.
It put a real dent in the experience and budget of the five-day trip, which the Dunn and her mother took last month.
Not that it was any consolation, she said that many people had since come to her with similar stories. While some will insist on “minimum donation of €5 or €10” after collecting signatures others claim the clipboard carriers can be aggressive or pushy, praying on visitor’s desire to not be shamed in public. Some claim that the scammers appear to be organised with the same printed petition appearing in several locations, including the Louvre and Montmartre.
Natalie Dunn was visiting Paris with her mum last month, when she fell victim to the scam.
Dunn said she did not want anyone else falling victim to this scam, and felt that the presence of such scams seemed even more blatant at busy tourist attractions. “Especially [with] the Olympic Games coming up in Paris,” she feels it will only embolden scams like this one.
Last year Paris Police Chief Laurent Nuñez said they were making it a priority to clean up pickpocketing scams and organised crime from high density tourism areas, such as the Eiffel Tower, ahead of the games in August 2024.
“We are going to saturate the site to fight against crime and to disperse the troublemakers.”
The remarks came after breaking up a pickpocketing ring in December 2022, believed to have stolen around €1.3m ($2.3m) from tourists on the Paris Metro.
Paris police says cleaning up tourist areas of pickpockets and scam artists is a priority ahead of the Olympic Games. Photo / 123RF
Does travel insurance cover pickpocketing?
Pickpocketing is a common crime in tourist hubs and crowded cities with ”easy” marks.
Whether thieves use elaborate scams or simply help themselves to what’s in a traveller’s back pocket - it’s hard to prevent and equally hard to claim back lost cash.
Many insurance policies will cover the cost of stolen items, such as smartphones or passports stolen from travellers. If you incur expenses due to travel disrupted by stolen travel documents, these are also claimable on most policies.
Often it is possible to take out additional cover for items such as electronics or jewellery, though this may increase your premium.
Unfortunately cash thefts are impossible to insure against, as they carry high fraud risk. And scammers know this.
Pickpockets are still more interested in cash and direct debit cards which, unlike credit cards, cannot have charges disputed by the bank.
Always report the pickpocketing incident to get a police report.
Insurance expert David Wallace, from Allianz Partners New Zealand, told the Herald that, while not everything can be claimed back on insurance, it was important to contact local police “within 24 hours and obtain a copy of the police report”.
