There's a moment, in almost every city trip, when someone approaches you with a smile that's just a bit too wide: a bracelet they'll "give" you before tying it to your wrist and demanding money, a petition to sign that mostly serves to distract you, a plainclothes officer who wants to "check your tickets." Nothing dramatic most of the time — but enough to ruin a morning, or to cost you a few notes or a phone.
The good news is that these scams repeat from city to city with almost comical regularity: once you know the classics, you spot them from a hundred metres away and carry on with your walk. That's the whole point of this article — not to scare you, but to arm you. For the rest of your prep, our complete pre-departure checklist covers documents and bookings.
The classic street move: bracelets, petitions and street games
On the square in front of Sacré-Cœur in Paris, or near the Colosseum in Rome, the scene is almost always the same: a very friendly stranger grabs your wrist "to show you a trick," ties a braided bracelet onto it in a few seconds, then demands ten or twenty euros, acting offended if you refuse to pay. The bracelet is worthless — the pressure is the only argument. The fix is simple: never hold out your wrist, and if someone grabs it, remove the bracelet firmly and say no, without arguing further.
An equally common variant in Barcelona or Madrid: someone hands you a clipboard and a pen to "sign a petition" for a charity. While you're focused on the paper, an accomplice may get close to your bag. And on Las Ramblas in Barcelona or Piazza Navona in Rome, watch out for improvised three-cup games (the classic shell game): it's rigged, the people cheering around you are in on it, and you will never win.
At restaurants: the bill that inflates without you noticing
This is the most common and most subtle scam: a cover charge billed without being announced, a "suggested" daily special whose price appears nowhere, seafood billed by weight without a visible scale, or a bottle of water opened on the table without being asked for. Nothing illegal most of the time, but the final bill always surprises on the high side.
The move that changes everything: ask to see the menu before sitting down, especially on streets that line major sights (around the Trevi Fountain in Rome, or the Old Town Square in Prague, the traps are everywhere). If a waiter waves you in without showing you prices, or the menu shows no prices next to the dishes, walk on. A place full of locals talking loudly, five minutes' walk from the monument, almost always costs half as much for a meal twice as good.
Taxis, fake tickets and rigged ATMs
The taxi that "forgets" to start the meter, or claims it's broken to negotiate an inflated flat fare, remains a classic in almost every major city — Athens and some suburban Parisian train stations have a poor reputation on this front. The fix: always take a taxi from an official rank or book through an app (Uber, Bolt, FreeNow depending on the country), which shows the price before the ride and rules out any street-side haggling.
Around train stations and metro stops, also watch out for improvised ticket sellers who approach lost-looking tourists near the machines: they sometimes sell fake tickets, or genuine tickets at a hugely inflated price while posing as staff. Always buy your transport tickets at official machines, ticket counters, or the city's own app. The same caution applies to standalone cash machines: prefer ones attached to a bank branch, and cover your PIN with your other hand.
The fake police officer and the fake emergency
Less common but more unsettling: a man in plain clothes, sometimes with a uniformed accomplice, approaches you claiming to be a police officer and asks you to hand over your wallet "to check it doesn't contain counterfeit notes." This is a well-documented scam in several European capitals, and it is never a legal practice: no police force checks a wallet in the street this way.
The right move, if this happens: ask to examine a professional ID card closely, offer to walk together to the nearest police station rather than pulling out your documents on the pavement, or simply head into a nearby shop or hotel. A real police officer will have no problem with this; a fake one will vanish within seconds.
Online too: fake rentals and fake tickets
Scams no longer only happen on the street. A listing that seems too good to be true, with an owner who insists on being paid by bank transfer outside the booking platform ("to avoid fees"), almost always hides a flat that doesn't exist. The same caution applies to tickets for museums or in-demand attractions bought on a third-party site whose name closely mimics the official one: always check the exact web address before paying, and stick to recognised booking platforms or the official site of the attraction you're visiting.
- On the street: never hold out your wrist or hand to an overly insistent stranger, and keep walking without stopping to argue.
- At restaurants: ask for the menu and prices before sitting down, and be wary of places right in front of a monument.
- On transport: official taxi ranks or apps, tickets only from approved machines or counters.
- With your documents: no wallet check ever happens in the street; head to the nearest police station if in doubt.
- Online: never transfer money outside a booking platform, and always check the exact URL of a ticketing site before paying.
If you get scammed anyway
Even being careful, it can still happen — and it's not the end of the trip. Stay calm, never try to get an item back by force, and focus on the right steps: block your bank cards immediately if they've disappeared, and go to the nearest police station to file a report, even for a small amount. This document will be essential for your travel insurance and, if you lose your passport, for the steps with your embassy or consulate.
The vast majority of city trips go by without a single incident. Knowing these few classics is already 90% of the job: you'll spot them instantly, keep walking with a smile, and save all your energy for what really matters — discovering the city. To build a stress-free itinerary, the CityPlanner app organises your visits at your own pace.
