Italian suit scam in Italy

The gift from a show he wrapped up

Hello fellow Travelers, so I am leaving Rome and heading to Dublin for our final leg of our journey. Again, my husband thought I was being stupid for not taking the gift, but my gut was saying scam artist! The gift he was giving was suppose to be from a show he wrapped up. It was a watch, a pen and cuff links. I didn’t see any designer logo on any of the items. He tried to butter us up, but I said no thank you on the gifts. He then sped away quick in his car.

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First time in Rome even though he was Italian

I put this up last year .

perhaps worth a read for new people

Whilst in Rome last week, a well dressed elderly gentleman stopped in a black Mercedes car and asked my wife and I for directions. He was immaculate and had grey hair and glasses and was wearing an expensive looking watch with a blue leather strap. He asked if we could direct him to St. Peter’s Basicilica (I was reading a map) and I showed him. He went on to thank us and said that he was very grateful for the assistance and said that he was on his way to buy his wife flowers for their anniversary.

Said it was his first time in Rome even though he was Italian and was the boss of a F1 team. He then produced a watch and showed us a couple of F1 magazines that were lying on the front passenger seat and after a bit of chit-chat he offered it to us and said that it was a small thank you to us from him for our help. He said he didn’t need the money and said that we shouldn’t sell it as it was so valuable.

I said it was far too much and unnecessary so he said that he understood so perhaps I could give him some money to buy his wife’s flowers. I smelt a rat and when I went to take the watch out of its fancy black case he got quite irate and I new that it was a cheap fake by the weight. He snatched it back and drove off at speed. Has anyone else experienced this sort of con? I have to say he was a real pro and I’m pretty sure a lot of tourists have fallen for this one.

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These scammers know how to get you to part with your money

Yesterday we go scammed – I seriously thought I was smart enough to never get scammed. I know not to accept the roses, bracelets etc. We are approached all day by scammers but you just walk on by… until yesterday when we fell for an old scam that sadly I’d not read about before our holiday.

We were walking towards the Baths of Caracalla and a man stopped to ask for directions and then said he was looking for a bank because he needed money and was about to run out of petrol. Yes we fell for his (very clever) lies and ended up handing over cash after believing the “gifts” he gave us were valuable. Of course they were rubbish which we put straight into the bin but we feel so stupid to be scammed.

As soon as he drove off we both looked at each other and said that we’d been scammed but how stupid of us? These scammers know how to get you to part with your money so please be warned.

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Scammed along Via Bissolati towards Villa Borghese gardens

16/05 Today we got scammed, luckily not too badly.

We were walking along Via Bissolati towards the Villa Borghese gardens. A well dressed man in a car pulled over and hesitatingly asked if we spoke English whilst holding a map. I wen5 over and spoke with him and he explained he was slightly lost and was looking for Termini.

Me being the good bloke I am talked with him then he said we were from New Zealand and his wife was from Hamilton and that the issue was he’d forgotten their anniversary and he was going to Termini to buy flowers on his Amex card.

Then he told us he was with Ferrari as a senior manager in their accounts section and that was fine. Then he said ‘ look you’ve been so helpful I’ll give you this gift that we give all our drivers – it’s special and I’d like you to have it.

I was a bit hesitant but he seemed genuine. He then asked if we had any money he could use to buy the flowers so I handed over several Euros and off he went.

I’m picking the ‘gift’ cost a few Euros less than what we ‘paid’ for it but we got scammed??. You live and learn. We’ve just looked on a website and sure as shit there’s an almost identical situation that was played out except the bloke was from Armani and gave someone some ‘fur coats’. No bloody wonder it works for them.

He appeared to be a well heeled 60 year old who played us…… here’s a phot of my ‘gift’ – the watch works and keeps time, the pen works and I need battery for the torch???

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Encountered this in Rome

Today in Rome my wife and I were crossing the road down by the Tiber and were spotted by a well dressed guy in a small car who followed the EXACT patter described in 1 above.

He started off asking directions “as he wasn’t sure which side of the river he was on”, talked about working for Gallery Lafayette in Paris. He then said he’d give us one of his samples, a jacket, and at this point, we made our excuses and he drove off.

He was very convincing and it was only when we Googled “Rome Scams” and got to this site, that my nagging doubts were confirmed!

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A variation – watches instead of suits

I am ashamed to admit it, but I just today for a variation of the petrol/gas scam in Milano.

The line was that he was a rep from a watch company and he just finished a trade show. He had these left over watches he wanted to get rid of so he didn’t have to pay taxes on them when returning home to Zurich. He had a brochure and was quite good at the spiel.

Of course he needed gas money and even offered to give me the watches when I tried to back away. I guess that is when he got me. The watches were made out to be worth hundreds of Euros. I looked them up and they are some cheap China made crap that looks nice when flashed in front of you.

Wish I would have read about this scam before coming to Italy.

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