1. On our first trip to Paris, we were in the tunnel under the l'etoile to get to the Arc. Just ahead of us was a woman (tourist) wearing a back pack. Two or three kids sidled up behind her, unzipped the pack, and began rummaging through it. I yelled at them, and the woman turned around and figured out what was happening, so she began to yell at them, too.

The pickpocket fell to the ground and began quivering like it was a siezure or something. I ignored him and urged everyone to keep on walking. I might have stepped on his hand as we hurried away.

2. On the next trip, we were staying at the old (sadly no more) Hilton, and we were having coffee at a little cafe away from the Seine; I forget the name of the street. A group of young women came walking along, all dressed, well, perhaps not outlandishly, but at least they certainly appeared to be wearing what I perceived as eastern european dress. Gypsies? I dunno.

Anyhow, they spoke perfect English and were chatting about going off to work (their turf was the area around the Tower, where we had run into them before) and scores they had made. I guess they didn't realize we spoke English.

At that time, the scam had something to do with being stranded, in imminent danger of being deported, or maybe even helping to free their 'brother' who was being held captive by the authorities back home (can you say Spanish Prisoner scam?).

Anyhow, they're all scams and you're better off ignoring them.

Low-level scams like this seem to abound all over Europe. Fortunately, they rarely end up with violence. Some of them are actually amusing ("Pardon me, did you just drop this gold ring?")