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TikToker Kacie Rose posted a video exposing a burgeoning scam in Italy and instructing tourists on how to avoid it. Specifically, she encountered scammers using paintings to trick tourists into splitting their cash during a recent trip to Florence.
Rose said she witnessed firsthand the blatant "money-grabbing" tactics used on tourists during her trip to Italy last summer. The female tourist shared that the scammers, posing as street art vendors, deliberately arranged the paintings on the ground, blocking the path.
Scammers would place paintings on the floor, hoping that a tourist would step on them.
According to Rose, unsuspecting tourists might accidentally step on these cheap printed pictures. Then, scammers immediately approach and try to extort money from the unlucky tourists who have stepped on the artwork.
"These people usually set up their stalls in crowded areas or on streets with frequent pedestrian traffic so they can easily carry out their scams," Rose said in the video.
As soon as tourists step on the paintings, scammers waiting nearby will quickly approach, threaten them, and demand compensation. The compensation amount is usually around $300. Rose advises that the way to escape this situation is to walk away decisively and absolutely not pay the scammers, or to report it to the police.
"If those people hold you back, calmly say that you will pay them when the police are present. For your safety, after escaping from the scammers, you should immediately find the nearest police station and report the incident," Rose shared.
Scammers are very apprehensive about being mentioned in connection with the police. They often stack the paintings on top of each other to make it easier to clean up the scene if the police happen to pass by.
Rose further shared that there are many cases where tourists don't know the local language, lose their temper when being yelled at, or want to get it over with quickly. As a result, they end up wasting hundreds of dollars on scammers.
