TikToker Kacie Rose has posted a video exposing a scam that is flourishing in Italy and showing tourists how to avoid it. Specifically, she encountered scammers using paintings to force tourists to part with their cash on a recent trip to Florence.
Rose said she witnessed the blatant "money-swindling" during her trip to Italy this past summer. She said the scammers posed as street art sellers and deliberately placed paintings on the ground, blocking the path.
Scammers will place paintings on the floor, hoping that a tourist will step on them.
According to Rose, unsuspecting tourists will accidentally step on these cheap prints. Then, the scammers immediately proceed to "extort money" from the tourists who are unlucky enough to step on the paintings.
"These people often display their paintings in crowded areas or on roads with frequent pedestrian traffic to make it easier to perform tricks," Rose said in the video.
As soon as the tourist steps on the painting, the scammers will quickly approach and threaten the tourist and demand compensation. The compensation is about 300 USD. Rose advises that the way to get out of this situation is to leave immediately and definitely not pay the scammers or call the police.
"If those people hold you back, calmly say that you will pay them when the police witness the incident. To ensure safety, after escaping from the scammers, you should immediately find a nearby police station and report the incident," Rose shared.
Fraudsters are very shy about talking to the police. They often stack the pictures on top of each other to make it easier to clean up the scene if the police come by.
Rose added that there have been many cases where tourists who do not know the local language, lose their temper when being bullied or want to settle the matter, and therefore have had to spend hundreds of dollars to scammers.
