A Word In Your Ear

[emmie]

or warning, if planning a trip to the capital at some point, there is a new scam on the street. Well two really, one is oldish, someone marks the back of your coat, jacket, taps you on the shoulder to mention it, whilst you are distracted, the partner dips in and steals wallet, purse. The second, though i didn't fall prey to it, is a young woman or bloke, points out a "gold" ring on the ground, she/he then picks it up, examines it, then promptly tries to sell it to you, i didn't as said fall for it, but the police have warned people about this.

[emmie]

if you come to the capital don't look obvious, handbags unzipped or have a map, a dead giveaway, be safe not sorry.

[tonyav]

Are the scammers of east European descent em ?.

[ChillDoubt]

A colleague in work recently had her camera bag cut from her shoulder with what must have been a very sharp knife/blade, so be wary about tackling any would be thief/pickpocket.

[Brinjal]

Very south American type trick.

[sara3]

I doubt any scams are limited to London

[Eve]

We have plenty up round here (Manchester). One of the common ones at the moment is people approaching people in cafes etc... often with outside seating, putting a piece of card or paper down to say what they "want", usually foreigners saying they are after money, to distract from the fact they have put the card over a phone or similar then picking up the paper along with whatever they have underneath it.

Hugger muggers are also becoming common up here, especially for drunk people in taxi/takeaway food queues.

[emmie]

east europeans mostly, i have had a fairly crap day one way or the other
walked to my front door this afternoon and was approached by a woman, and there it was the same scam, was it my gold ring, i wasn't polite to say the least. So that's the second time.
then had letter from the council about the bedroom tax, not a good day at all.

[Answerprancer]

The one I don't like the look of is the "bet you £20 you don't know which cup the ball is under!" apparent scam spotted on a couple of London's bridges.

[emmie]

not so much now as the local cops move them on quickly, however these new type scams are easy pickings, seeing as how they involve a very quick con and they are off. Personally the next one will get a smack and to hell with the consequences.