In the middle of the street, several victims were fooled by fake tourists with well-established methods of operation. Authorities call it the “Irish scam.”
In the heart of the capital, two men, aged 25 and 28, from the United Kingdom, trapped several people to quietly extract large sums of money from them in cash. These alleged scammers played on the empathy of their victims to make them fall into their nets. They adopted the Irish scam and were flushed out on February 12 by the anti-crime brigade (BAC) of the 17th arrondissement of Paris. What exactly does this consist of?
Their modus operandi was simple: they approached passers-by in the street, posing as tourists in distress. They claimed to have been robbed of all their belongings and asked to be advanced a certain amount of money to be able to return home. “One of the two men assured the victim that he absolutely needed money to return to the United Kingdom, because his friend – who had remained in the car – was ill and had to urgently go to a hospital in his country”, report our colleagues from Actu Paris.
This loan was to be repaid as quickly as possible by bank transfer, except that their prey never saw their money again. One of the victims was also taken in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. Out of compassion, she agreed to lend the fake tourists the sum of 600 euros in cash. To close their trap, the thugs sent him by message false proof of a bank transfer, supposedly made, when this was not the case. The two men had been spotted earlier by the police who decided to arrest them before they fled.
During their investigation, the police were able to make the link with other cases committed in the capital between November 2022 and last January. The total damage would be estimated at around 2,500 euros. One of the two men is also wanted in Germany for 16 other cases of fraud. This Irish scam is far from being new on French territory. All you have to do is type “Irish scam” into Google to come across several articles reporting similar cases that have occurred across France in recent years. Vigilance is therefore essential and if you are a victim, the authorities recommend quickly calling the police or gendarmerie.