Rome is a captivating city that attracts an increasing number of tourists, but unfortunately, it is not the only category of people who converge to the Eternal City. The large numbers of visitors are interesting to scammers or petty thieves are also looking to make a quick buck at the expense of those roaming the city center or those parts of Rome that are fascinating to travelers from all over the world. Scams that target them are a fact of life, but they don’t have to derail your plans for a great vacation in Italy. With this article, you’ll be prepared to avoid them!

Traveling to a foreign country can be overwhelming and a source of stress: you don’t know the culture, you don’t (usually) know the language, and of course the streets around you will be unfamiliar.

Scammers count on this, so you’ll notice a pattern in the scams we describe below: appearing friendly or friendlier (for example, compared to the hospitality workers you may have encountered, who will not be as outgoing as those you meet in your home country), or trying to appeal to a sense of solidarity, or humanity.

While the strategy for avoiding these scams is deceptively simple, putting it into practice isn’t as easy as it looks: no one knows you in a foreign country. A simple truth, right? So don’t engage with, don’t turn around, don’t pay attention to those calling after you or trying to get your attention. Those are just tactics to get to slow you down so the scammer can do their thing.

More pointers: stay vigilant. Obviously not to the point where you don’t enjoy your holiday, but be careful when people enter your personal space, for example a fellow passenger on a subway, or a street seller approaching you.

Also: trust your instincts. If something feels off, walk away.

And now, on to the actual scams…

Street vendors often initiate conversations with unsuspecting tourists by asking seemingly innocuous questions such as “Where are you from?” or “Are you from Africa?”. They may also compliment your shoes or accessories in an attempt to strike up a friendly conversation. The “making you feel comfortable” is part of the routine to make you feel comfortable or to get you to let your guard down. The more ridiculous the question, the more you should ignore the sellers, who are there to sell counterfeit goods at inflated prices. In the “friendship bracelet” variant, they’ll pressure you to give them money for an ailing family member, or a young child, and so on and so forth.

How to protect yourself:

Avoid engaging: Politely decline to answer personal questions and keep walking. We know, it’s hard: our collective instinct is always to say hello back, or even just shake our heads. This is as wrong as stopping for actual conversation and should be avoided at all costs!

In this scam, someone approaches you on the street or in a public place, asking for your signature on a petition. These petitions often appear to support a charity. However, once you’ve signed, the person requests a donation for their supposed cause.

How to protect yourself:

Do your research: No reputable organization would ask a foreign citizen for a donation (but some very reputable charities in Italy sell houseplants or food on select days like Mother’s Day, so do your research and Google the name of the organization first). In addition, no charity would ask for cash, but would try to have a recurring payment deposited into their bank account each month.

Beware of strangers who “find” a gold ring on the ground near you. They’ll claim it’s valuable and offer to sell it to you at a discounted price. In reality, the ring is worthless, and you’ll end up paying far more than it’s worth. How to avoid this:

How to protect yourself:

Politely decline or, better yet, keep walking: remember that valuable items don’t magically appear on the street, especially not in Rome!

Variations of this scam include claiming that you dropped your house/car keys (this is a ruse to distract you that happens in parking lots: an accomplice will steal purses or luggage from your rented car while you check the keys that the scammer is showing you), or a jacket, or anything else, really, that a tourist would be likely to lose on a crowded street.

This is more likely to happen to Italians, but we’re told it’s starting to happen to foreigners as well. In the classic version of this scam, a well-dressed man, often claiming to be a salesman, doctor, lawyer, or other highly respected profession, will ask for your help because he has run out of gas and his card or phone application has been declined.

How to protect yourself:

Just say no: They obviously don’t have a vehicle (also: in the center of Rome it’s especially unlikely that there’s a gas station nearby, as they’ve been moved away from the main attractions for security reasons). Say you don’t have any cash on you (our go-to method is “oh, sorry, I just paid cash for my taxi ride here and I’m out of money”) or say you don’t speak English/Italian/whatever language the scammer is using. Walking away always works.

Also on the rise, this is more of a petty theft attempt than a real scam. A stranger will draw your attention to the fact that you have a stain on your jacket, or out of nowhere they will appear to have poured a liquid or the contents of a can on you – this is to get you to remove the garment to examine it (in one variation they will offer to clean it). If they are allowed to touch it (either “accidentally” or to “help” you), they will find your valuables (wallet, phone…) and walk away with them.

How to protect yourself:

Don’t engage: As we mentioned at the top of this post, you don’t know anyone in Rome. So why would you slow down for a complete stranger? If your jacket or shirt is actually stained, let a dry cleaner deal with it. Either way, keep walking!

 

Finally, this is kind of a weird one. The people who have told us about it have certainly not been asked for money, nor do they seem to have been pickpocketed. Several people were approached by other “tourist-looking” strangers, often speaking in Spanish, who asked to take a selfie because of their resemblance to a famous athlete or actor/singer. It is probably an attempt at pickpocketing that has gone wrong.

The most famous variation of this is the Centurion scam, where fake re-enactors offer to take a selfie with you, only to demand an exaggerated amount of money to give you back your phone. Needless to say, these are not re-enactors, nor are they employed by the City of Rome.

How to protect yourself:

Again, walking away works best. To be fair, people dressed as ancient Romans are easy for the police to spot, and we haven’t heard of this particular variation in years. Also, the prohibit visitors from dressing up like ancient Roman soldiers and this is precisely to prevent this type of scam.