American woman vacationing in Milan warns of cunning SCAMS used by Italian residents to rob tourists

A fashion and lifestyle influencer is taking to TikTok to warn about a scam she encountered while on vacation in Milan.

Hannah Chody, 31, heiress to the Garrett Popcorn fortune, had a near-accident while walking home from dinner with her husband, investor Chad Milburn, in the fashionable Italian city.

“I don’t know if anyone in Milan has experienced this,” she began.

“This man came up to my husband and kept saying ‘scarpa, scarpa, scarpa’, which means shoes in Italian.

“And I looked at my husband’s shoes and I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ And I thought, ‘No, let’s keep going.’”

Hannah Chody, 31, heiress to the Garrett Popcorn fortune, found herself in a precarious situation as she walked home from dinner with her husband, investor Chad Milburn, in the fashionable Italian city.

Out of nowhere, a group of men started shouting the Italian word for “shoes,” before one of them apparently grabbed Chad’s wristwatch

“Because Chad didn’t know what scarpa meant,” she continued.

‘That guy suddenly starts following us and intimidating us.’

Hannah says that at that moment the man wanted to grab Chad’s hand, as if he wanted to get his watch. Luckily his watch was under his jacket.

After a few minutes, other people started approaching them and the boys “disappeared,” she continued.

Hannah and Chad later discussed the incident again, and Chad realized that something similar had happened to him before the pandemic.

Five years ago, in the same neighborhood in Milan, a man came up to Chad and started making fun of his shoes. They were “regular Gucci loafers,” Hannah said.

‘We think it’s a tactic of pickpockets, or of guys who want to rob you.

‘Because what do you do? When someone comments on your shoes, the first thing you look at is your shoes, and you don’t look anywhere else.

Chad recalled a similar encounter he had five years earlier in Milan, when he also encountered a group of shady men trying to draw attention to his shoes (stock photo)

Hannah, who married her husband Chad in Italy in July 2022, stressed that she almost always feels “safe” in Milan but advised viewers to remain “super aware” of their surroundings

She stressed that they were both “fine,” but that it was “very strange and dark,” and that the guy definitely had a motive. He was just interrupted,” she continued.

“But I just want to say that 99 percent of the time I feel very safe in Milan,” she stressed.

“But be super aware of your surroundings. If someone is trying to distract you, I think that’s the biggest red flag.”

Hannah and her husband are no strangers to Italian culture. They have been traveling to the European country regularly for years and even tied the knot in a lavish ceremony on Lake Como in July 2022.

In the two years that followed, the influencer has become a true star on TikTok, where she regularly shares beauty and fashion tips and documents her jet-set lifestyle.

Last week Hannah announced that she was going on a three week vacation to Europe. She also documented her packing process. She started her trip in Milan and then headed to the Dolomites.