American woman living in Paris warns ‘clear cup scam’ is being used to target unwitting tourists in the city
- Amanda Rollins, 34, moved to Paris from Massachusetts six years ago
- Now she gives people tips about the City of Light on her TikTok channel
- She recently warned tourists about the ‘clear cup’ scam
An American woman living in France has warned people traveling to Paris to beware of the ‘clear cup’ scam sweeping the streets.
Amanda Rollins moved to Paris from Massachusetts six years ago and has never looked back.
Since leaving the US, the 34-year-old has been sharing tips on visiting or living in France with her more than 912,000 TikTok followers.
Recently, the American-turned-Parisian told tourists to be careful when exploring the City of Light as homeless people are getting “aggressive” with one of the “most common scams.”
Amanda Rollins, 34, is an American woman living in France who has warned people traveling to Paris to beware of the ‘clear cup’ scam sweeping the streets
Since leaving the US, the 34-year-old has been sharing tips on visiting or living in France with her more than 912,000 TikTok followers
Recently, the American turned Parisian said tourists should be careful when exploring the city
She captioned the viral video, which has more than 28.2 million views to date, “Clear cup scam in Paris.” These guys are here every day and the police are constantly watching them.
“They can get aggressive with you, so just keep walking if it ever happens to you.”
At the beginning of the clip, she said, “This is one of the most common scams you’ll encounter in Paris: the clear cup scam.”
Amanda then showed a video of the plan in action.
A clear cup scam occurs when a homeless person places a few coins in a clear cup and places it far in front of them in the middle of the sidewalk.
They do this so that people can knock over the cup and then their guilt will convince them to give the homeless person money.
“They place it very far away in high-traffic areas, knowing that people are likely to knock it over,” she explained.
“These guys are here every day and when the police see them they take away their cups and their stuff and tell them to get out of here because they know what they are doing is dishonest and a scam.”
Showing the scam in action, she explained that the clear cup scam involved a homeless person putting a few coins into a clear cup and placing it far in front of them.
People flooded the comments section expressing their shock
She further explained that if tourists knock over the cup and don’t give them money, they will become aggressive and ‘yell’.
Amanda noted that one of her followers even shared that she had knocked over a cup but not put any money in it, prompting the homeless man to spit on her.
At the end of the clip she said, “If you’re here in Paris and you knock over the cup, don’t feel obligated to give money unless you want to, and if they start getting loud with you, walk away Just by. ‘
People flooded the comments section expressing their shock.
One person said: ‘I knew about this scam in Paris but saw some older American ladies falling for it. It was sad.’
Another user added: ‘They do this in London. They’re in a ring and it’s not a real homeless person.”
Someone else wrote: ‘I literally gave twenty dollars to a little boy because I felt so bad and knew straight away I was being scammed.’
“Paris is so shit,” a fourth person added.