Pickpockets and Scams in Paris: How to Avoid Them
Paris is a safe city to visit. It also has a short, remarkably stable repertoire of tricks aimed at travellers: pickpocket teams on the Métro, a handful of street scams around the monuments, and unlicensed drivers who work the arrivals halls at Charles de Gaulle and Orly. We drive through all of it every day. Here is what the official sources say, how each scheme actually unfolds, and the few habits that make you a poor target.
Why knowing the script is most of the protection
Nearly everything on this page works on the same principle: a stranger creates a moment of confusion and you lose track of your bag, your card or your common sense for a few seconds. None of it involves violence. None of it works on someone who has already read the script. That is why the UK Foreign Office and the Government of Canada describe these risks in a paragraph or two, and why the Paris police prefecture publishes its advice as a short leaflet rather than a book.
We have written this guide the same way. Read it on the plane, and you will recognise each situation the moment it starts.
Pickpockets: where they work and how
The UK Foreign Office puts it plainly: thieves and pickpockets operate on the Paris Métro, on RER lines and at mainline stations, and they can work in gangs, with one person distracting you while another goes into your bag. The Canadian government's travel advice adds tourist sites, department stores, restaurants, hotel lobbies and parks, as well as buses, trains, stations and airports, and describes the classic openers: someone spills a drink on you, draws you into a long conversation or insists on helping you. An older US government report (2020) singled out the RER B between Charles de Gaulle and the city centre and Métro line 1, which runs beneath the main sights from the Louvre to the Champs-Élysées. No recent official statistics are published line by line, so treat those two as "busy and tourist-heavy" rather than as uniquely dangerous.
The pattern is always the same: crowding plus distraction. A packed carriage at the Châtelet interchange, the doors about to close, someone pressing past you — that is the moment. The Paris police prefecture's own leaflet, Paris en toute sécurité, lists the other favourite settings: a café terrace where your bag hangs on the chair or sits on the floor, a cash machine where someone leans in to "help", a petition pushed under your nose, and a phone held out at arm's length for a selfie, snatched from behind.
Six habits that cost nothing
These come straight from the prefecture's leaflet, and they match what we see at the kerb every week:
- Carry a small cross-body bag or belt bag rather than a backpack, with the opening turned towards you.
- Never keep your wallet or phone in a back pocket.
- At the ticket barriers, do not let anyone slip through behind you on your ticket.
- Never buy Métro tickets from someone selling them in the station — they charge far more than the counter price, up to ten times according to the police.
- At a cash machine, shield the keypad with your hand and do not let anyone distract you mid-transaction.
- If someone grabs your bag and pulls, let go. Nothing in it is worth an injury.
One last reflex of our own: keep a photo of your passport and cards in your phone, and your phone number written inside your suitcase. Both turn a bad afternoon into a manageable one.
The street scams that keep coming back
These are documented by the Paris police prefecture and by foreign governments' travel advice. The cast changes; the lines do not.
The petition
Young people approach you with a clipboard, often presenting themselves as deaf and mute, and ask you to sign for a cause. Then they ask for a donation. While you sign, accomplices work on your bag and pockets. You will meet this on the forecourt of the Eiffel Tower, around the Louvre and Notre-Dame, and anywhere else people stand still with their hands occupied. Do not stop; a smile and a shake of the head is all it takes.
The shell game
Three cards or three cups on a cardboard box, a dealer, and a small crowd of "players" who keep winning. They are all part of the team. The prefecture describes the stake as 50 euros minimum, and the outcome as fixed: the dealer wins, you lose, every time. The crowd itself is also cover for pickpockets. Walk past.
The friendship bracelet (Montmartre)
On the steps below the Sacré-Cœur, especially in the square Louise-Michel, someone takes your wrist in a friendly way and begins knotting a woven bracelet around it. Once it is on, it cannot be removed without scissors, and payment is demanded — loudly, if needed. Keep your hands in your pockets as you climb, and refuse any hand that reaches for yours. The same trick is sometimes done with a "found" gold ring handed to you; older US embassy reports describe both as pretexts for a demand of money or a distraction for pickpockets.
Fake police officers
Someone in plain clothes shows a badge for a second, asks to see your papers and your wallet "to check for counterfeit notes". The prefecture is categorical: a real police officer will never ask you for money. Ask to see the tricolour professional card — a white plastic card in credit-card format marked "Police" — and if in doubt, say you will walk to the nearest police station together. Fake officers do not follow.
Cash machines
Card and ATM fraud does happen, as the Canadian travel advice notes. Use machines inside bank branches or in busy public places, cover the keypad, and refuse any help offered by a stranger, however polite. If the machine swallows your card and someone immediately suggests re-entering your PIN, walk into the branch instead.
Street sellers and ticket touts
Souvenirs sold on a sheet by the Eiffel Tower, event tickets at the stadium gate, currency exchange "at a better rate" in the street, cabaret touts on the pavement with drinks at eye-watering prices: the prefecture groups them together because they feed the same informal networks and because the goods are frequently counterfeit or the tickets void. Buy from a shop, a box office or a licensed exchange.
Fake taxis at CDG and Orly
This is the scheme we know best, because our chauffeurs stand in those arrivals halls every day and watch it happen. A man in a dark jacket, sometimes with a lanyard, approaches travellers coming out of baggage reclaim — often families or passengers off a long-haul flight — and asks, in good English, whether they need a taxi to Paris. The car is parked "just outside", the price will be "the normal fare". The journey ends with a detour, a demand several times the legal fare and strong pressure to pay by card before the doors open.
In August 2026 two journalists from Le Parisien posed as American tourists at Charles de Gaulle and followed one of these touts. They were charged about 190€ for a ride whose regulated fare was 56€; the driver took a longer route, let the meter run up and then cited "new tariff rules" and the length of the journey (reported by The Local). The same report notes that unlicensed taxis have also been seen at Orly. The Canadian government says simply that illegal taxis operate at airports and railway stations in Paris and advises using official ranks only.
What a real taxi looks like
Paris Aéroport's own guidance is that authorised taxis can only be found at the designated ranks, and that no legitimate driver solicits passengers inside the terminals. Follow the "Taxi" signs and the floor markings to the official rank outside each terminal; there is a queue and a marshal, and nobody there will approach you. Under French rules, as set out by service-public.gouv.fr, every licensed taxi must have:
- an illuminated roof sign reading Taxi with the name of its commune, green when the cab is free, red when it is hired;
- a taximeter visible to the passenger, switched on for every journey — including flat-fare airport runs;
- a working card terminal: you are entitled to pay by card whatever the amount, and the driver must print a receipt for any fare above 25€;
- a plate visible from outside showing its licence (ADS) number and the département where it operates.
The official 2026 fares
Between the two main airports and Paris within the ring road, the fare is a flat rate set by ministerial order and published by service-public.gouv.fr. It applies in both directions, day and night, for a direct journey:
| Direct journey, either direction | 2026 flat fare |
|---|---|
| Charles de Gaulle ↔ Paris Right Bank | 56€ |
| Charles de Gaulle ↔ Paris Left Bank | 65€ |
| Orly ↔ Paris Right Bank | 45€ |
| Orly ↔ Paris Left Bank | 36€ |
Luggage is included, there is no night or booking surcharge, and no "new rule" can be invoked at the kerb. The only extra the regulation allows is 5.50€ per passenger from the fifth passenger onwards. One point travellers often get wrong: the meter stays on even at the flat rate, because the law requires it. A running meter is therefore not a sign of fraud; you simply pay the flat fare at the end. What should worry you is a car with no meter, no card terminal and no licence plate — in other words, a car that is not a taxi.
What the law says about touting
Approaching passengers and taking them without authorisation is a criminal offence under article L. 3124-12 of the French Transport Code: one year's imprisonment and a 15,000€ fine, with possible additional penalties of a driving-licence suspension of up to five years, impoundment of the vehicle for a year or its confiscation (as restated in a 2025 ministerial answer to the Senate). Overcharging through a rigged card terminal is prosecuted separately as fraud.
Taxi or VTC: the one rule that settles it
A Paris taxi may pick you up at a rank or be hailed in the street. A private-hire chauffeur (VTC, the French equivalent of a licensed car service) may do neither: under the same Transport Code it can only carry passengers who have booked in advance, and it may not wait for custom or approach travellers. That gives you a simple test in the arrivals hall. A legitimate booked chauffeur already knows your name, your flight number and your destination, and holds a board with your name on it. Someone who offers you a car without knowing who you are is neither a taxi nor a VTC operating lawfully. If you have booked a driver and cannot see your name, ring the number on your confirmation rather than accepting the offer at your elbow — those thirty seconds of doubt are exactly when the touts work. Our taxi vs private chauffeur guide goes through the differences in detail.
If something is stolen: what to do, in order
- If it has just happened, call 17 (police) or 112 (the European emergency number, which works from any phone). Both are free and answered in English if needed.
- Block your cards through your bank's app or emergency line, and change the passwords of any account your phone was logged into.
- Report the theft at a police station (commissariat). Paris has one in every arrondissement, several open around the clock. France has an online complaint service for thefts, "Plainte en ligne", but it requires a postal address in France, so visitors from abroad should go in person. Take an ID or a photo of it, and describe the time and place as precisely as you can.
- Keep the receipt of your complaint (récépissé de dépôt de plainte). Your travel insurer, your bank and your consulate will all ask for it.
- Passport stolen? With that receipt, contact your embassy or consulate in Paris; most issue an emergency travel document within a few days. The police receipt on its own is not a travel document and will not get you onto a flight.
- Phone stolen? Use your carrier's app or a friend's phone to lock it remotely, and note the IMEI number for the complaint.
Before you travel, keep a photocopy or a photo of your passport separate from the original, as both the French police and the Canadian government recommend. It cuts the time at the consulate considerably.
Frequently asked questions
Is Paris a safe city for visitors?
Yes. Violent crime against tourists is rare; what Paris does have is a small repertoire of recurring tricks — pickpocket teams on the Métro and RER, a few street scams around the big monuments, and unlicensed drivers in the airport arrivals halls. Each one relies on you not knowing the script. Once you do, a normal level of attention is enough.
Where are pickpockets most active in Paris?
The UK Foreign Office says thieves and pickpockets operate on the Paris Métro, on RER lines and at mainline stations, often in gangs where one person distracts you while another goes into your bag. The Canadian government adds tourist sites, department stores, restaurants, hotel lobbies, parks, buses, trains and airports. An older US government report (2020) singled out the RER B from Charles de Gaulle and Métro line 1 along the main sights. No recent official figures are published line by line.
How do I recognise a real taxi at Charles de Gaulle or Orly?
A real Paris taxi waits at the signposted official rank outside the terminal and never approaches you in the hall. It has an illuminated roof sign reading Taxi (green when free, red when hired), a visible taximeter, a working card terminal — you may pay by card whatever the amount — and an exterior plate with its licence number. Anyone who offers you a car inside the building is soliciting illegally; decline and walk to the rank.
What is the official taxi fare from CDG or Orly to Paris in 2026?
The 2026 flat fares set by the French government for a direct journey, in either direction, are: Charles de Gaulle to the Right Bank 56€, to the Left Bank 65€; Orly to the Right Bank 45€, to the Left Bank 36€. They apply day and night, luggage included, with no booking or night surcharge. The only extra the rules allow is 5.50€ per passenger from the fifth passenger onwards.
The meter is running even though the airport fare is fixed. Is that a scam?
No. French rules require the taximeter to be switched on and visible for every ride, including flat-fare airport runs. At the end you pay the flat fare, not what the meter shows. A running meter is normal; a driver who has no meter, no card terminal or no licence plate is the warning sign.
Can a private chauffeur or VTC pick me up at the airport without a booking?
No. Under the French Transport Code a VTC may only carry passengers with a prior booking; it cannot be hailed, wait for custom or approach travellers. A legitimate booked chauffeur therefore already knows your name, your flight and your destination, and holds a board with your name in the arrivals hall. Someone who offers a car without knowing who you are is neither a taxi nor a VTC operating lawfully.
What should I do if my wallet or passport is stolen in Paris?
Call 17 (police) or 112 (European emergency number) if the theft has just happened. Then report it at the nearest police station (commissariat): the French online complaint service requires a French postal address, so visitors from abroad should go in person. Ask for the receipt of your complaint — your insurer will need it. If your passport was taken, contact your embassy or consulate in Paris with that receipt; the receipt itself is not a travel document.
Sources
Official 2026 taxi fares and compulsory taxi equipment: service-public.gouv.fr, fiche F34349. Pickpocket and scam advice: Paris police prefecture leaflet Paris en toute sécurité; UK FCDO travel advice for France; Government of Canada travel advice for France. Fake taxis: Paris Aéroport, "Fake taxis"; The Local, 3 August 2026, reporting Le Parisien's investigation. Penalties for touting: Senate written question no. 03905 (2025) and National Assembly written question no. 31303. Online complaints: service-public.gouv.fr on "Plainte en ligne".
Arrive with a chauffeur you booked
Your chauffeur waits in the arrivals hall holding a board with your name, your flight is tracked, and the price was confirmed in writing before you left home. Nobody needs to approach you, and you have nothing to negotiate at the kerb.
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