A travel guru, who runs a dedicated TikTok account to all things Italian, has issued a serious warning to tourists eyeing a trip to the country.
Giuseppe (@exploring. italy) cautions travellers about the “rose scam” that’s rife in many of Italy’s major cities. In a new post, he advised: “Watch out for the rose scam when visiting Italy,” before elaborating on how these so-called street vendors operate.
He described the deceitful tactic, saying: “This scam – people don’t even realise it’s happening to them and they just give in to it regardless,” while showing an image of a rose peddler. Giuseppe went on to explain the con: “So essentially you’ll be walking the streets of Rome, Venice, Milan and somebody will just come up to you with roses in their hand.”
He continued: “They’ll just throw one [rose] on the floor to you and at that moment you may not think twice about it, and you pick up the rose – either to give it back or you just pick it up in general. Well, guess what happens? They now demand money from you.”
Drawing from his own encounters, Giuseppe asserts that if you try to return the rose to the sellers, they “will literally refuse and say no”, maintaining that it’s no longer theirs and they don’t want it back. He recounted that they’ll assert, ‘It’s yours now and I want money for it – give me a Euro, give me two Euros for it’.”
In a bid to help others dodge the problem Giuseppe explained: “It’s really simple, just ignore them,” also adding, “Don’t even look at the people that are selling roses because they will scam you.”
Wrapping up his informative video, Giuseppe exclaimed: “Do not pick up the rose. Leave it on the floor. Trust me. So many people get scammed by this on a daily basis. The rose scam only happens in big cities so keep that in mind when you’re travelling.”
Many of Giuseppe’s 384,000 followers expressed their thanks in the comments section, with one TikTok user advising further: “Just be careful in any surroundings.. I learned don’t act like a TOURIST.. Walk like you live there,” sharing their own insight.
Another confirmed the scams prevalence, meanwhile, stating: “Yes, I am here right now and it is everywhere even in Catania. Very aggressive.” A third person recounted: “Yup, saw this in Rome and Venice last fall. Thankfully, my sisters did some research before we got there so we were able to avoid all this.”
Whilst a Rome local recalled their own unfortunate encounter, responding: “I’m not even a tourist, I’m from Rome, but a similar thing happened to me. I was walking near the Colosseum and some guy offered me a leather bracelet with an elephant symbol, he said it was a gift.”