Police Tip: Travel to France to be alert to fake police theft

Recently, my embassy in France has received reports from Chinese citizens for help, claiming that the counterfeit police forcibly inspected documents and wallets and found that the money and theft were stolen. The Police Liaison Office of the Chinese Embassy in France reminds domestic tourists traveling to France to be more aware of their safety precautions. They use credit cards or cheques when traveling. They carry little cash on their bodies. If a similar case occurs, it should be reported to the police in time.

After receiving reports of such cases, the police liaison office of the Chinese Embassy in France participated in the aftermath of the incident on the one hand, and actively contacted the French police on the other hand to report the case and request measures to combat such crimes. According to the French police notice, such cases have also occurred in Paris in the past, and there has been an upward trend recently, which has attracted the attention of the Paris police station. The French police emphasized that under French law, the police have the right to inspect foreigners ’documents in public places, but such inspections are rarely carried out in tourist attractions, and they are often coordinated with police officers in uniform. If an existing case occurs in a public place, the French police will arrange for an interpreter to conduct an identity check in the nearest police station when the language is not available. In principle, there will be no immediate search in a public place.

According to the analysis of the recent incidents, such cases of financial intrusion mostly occur in places and periods of relatively low traffic. The criminals are mostly two or three people, aiming at foreigners wearing lavish clothes and carrying brand-name bags. Chinese people have the habit of carrying cash when traveling, and most of them do not speak French, which has become one of the key targets for criminals to commit crimes. The perpetrators are mostly European faces, and sometimes there are Arabs in North Africa. When committing the crime, they pretended to check the police documents and took the opportunity to steal valuables such as cash. Most of these cases are committed by gangs. When committing crimes, there is a clear division of labor, and the selection of stealing targets and finding the timing of the start are all very old.