Tourists were compelled to pay 100 euros per photo. Now scammers are in trouble
Imagine paying as much as 100 euros for a picture with a character dressed as a Roman soldier, with the Colosseum as your backdrop. Unfortunately, many tourists in Rome have had to face this situation. If they declined to pay, they were forcefully escorted to a nearby ATM to withdraw cash. This scam has been operating for years, but an Italian court has recently convicted two criminals who were perpetuating this deceit.
9:41 AM EST, November 5, 2023
Scammers are ubiquitous, particularly in tourist-centric cities; you need to be on guard against them at every turn. Many tourists in Rome discovered this the hard way, forced to pay 100 euros for a photo in front of the iconic Colosseum.
How it all began
"A dream photo becomes a nightmare" - this is how the unpalatable adventure in the Eternal City was manifested in the newspaper "La Repubblica".
According to the Italian newspaper, it all started rather innocuously. Men dressed in centurion costumes meandered around the Colosseum, enticing tourists to snap pictures with them. But once the photo was taken, the tourists were hit with a demand for payment - sometimes in tens, sometimes as high as one hundred euros. If the tourists refused, the costumed men became aggressive and compelled them to withdraw money from an ATM.
"A nightmare" - this is how internet users describe the situation in comments beneath the Italian newspaper's article.
A festering issue in Rome
Instances of such extortion have been prevalent around the Flavian Amphitheater for years. Foreign tourists are predominantly the victims of these crimes.
Recently, during a police operation beneath the Colosseum, two suspects were apprehended. The metropolitan court has since sentenced them to four years in prison.
