Police warning over 'gold' ring scam
Posted by Emma Heseltine on Mar 14, 12 03:26 PM in News
All that glitters is definitely not gold, especially when a beggar approaches in the street offering to sell a gold ring they have 'just found on the pavement' for up to £20.
The ring might look and feel like gold, but is nothing more than a cheap piece of metal, often a pipe joint ring used by plumbers, which can be bought at a DIY shop for a couple of pounds.
This type of scam is more commonly seen on the streets of Paris where it originated, but last week, a 19 year-old Romanian was arrested in Kensington after being caught red-handed using it.
Last Thursday (
at 12.30pm, two plain clothes police officers were on patrol when they saw Danut Cirneala of no fixed address, walk towards a 54 year-old man using a pay and display machine in Brunswick Gardens.
The officers saw Cirneala bend down and pick up a yellow metal ring from the floor and approach the victim to ask if the ring was his.
The victim replied that it was not, and he was offered the ring for less than £20.
Cirneala was arrested by the watching policemen, and was found to be in possession of a further six yellow metal rings.
He was interviewed at Notting Hill police station in the presence of a Romanian interpreter, and he admitted the rings he had were worthless, and that he took them out with him with the intention of tricking members of the public into thinking they were valuable.
As he had no previous convictions, he was issued with a police caution for possession of articles for use in fraud.
Sergeant Bob Lands from Campden safer neighbourhoods team, said: "The cleverer the criminal, the more devious they will be in trying to deceive you, including adding a fake hallmark.
"However, if you rub your finger over the mark you will feel that it is imprinted rather than raised like all genuine hallmarks.
"With the Olympics barely four months away and the tourist season fast approaching too, we expect to see an increase in this type of scam and during the past three weeks we have amassed a collection of 16 fake rings.
"I would strongly recommend everyone to exercise common sense if they are approached and offered a 'gold' ring and to remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it generally is."