With the end of year holidays approaching, scams are multiplying, particularly targeting tourists who travel the highways of France. Lately, flat tire scams are making a comeback. Here's how to avoid this well-established technique.
A little-known but very effective scam
It accounts for 30% of highway attacks, yet we don't often hear about this flat tire scam. At the beginning of the week, and more precisely this Monday, the police intercepted two men aged 40 and 49 in La Jonquera, in flagrante delicto. While patrolling the AP-7 highway, they noticed two vehicles stopped on the side of the road. They saw a man grab a backpack from the front seat of a vehicle. The driver, distracted, checked her right rear tire with the help of an accomplice of the thief. In his backpack were his identity papers as well as 2,500 euros in cash. At the sight of the police, the two thieves fled, but they could not go far. They were intercepted immediately.
The technique to protect yourself
Thieves find a way to make you stop, either by claiming there is a problem with your car, or by puncturing one of your tires, often at toll booths, forcing you to stop. While one of the crooks diverts your attention by reporting a problem with your vehicle and pretending to want to help you, his accomplice, who remains hidden or in another car, takes the opportunity to discreetly steal your valuables and personal effects. To avoid this type of scam, particularly around Spanish and French motorways, remain vigilant and always watch your belongings.
To summarize
Every year, the police warn tourists, who cross the highways by the tens of thousands, of ever more frequent thefts at rest areas as well as on the road itself. How to prevent the most famous scam, that of the flat tire?
