A travel expert who runs a popular TikTok account devoted to Italian adventures has sent out a dire warning for tourists flocking to the country.

Giuseppe, TikTok‘s @exploring.italy, alerted his followers to a notorious “rose scam” rife across some of Italy’s major cities. In a stark message, he advised: “Watch out for the rose scam when visiting Italy,” alongside a video post which allegedly catches a rose vendor in action.

Giuseppe provided a run-through of the deceitful scheme, explaining: “This scam – people don’t even realise it’s happening to them and they just give in to it regardless,” as images of a typical seller flashed on-screen. He elaborated on the con, stating: “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.”

The content creator proceeded to describe the swindle further, explaining: “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.”

From his own encounters, Giuseppe adedd that if one tries to return the rose, the sellers will “will literally refuse and say no”, insisting it is no longer theirs and they don’t want it back. He said they’ll tell you, ‘It’s yours now and I want money for it – give me a Euro, give me two Euros for it’.”

In light of this, Giuseppe has unveiled a straightforward tactic to avoid others falling victim of the trick. “It’s really simple, just ignore them,” he suggests. “Don’t even look at the people that are selling roses because they will scam you.”

He wraps up his informative video with a clear warning: “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.”

Scores of Giuseppe’s 384,000 devotees praised his wise counsel in the comments section of his clip.

Drawing from personal experience, one TikTok user shared: “Just be careful in any surroundings.. I learned don’t act like a TOURIST.. Walk like you live there.”

A second revealed they’d spotted the problem too, penning: “Yes, I am here right now and it is everywhere even in Catania. Very aggressive.” A third person concurred: “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.”

And a fourth recalled: “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.”