Con artists have been offering passers-by fake gold wedding rings in Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead in a scam to take money off them.

The scam involves a man or women offering what looks like a man’s thick gold wedding ring that they have found on the pavement. They then engage victims in a sob story and ask for spare change.

Catherine Ford was walking on Black Path, behind West Hampstead station, on September 29, when a man said he had found a gold wedding ring.

After their exchange, the man followed her down the lane and became “threatening”.

“He started asking if I had any food,” said Mrs Ford. “I had �1 in my wallet but he saw some money sticking out and said, ‘No, you’ve got a note.’

“At this point, we were shoulder to shoulder and I was up against a wall and I realised I’d been scammed.”

Two weeks later, Chun Mun was stopped by a “large Eastern European woman” outside Swiss Cottage station. She claimed she had found a wedding ring.

The 71-year-old said: “I didn’t want to take it because my husband is dead and wearing a ring would be bad luck.

“But she kept trying to give it to me and then started asking for food.

“It brings a bad name to London with Christmas coming up and other women might be affected.”