The Bali scam that every Australian needs to know about  and the one thing you should never wear in public

Australian tourists in Bali are on high alert after a family shared how masked thieves on motorbikes tried to steal from them, prompting warnings never to take one type of possession to the holiday island.

A Victorian mother wrote that two men tried to tear her husband’s gold chain off his neck as they drove past along Legian Road near the Mercure hotel.

‘This just happened five minutes ago,’ the Aussie woman wrote on Wednesday night.

‘Be aware, in Legian St, very close to Mercure Legian, two guys on a scooter wearing masks waiting for us to walk past, tried pulling my hubby’s chain off his neck.

A Victorian family’s near miss with Bali’s bikie bandits has prompted a warning over wearing expensive jewellery while on holiday there. Pictured: stock image of two women enjoying drinks in Bali

Australian tourists in Bali are on high alert after a family shared how masked thieves on motorbikes tried to steal from them. Pictured: a stock photo of tourists in Bali

The robbers missed out because her husband saw the men and protected his chain. 

‘Lucky hubby was suss as we were walking towards them and grabbed a hold of it with one hand and grabbing the guys arm with his other hand.’

‘They were there waiting as we were walking up, cos hubby noticed something shifty, so as we were walking back, they must of saw us coming back. 

The woman wrote that her 21-year-old daughter, a first-time visitor to Bali, burst into tears at the incident. 

‘She cried instantly. She wants to go home,’ the mum wrote. 

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A Sydney mum posted that she’d faced a similar incident on a previous trip.

‘We were walking back from dinner… a group of 10 of us, kids, adults, big guys going back to [our] hotel apartments.

‘A bike with two that I call a scrambler (the really tinny exhaust sounding ones) came up from behind us and ripped one of the wive’s cross-body bags off her, with everything in it.

‘Since then, day and night no matter where I am, I am not relaxed and I’m on edge.’

She now tells her two daughters, aged 19 and 20, to never carry anything on them when they leave their Bali hotel.

‘A shame we can’t even walk carefree down the street,’ she wrote.

The post, to a Bali traveller’s Facebook page, sparked a debate with several people sharing similar incidents. 

Australian tourists have been warned to ‘never ever’ take expensive jewellery to Bali

Motorbikes are such a common sight in Bali that criminals can hide, leaving it til the last second before swooping. Pictured: a stock photo of a man riding a scooter in Bali

It also prompted warnings from veteran Bali tourists to ‘never, ever’ take expensive jewellery to the holiday island.

‘Shouldn’t be wearing a chain in Bali. I got done years ago. Lesson learned for me,’ said a Perth man.

‘I tell people all the time if I see them with expensive chains on not to wear them. I lived there this has always been a thing happening unfortunately,’ said another Perth woman.