Heh, I remember the many dire warnings about that when I last visited Europe. Acted amused as to how they were supposed to be specifically Romanian.
Oh, someone meeting the description did try the ring-in-the-ground scam on me in Paris. I just switched myself into NYC mode.
Oh, you know they are Romanian, because it is a dog whistle to avoid saying that they are Romanian gypsies. And unfortunately, yes, that begging scam is not a lie. By which I do not mean to imply that all beggars are Romanian, or gypsies, nor that all gypsies or Romanians are beggars, but many organized beggars are Romanian gypsies.
You should not call them Gypsies anyway, they are members of the Sinti and Roma community. Except when they are not, like in Spain, where the gypsies are neither Sinti nor Roma, but call themselves gitanos, which cannot be translated with any other word but gypsy. It is really complicated, because it is a problem, specially for them, but it is difficult to even debate it without sounding racist.