As a foreigner in a country, you can only be advised to keep a low profile. Of course, it is extremely unfortunate how people are cheated here, especially when it happens to honest finders who might even have brought the purse to the police. Unfortunately, one must therefore advise people to keep a low profile and not to touch the purse in the first place in such a case. You might be travelling in a group, in which case there would be witnesses. But the majority would be on their own. Lets hope that this scam does not become a typical case, as there are already a few things to be aware of. More about scams in other articles: Fraud schemes