Scamming the scammers

Seahunt, if you plan to trust no one, are you going to take advice from this forum? ;-)

Or you can dress your family like a Carabiniere

Ha! Then we can reuse as a Halloween costume!

Maybe if I make us up some badges to wear that say "Undercover Police Officer" in Italian, that would scare them off! ;-)

seahunt, don't allow Roberto to frighten you-they're not all as intimidating as his friend appears.

So, seahunt, be sure you are ready with your costuming when you get off the plane at the Rome airport. The villains are waiting for you on the tarmac, in the Immigration queue, in the washrooms, at the baggage carrousel ...... they are everywhere and they're out to get YOU.

Use some common sense and be aware of what's going on around you. I spent over two years wandering around Italy and never was pick pocketed or scammed. One time in Greece I felt something was being pulled on me but had nothing on me except a few euro coins and decided to see if they could get them. Nope. It was pretty funny actually and I got a little story from it. If you go all paranoid and worrying then you'll have less of a good time.

Based on what I've seen, they sometimes dress like tourists in Paris also, complete with cameras and other "tourist accoutrements". I've seen a few examples of that in places like the Louvre.

Ken. How do you know they weren't tourists dressing like scammers pretending to be tourists in order to trick scammers who were pretending to be tourists into thinking that they were fellow scammers and not tourists?

You see, seahunt ..... You cannot outsmart those wicked scammers!

mph,

"Ken. How do you know they weren't tourists dressing like scammers pretending to be tourists in order to trick scammers who were pretending to be tourists into thinking that they were fellow scammers and not tourists?"

Anything is possible. At my age I have to have "rest breaks" every so often so when I'm sitting down, I observe what's happening around me. Those that I suspected of being scammers were wearing what appeared to be brand new clothes (perhaps the "new" pickpocket uniform), didn't seem to be taking any pictures with the cameras they were carrying, and seemed to be spending more time looking at the people around them rather than the main attraction (ie: the Mona Lisa). Just a hunch and I could be wrong, but the phrase "what's wrong with this picture" always comes to mind.

mph -- now that is meta!

Seahunt -- I think you're on to something. We'll need video proof, of course.

Seahunt, I'm 64 years old, and I've been to Italy -- I don't even remember anymore how many times, and I've (knock on wood) NEVER been pickpocketed or scammed. I travel alone sometimes, with other women my age sometimes, and with my husband sometimes who is seven years older than me. Rick Steves gives us "precautions." Use your damn head! I have a "neck wallet" which I wear under my blouse, and keep most of my money and credit cards in there. When I'm out for the day I have a purse, which I'm careful with, but not neurotic, and I have one credit card in there for shopping and enough cash to get taxis, and other cash necessities. Calm down and enjoy your trip.

You should dress your entire family as gladiators.