Bracelets
I think this is a fairly common con amongst tourist hotspots in Europe; I've certainly seen it in at least 3 countries.

Anyway, in Rome this summer my friends and I were ascending the Spanish Steps when a friendly looking Brazilian man lassos my friend Fred's little finger with some red, green and white thread. Fred, sporting (and perhaps a little naive) as he is, goes along with this and attempts to make his excuses to leave in his very British manner, mumbling something along the lines of "That's really quite lovely of you, honestly, it's just that we've quite a lot on this afternoon. I hate to have to rush off like this..."

However, the Brazilian was clearly a boy scout in his youth and is hurriedly threading a friendship bracelet (still anchored to Fred's little finger). The rest of us stand around, openly laughing at this predicament. Fred, getting more agitated attempts to be assertive and tells his newfound friend that he really now is going. At this, a second Brazilian (this one resembling not a boy scout but rather a wrestler) melds out of the crowd as they begin to negotiate prices.

Thinking quickly, I pull out my camera and decide to take some scenic shots of the city and it's associated con artists. This gets the Brazilian chaps visibly worried and they seem to be stuck between wanting to push the camera out of my hands and squeezing their victim for every centine he has. Fred sees this, and decides to take the upper hand. Having previously been invoiced for 20 Euros he now offers a single Euro coin to his captors.

"C'mon", they say weakly "Be fair". "Oh, yes" says Fred "We must be FAIR about this" placing the coin in their hand before walking off.
(Simanenyee (killed to bits), Sat 20 Oct 2007, 16:21, Reply)