Yeah, I tried once to get minor things (like a cellphone power supply) at those stores and found it to be a quality interaction, but that's a whole different category than being accosted by confidence gangs on the streets.

Anyhow, I think the merchants in the Lucky Plaza in Singapore are every bit as good at it. I remember the wonderful reaction I got once when I asked the workers at one store about their condemnation by the Singapore tourist authority!

As far as it being far more likely to be robbed than conned in the U.S., exactly how often robbery does take place here? A lot more in the movies than in real life, but the movies are how people's opinions are set.