When I was in Japan the young woman clerk at the bank refused to exchange a British 20 pound sterling note issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, since apparently it wasn't in the book of international currencies she consulted. I managed to keep a stiff upper lip.

We were scammed at a restaurant in Singapore. Before our meal came they brought out a small plate of appetizers, ? bread or chips or something similar I forget what. I assumed it was free, then they charged us for it. Nowadays I would have refused to pay for something I hadn't ordered but back then we were less experienced an naive so we paid up.

You don't have to be in Japan! I've had this problem more than once in London, though not at a bank, after crossing the border southbound with a billfold full of Scottish notes (not all of which come from such a prestigious-sounding institution as RBS). I exchange them at banks to avoid problems with merchants. So far, at least, every London bank I've used for this purpose has recognized them as "real money."

Not sure if that's a scam in Singapore. There are places where it is correct custom to do this.

In Italy you do pay a cover charge and bread charge that's culturally correct. I think its called coperto y pane.

Also typical at many tapas restaurants to be charged for an initial plate.

In France they do charge more for a coffee if you take it sitting at a table than if you take it standing at the bar. Sometimes 4x as much. Not a scam. Just the way things work.

Same for drink refills. Outside the US, if you ask for refill of a soft drink, even if it's a fountain drink, you should expect to be charged. If you refill four times and get charged four times, you aren't being scammed.

inside the US too. if the menu does not say "refills free" then you should assume the opposite.

Crabbing, I would generally disagree with that. I'd say only the very top tier restaurants charge for drink refills. Certainly no casual dining options do. If you're spending less than $30 for an entree it's probably save to figure refills are free. Heck, even the expensive steakhouse chains like Capital Grill and The Palms do free refills of soft drinks. Of course bottled drinks like San Pelligrino are a different story. Outside of LA and NY I'd be a little surprised to pay for a refill of a fountain Coke.

Standard practice in a certain class of restaurants in Singapore and much of South-East Asia: peanuts, pickles, even napkins cost extra. You can wave them away if you don't want them, or get them cancelled if you didn't eat/use them. You're usually only looking at a dollar or two per head max anyway.

As for getting scammed in Japan, I was once up in Hirosaki, Aomori deep in the north, and was quizzed by an odd local in Hirosaki while sitting in a bus. He suddenly lost interest and got off... and one bus stop later, I realized that my wallet, which had been in a pocket facing the guy, was gone. :mad: The only time I've ever been successfully pickpocketed, and this was pretty much my only bad experience in four years in the country, but as they say in Singapore, low crime doesn't mean no crime!

That's common in Portugal too. Not a scam. Locals get this too.

This is also standard practice in Azerbaijan. Bread and salad - both charged.

In my very brief experience of India, it depends. If people are in a job that involves providing goods or services to foreigners then they will probably have some kind of angle. Not always, though - I found fair internet cafes, restaurants in Delhi, even fair taxi men.

But visiting Agra on New Year's Day, and being white, I found myself inundated with Indian families and groups of young people who wanted to have their photo taken standing with me. They were just ordinary folk out celebrating the day. Eventually, I had had so many requests to pose for photos that I asked one group to pose for a photo for me in return:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3314/...b580d71d_m.jpg

These folk were perfectly friendly and had no angle whatsoever.

It depends on the hotel and the path that they take. One guy took me to the Venetian via the tunnel and freeway instead of down Swenson and the fare was $27 vs $17. I gave him $17.

Nowadays, the I-15 from the 215 northward is almost always just as, or more, clogged than the city streets.

Its not a scam per se but it is a manipulation of the law to extract more money. Perfectly legal but unethical nonetheless.

I had a similar experience in Beijing. I must have had nearly a hundred people ask for me to take a photo with them or their friends. As a tall fat white guy with close-cropped hair, I found it to be somewhat fun. Everyone was incredibly nice. My wife and her mother found it funny.

The funny thing is that Scottish notes are not legal tender in Scotland as well as England. In fact no notes are legal tender in Scotland, not even those issued by the Bank of England. And I have now exhausted my bar room lawyer/pub quiz abilities!

Lets see, 93 countries visited. Scammed once in Hungary in 2000, when I was 21, taxi had a super-charged meter, ended up $20 where it should be $5ish

Other foiled attempts at scams encountered in:
Holland, Italy, Bahamas, Spain, France, Belgium, Thailand, Mexico, Peru, Croatia, Estonia, China, Greece, Egypt, Malawi, Zimbabwe.

Places I found I had to be most on guard against scams were Morocco and Russia.

Although I am sure my upcoming trip to India will bring it to a whole new level :D

I think however, as someone under/at 30, and usually with a backpack, scammers just dont bother with me, and move onto more obvious/valuable targets.