They're at it in Crete too.

Andy Pandy wrote:

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in
message ...
Andy Pandy wrote:

"aquachimp" wrote in message
...
Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing
here.
Or does it go by another name.

I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post
here
are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to
typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate.

Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if
I'm
skint?

They're looking for "couples", and although you may travel as a couple
I guess you might not be obviously identifiable as such ;-)

Unless we're getting stopped by the Rome police for committing the crime
of being an interracial couple.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

On May 23, 11:37*am, (David Horne, _the_ chancellor
(*)) wrote:
Andy Pandy wrote:
"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in
. uk...
Andy Pandy wrote:

"aquachimp" wrote in message
...
Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing
here.
Or does it go by another name.

I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post
here
are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to
typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate.

Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if
I'm
skint?

They're looking for "couples", and although you may travel as a couple
I guess you might not be obviously identifiable as such ;-)

Unless we're getting stopped by the Rome police for committing the crime
of being an interracial couple.



How curious; I say that because at one point during our little
holiday, on account of what we found to be rather odd reactions to the
fact that we are an international couple, I mentioned to my wife that
we should consider ourselves lucky we are both at least of the same
colour.

One of the funniest was just outside a jewellers. The lady stepped
out to entice us in. She spoke to us in French; My wife and I replied
in French just as i was saying something to her in English.
The Jeweller's reation.
"French and English, together.. how can it be?"

On May 23, 12:00*pm, aquachimp
wrote:
On May 23, 11:37*am, (David Horne, _the_ chancellor



(*)) wrote:
Andy Pandy wrote:
"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in
. uk...
Andy Pandy wrote:

"aquachimp" wrote in message
...
Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing
here.
Or does it go by another name.

I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post
here
are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to
typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate.

Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if
I'm
skint?

They're looking for "couples", and although you may travel as a couple
I guess you might not be obviously identifiable as such ;-)

Unless we're getting stopped by the Rome police for committing the crime
of being an interracial couple.

How curious; I say that because at one point during our little
holiday, on account of what we found to be rather odd reactions to the
fact that we are an international couple, I mentioned to my wife that
we should consider ourselves lucky we are both at least of the same
colour.

One of the funniest was just outside a *jewellers. The lady stepped
out to entice us in. She spoke to us in French; My wife and I replied
in French just as i was saying something to her in English.
The Jeweller's reation.
"French and English, together.. how can it be?"

er correction, my wife replied in French just as I had been saying
something in English.

On 23/05/10 12:00, aquachimp wrote:
On May 23, 11:37 am, (David Horne, _the_ chancellor
(*)) wrote:
Andy Pandy wrote:
"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in
. uk...
Andy Pandy wrote:

"aquachimp" wrote in message
...
Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing
here.
Or does it go by another name.

I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post
here
are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to
typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate.

Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if
I'm
skint?

They're looking for "couples", and although you may travel as a couple
I guess you might not be obviously identifiable as such ;-)

Unless we're getting stopped by the Rome police for committing the crime
of being an interracial couple.



How curious; I say that because at one point during our little
holiday, on account of what we found to be rather odd reactions to the
fact that we are an international couple, I mentioned to my wife that
we should consider ourselves lucky we are both at least of the same
colour.

One of the funniest was just outside a jewellers. The lady stepped
out to entice us in. She spoke to us in French; My wife and I replied
in French just as i was saying something to her in English.
The Jeweller's reation.
"French and English, together.. how can it be?"

We haven't been to Crete since 1984, but at the time I found it
substantially more expensive than anywhere we had been in Greece,
including Athens and the people very commercial minded. My wife is a
multilingual Francophone Belgian, but nobody ever commented on this in
Greece.

On May 23, 10:31*am, aquachimp
wrote:
On May 23, 8:19*am, BP killed my turtle
wrote: On May 22, 9:13*pm, aquachimp
wrote:

snippy







Cautiously succinctly expressed. But easier said than done.

Put it this way, *I popped along here into Usenet Street *and in
posting this thread I have in effect approached everybody. What's
more, though not Greek, I did so bearing the Gifts of information and
opportunity/excuse to converse.

Not everyone has avoided me.

A holiday, such as what I've just had, is a feast of freedom and
borrowing the phrase "we are what we eat" feasting of freedom lends us
to living more freely and, I suspect, even free from a conscious sense
of freedom. So when approached, as we were, the under current sense of
freedom expressed itself *thus, like someone whispering in your ear
saying... ooh go on, listen, check it out, you'll be doing him a
favour, you're free to walk away any time you want.

Trouble is, the same undercurrent, which is the real Trojan Horse at
work here expresses itself in the same way as each greater step of
risk is encountered. And that's why I think (though making it up as I
go along) is why some people get duped, other than those who are
tortured into it through tedium, hunger, thirst or as one couple I've
since read about, the woman was diabetic, became ill as a consequence
of all the missed meal delays, but the scammers still wouldn't let
them go until the husband signed on the dotted line.

going on holiday is no excuse for unplugging your brain....

I'm not sure what you're saying with that generalisation.

If you're in Greece and get approached by someone speaking Dutch,
asking if perhaps you are Dutch, but you're not and don't speak a word
of it and subsequently haven't understood a word... the fact that you
simply continue on your way with hardly a shrug does not amount to
evidence *that you've kept your brain plugged in.

Equally, if,say you're English and get approached my someone with a
British accent enquiring if you're English, running away like your
scared of your own shadow doesn't mean your brain is plugged in any
more than taking a moment to engage in line with all the traditions of
your upbringing means you've unplugged your brain.

would you have done this in your own country ?

Hmm, I'm unsure what you mean by my "own country"


you dont know where you live ?!

On May 23, 12:36*pm, BP killed my turtle
wrote:
On May 23, 10:31*am, aquachimp
wrote:



On May 23, 8:19*am, BP killed my turtle
wrote: On May 22, 9:13*pm, aquachimp
wrote:

snippy

Cautiously succinctly expressed. But easier said than done.

Put it this way, *I popped along here into Usenet Street *and in
posting this thread I have in effect approached everybody. What's
more, though not Greek, I did so bearing the Gifts of information and
opportunity/excuse to converse.

Not everyone has avoided me.

A holiday, such as what I've just had, is a feast of freedom and
borrowing the phrase "we are what we eat" feasting of freedom lends us
to living more freely and, I suspect, even free from a conscious sense
of freedom. So when approached, as we were, the under current sense of
freedom expressed itself *thus, like someone whispering in your ear
saying... ooh go on, listen, check it out, you'll be doing him a
favour, you're free to walk away any time you want.

Trouble is, the same undercurrent, which is the real Trojan Horse at
work here expresses itself in the same way as each greater step of
risk is encountered. And that's why I think (though making it up as I
go along) is why some people get duped, other than those who are
tortured into it through tedium, hunger, thirst or as one couple I've
since read about, the woman was diabetic, became ill as a consequence
of all the missed meal delays, but the scammers still wouldn't let
them go until the husband signed on the dotted line.

going on holiday is no excuse for unplugging your brain....

I'm not sure what you're saying with that generalisation.

If you're in Greece and get approached by someone speaking Dutch,
asking if perhaps you are Dutch, but you're not and don't speak a word
of it and subsequently haven't understood a word... the fact that you
simply continue on your way with hardly a shrug does not amount to
evidence *that you've kept your brain plugged in.

Equally, if,say you're English and get approached my someone with a
British accent enquiring if you're English, running away like your
scared of your own shadow doesn't mean your brain is plugged in any
more than taking a moment to engage in line with all the traditions of
your upbringing means you've unplugged your brain.

would you have done this in your own country ?

Hmm, I'm unsure what you mean by my "own country"

you dont know where you live ?!

I don't own a country. I know where I live but when locals ask me
where I'm from, they're not usually asking for my current address.
Beyond that it's a matter of working out do they mean my nationality,
or where I've lived the most, or most recently, (as in where have I
travelled from).

On May 23, 12:19*pm, Martin wrote:
On 23/05/10 12:00, aquachimp wrote:



On May 23, 11:37 am, (David Horne, _the_ chancellor
(*)) wrote:
Andy Pandy wrote:
"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in
. uk...
Andy Pandy wrote:

"aquachimp" wrote in message
...
Oddly enough, there's not much mention about this kind of thing
here.
Or does it go by another name.

I suspect it's never mentioned here because most people who post
here
are independant travellers who don't go on "beach" holidays or to
typical package holiday destinations where these scum operate.

Never bumped into them myself, certainly. Maybe I just look as if
I'm
skint?

They're looking for "couples", and although you may travel as a couple
I guess you might not be obviously identifiable as such ;-)

Unless we're getting stopped by the Rome police for committing the crime
of being an interracial couple.

How curious; I say that because at one point during our little
holiday, on account of what we found to be rather odd reactions to the
fact that we are an international couple, I mentioned to my wife that
we should consider ourselves lucky we are both at least of the same
colour.

One of the funniest was just outside a *jewellers. The lady stepped
out to entice us in. She spoke to us in French; My wife and I replied
in French just as i was saying something to her in English.
The Jeweller's reation.
"French and English, together.. how can it be?"

We haven't been to Crete since 1984, but at the time I found it
substantially more expensive than anywhere we had been in Greece,
including Athens and the people very commercial minded. My wife is a
multilingual Francophone Belgian, but nobody ever commented on this in
Greece.

I would say that the number of incidence where there was a noticeable
absence of commercial mindedness was significant.
What I found really odd was that it was like they've never heard of an
international couple having say, met in Crete whilst on holiday. It's
a holiday resort for heavens sakes, don't people from various
nationalities not have holiday romances?

On May 23, 11:33*am, Martin wrote:
On 23/05/10 11:13, aquachimp wrote:

On May 23, 10:35 am, Martin wrote:
On 23/05/10 10:31, aquachimp wrote:
snip

However to try and answer you question, if someone, a complete
stranger to me, approached me speaking in English, the novelty factor
alone would get my attention before any thoughts as to whether this
person is *a "foreigner" in some sort of difficulty that I might be
able to help out with.

How many times did this happen to you before you twigged that all the
strangers were either trying to sell you Time Share or pick your pockets?

No English speaking "identifiable" (or otherwise, for that matter)
stranger has ever approached me on a Belgian street.

Perhaps because they don't sell time share or drugs in Belgium.

Try Amsterdam, or the main train station in Rome.

OK, I might see this in Rome later in the year. So far, the only scam
I've witnessed was the ring scam mention in that how-to-spot... link I
posted earlier;
It was in Paris. The individuals didn't try it on with us as we sat
watching them. This may have been because a poor choice in foot wear
left me looking, perhaps, miserable enough to pass as a local ducks.

However, it seems we incorrectly guessed how the scam operated apart
from the obvious "is this your ring" approach.
I thought it was probably something that merely looks good and that
the greedy would seize on the chance to pretend it's their in exchange
for a requested, or hinted at small, finder's fee, which however small
would still exceed the commercial value of the ring. I was thinking
Nigerian Emails.

On May 23, 12:45*pm, aquachimp
wrote:
On May 23, 12:36*pm, BP killed my turtle
wrote:





On May 23, 10:31*am, aquachimp
wrote:

On May 23, 8:19*am, BP killed my turtle
wrote: On May 22, 9:13*pm, aquachimp
wrote:

snippy

Cautiously succinctly expressed. But easier said than done.

Put it this way, *I popped along here into Usenet Street *and in
posting this thread I have in effect approached everybody. What's
more, though not Greek, I did so bearing the Gifts of information and
opportunity/excuse to converse.

Not everyone has avoided me.

A holiday, such as what I've just had, is a feast of freedom and
borrowing the phrase "we are what we eat" feasting of freedom lends us
to living more freely and, I suspect, even free from a conscious sense
of freedom. So when approached, as we were, the under current sense of
freedom expressed itself *thus, like someone whispering in your ear
saying... ooh go on, listen, check it out, you'll be doing him a
favour, you're free to walk away any time you want.

Trouble is, the same undercurrent, which is the real Trojan Horse at
work here expresses itself in the same way as each greater step of
risk is encountered. And that's why I think (though making it up as I
go along) is why some people get duped, other than those who are
tortured into it through tedium, hunger, thirst or as one couple I've
since read about, the woman was diabetic, became ill as a consequence
of all the missed meal delays, but the scammers still wouldn't let
them go until the husband signed on the dotted line.

going on holiday is no excuse for unplugging your brain....

I'm not sure what you're saying with that generalisation.

If you're in Greece and get approached by someone speaking Dutch,
asking if perhaps you are Dutch, but you're not and don't speak a word
of it and subsequently haven't understood a word... the fact that you
simply continue on your way with hardly a shrug does not amount to
evidence *that you've kept your brain plugged in.

Equally, if,say you're English and get approached my someone with a
British accent enquiring if you're English, running away like your
scared of your own shadow doesn't mean your brain is plugged in any
more than taking a moment to engage in line with all the traditions of
your upbringing means you've unplugged your brain.

would you have done this in your own country ?

Hmm, I'm unsure what you mean by my "own country"

you dont know where you live ?!

I don't own a country. I know where I live but when locals ask me
where I'm from, they're not usually asking for my current address.
Beyond that it's a matter of working out do they mean my nationality,
or where I've lived the most, or most recently, (as in where have I
travelled from).

so there are 2 solutions, say nothing, or just bore the scammers into
submission as you are doing to me

ps zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

On May 23, 2:39*pm, BP killed my turtle
wrote:
On May 23, 12:45*pm, aquachimp
wrote:



On May 23, 12:36*pm, BP killed my turtle
wrote:

On May 23, 10:31*am, aquachimp
wrote:

On May 23, 8:19*am, BP killed my turtle
wrote: On May 22, 9:13*pm, aquachimp
wrote:

snippy

Cautiously succinctly expressed. But easier said than done.

Put it this way, *I popped along here into Usenet Street *and in
posting this thread I have in effect approached everybody. What's
more, though not Greek, I did so bearing the Gifts of information and
opportunity/excuse to converse.

Not everyone has avoided me.

A holiday, such as what I've just had, is a feast of freedom and
borrowing the phrase "we are what we eat" feasting of freedom lends us
to living more freely and, I suspect, even free from a conscious sense
of freedom. So when approached, as we were, the under current sense of
freedom expressed itself *thus, like someone whispering in your ear
saying... ooh go on, listen, check it out, you'll be doing him a
favour, you're free to walk away any time you want.

Trouble is, the same undercurrent, which is the real Trojan Horse at
work here expresses itself in the same way as each greater step of
risk is encountered. And that's why I think (though making it up as I
go along) is why some people get duped, other than those who are
tortured into it through tedium, hunger, thirst or as one couple I've
since read about, the woman was diabetic, became ill as a consequence
of all the missed meal delays, but the scammers still wouldn't let
them go until the husband signed on the dotted line.

going on holiday is no excuse for unplugging your brain....

I'm not sure what you're saying with that generalisation.

If you're in Greece and get approached by someone speaking Dutch,
asking if perhaps you are Dutch, but you're not and don't speak a word
of it and subsequently haven't understood a word... the fact that you
simply continue on your way with hardly a shrug does not amount to
evidence *that you've kept your brain plugged in.

Equally, if,say you're English and get approached my someone with a
British accent enquiring if you're English, running away like your
scared of your own shadow doesn't mean your brain is plugged in any
more than taking a moment to engage in line with all the traditions of
your upbringing means you've unplugged your brain.

would you have done this in your own country ?

Hmm, I'm unsure what you mean by my "own country"

you dont know where you live ?!

I don't own a country. I know where I live but when locals ask me
where I'm from, they're not usually asking for my current address.
Beyond that it's a matter of working out do they mean my nationality,
or where I've lived the most, or most recently, (as in where have I
travelled from).

so there are 2 solutions, say nothing, or just bore the scammers into
submission as you are doing to me

ps zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Awww. And just when I was wondering why someone advocating wariness
had not mentioned the one thing that had occurred to me as a bit odd
the moment the street guy mentioned promoting Greece and Crete.
Why approach tourists already there?

Now if you'd just sign here... and here... and (turns page) here,
here, and there and that'll be all.

(OK, so I'm making up that bit cos we never got that far)

Oh and by the way here is your free holiday voucher containing no less
than 5 options ranging from you having to pay a nominal sum to cover
travel taxes, insurance and so forth, to the option where you get a
generous discount on the resort, flights and so on.
Of course, regardless of which option you choose, and you have 18
months to avail of this offer, once you have informed us which one it
is, we will choose when you can go within a 15 to 65 day period of our
choosing.
We will also choose where you get to go, how you will get there and
from where your main border point of departure will be (no matter how
unrealistic or inconvenient it may be for you).
lastly, please note that whereas we have between 15 and 65 days to
decide your fate, you have just 36 hours to inform us of your decision
to accept or not, BUT, you must inform us of your decision by phone
AND registered post.
Failure to do so in that time (no excuses) will not only mean that you
forfeit your free holiday, but you will be liable for the entire cost
of cancellation

(I don't actually understand what precisely is meant by "entire cost
of cancellation", it might be the cost of a few phone calls, or bits
of admin, or the cost of accommodation, travel etc.)

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.