There is daylight robbery and fraud probably anywhere in the world, especially at places where many tourists are. Vietnamese newspapers now report about a particularly hard case of rip-off, which sheds a fairly bad light on the Vietnamese capital. Every morning at around half past nine, a group of women assembles in the street Cầu Go at Hoan Kiem Lake. The women prepare panniers with some fruits and then their workday begins. They are not differentiable from normal street hawkers, but they are just aimed at squeezing money out of unsuspecting foreign visitors. The women stand either at the bank of the lake or walk to the old quarter to find their “victims”. A frequently applied trick is laying the panniers over the tourists’ shoulders, accompanied with a warm smile, and putting a hat on their head. The tourists do not initially know what the women want, until they are confronted with more or less aggressive and strident demands for money for the “rental” of the utensils. For that, most often VNĐ 100.000 (€4) are requested. As scarcely any tourist wants to arouse public attention, they pay the required sum, and also buy fruits from these women yet at completely exorbitant prices. As to that, there had reportedly been another fraud with the change. When someone pays with a big banknote, the alleged saleswomen thrust some small change into their “customers’” hand and then disappear immediately. Such situations can be very unpleasant. I know that very well from my first trip to Cambodia. Therefore, it is certainly best to ward such a pass from the start and consistently prevent it with an energetic Cút đi! (Get off! Scram!) It would be a pity when this unacceptable behavior of a small group would leave a lasting bad impression of Hanoi on many tourists. Many greetings Cathrin Cathrin’s Blog: Zwischen Traditionen und Moderne