Beware the shoe shine guy who drops his brush in front of you in Istanbul... suppress your natural desire to be helpful and ignore the brush and just keep walking. Yes, we were had. We thought we were being helpful, but we were lead away from the security cameras and his 'cousin' joined him and we were separated from about $20 or $40, we don't actually know...
This happened to us outside the Grand Bazaar.
But, as we were walking in front of the Dolmabache Palace someone tried to do it to us again. This time at least we were smart!!! We just kept walking and then laughed about it with incredulity.
Now that we know, we found a web site about this very subject.... And, in my 'Long Trip Debrief' I have added a note to check for large city scams. I am not going to be duped again! (Famous last words.) Or at least I am going to try and remember that if people eagerly engage you in conversation, they might be seeking something from you. If you, however, initiate the interaction, you are probably pretty safe. I mean, our experience was that the people were all really lovely.
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