All the wonderful impressions you may get from taking vacation or a long-term trip to Rome can be irrevocably spoiled by some unpleasant surprise. But forewarned is forearmed so here are the darker things in Rome that you should be aware of to ensure safety of your wallet and health.
You may know or may not, but Rome has the 2nd largest rat population in the world after New York - about 15 millions. The pests are usually fought with Raticida or "rat poison" locally, but if you are squeamish then better beware of the back streets and ditches to save yourself an unpleasant encounter.
Second hidden danger is represented in the form of child pickpockets. If you find yourself surrounded with a flock of wide-eyed and innocent kids trying to grab your attention by trying to sell newspapers or enforce a fortune-telling session with cards that suspiciously remind you random pieces of colored cardboard then you are in for a trouble. Hold on fast to your wallet and don't be tricked into a feeling of false security which may come to you when you see their respectable-looking matron mother. They really are after your pockets.
Fraud is another thing to be afraid of in Rome - you may find yourself in a company of serious-looking people who claim to be secret agents and charge you with money forgery. They'll want to "take a look" at all your cash to "test it for fake bills" and after they let you go with apologies you'll find out that all your 100$ bills had miraculously turned into 1$ papers.
The last but not least position in our "beware of" list are taxi drivers. The rates are not too high, but they will try every trick imaginable to get more money from you in most of the cases. When handing money to a taxi driver, point at the numbers on the bill or they may claim that you paid with a wrong cash note in the first place. You should only employ the cars that have special signs indicating they are legitimate taxis or you may lose more than just a couple of Euros.
