Taxi Scam in Rome

ROME - I've been warned about pickpocketers, I've been warned about gypsies, and I've been warned about trains and buses in Italy. One incident over which I'm now kicking myself was with a cab driver in Rome.

After the second bar on the pub crawl in Rome, I stepped outside to find that a couple of my friends had reached their limits and needed to go back to the hotel. We hailed a cab (Which, I understand you don't do in Italy. I believe you're supposed to find a taxi station) and the driver said it would cost 25 euro to get back to the hotel. That in itself was robbery, but in the interest of getting everyone safely back to their rooms, I decided that we were going to take the ride.

During the drive, Chad tried to make conversation to the driver, who spoke fluent English. The first mistake I think we made was letting him know we were drunk. At this point, I think the taxi cab became a tourist trap. "Borracho," Chad said, resorting to Spanish after being unable to recall the Italian word for 'drunk.' We did this often.

When we arrived at the hotel, I counted the money in my hands and handed the driver a 20 euro bill and a 5 euro bill. Behind me in the back seat, Chad opened his door and descended to the curb. After I handed the cash over, the driver pointed at Chad and told me to be careful. As I opened my door to give Chad a hand, the driver tapped my shoulder and held in front of my face two 5 euro bills. "TWENTY five" he said.

I knew right away he had switched out one of the bills in the split second I was not looking. He must have done it very quickly. It was almost like one of those disappearing card tricks. Even with this in the back of my mind, my first priority was to get out of the cab and help Chad up, so I handed him another 10, which only made 20. "TWENTY FIVE" he said. You would think that after gyping me out of the first 20, he'd take what he got and leave.

After this, I went through all of the cash in my wallet, and I confirmed that my change from the pub crawl was in fact gone and that I had given it to him. All I had was a 50. I took back the 20 and asked for change for a 50. I turned for a split second when Pricilla yelled something into my window, but immediatley turned back around. The driver then held up a 10 Euro bill in my face.

I yelled at him to let him know I wasn't drunk and to tell him to give me my change. "I just GAVE you a 50!" I said. Without saying anything more, he gave me the change for the 50 and all I lost that night was the first 20 euro when I wasn't looking.

I didn't let this sour my experience in Rome, but for the rest of this trip, I've changed how I pay for things. I hand the bills over one at a time instead of altogether. I have also changed my policy on taking care of drunk people in foreign countries. I think I'll avoid having to do it from now on. Chad is lucky he's my favorite person.