This is how the scam works

Rose sellers on the road as cup thieves during Advent

If there's a large group of people together, a pickpocket's haul is worth more than an evening of selling roses.

(Bild: Kronenzeitung)

Five euros deposit for a punch cup at the Christmas market. Some people sense a business with other people's cups - disguised as rose sellers: how the tricksters operate and how Viennese Christmas markets are taking action against the new scam.

Every year there is a new scam that dubious contemporaries use to exploit the mulled wine atmosphere of the Christmas markets and rip off visitors. While in previous years it was beggars who wanted to dust off the return money right next to the goods counter, this year it is dubious rose sellers.