A couple of years ago, I came across Smart Traveller claiming that wearing your name tag can increase the risk of crime and assault in the form of someone who pretends to already know you taking advantage of your trust:
A young Australian woman was attending a conference in a foreign city, and went shopping downtown for the afternoon. A young man approached her, greeting her by name and explained he was from the hotel where she was staying and would look after her. He took her to meet friends at another hotel and bought her a drink. When she woke in the morning she had been assaulted and robbed. She discovered she was still wearing her conference name tag - that was how the young man had known her name.
However, this anecdote is no longer on Smart Traveller (I got it from another web site that copied its contents), and I've never heard anyone else talk about this.
Is wearing a name tag in public in foreign cities a risk?
Background: A recent conference I attended, that's not in my home city, asked us to wear our lanyards while going from the conference venue to a pub, and while at the pub. I want to know if this is something risky that should be avoided.