It seems to work in reverse for me. Perfect strangers or people I barely know come up to me and, if they're polite, ask to pick up or hold the baby, and if not, they simply try to take them. They put their fingers all over my baby's hands (which go in their mouths), tickle them, tousle their carefully arranged hair, and often either try to stuff their pacifier/bottle IN their mouth or yank it OUT (depending on the pacifier's location). I've had to work on a response to retrieve my baby back from them and still maintain my civility.
Stormie