A sincere question about pickpockets
 

I have been reading this forum for some time and one common theme comes up now and again and it has to do with the prevalence of scams and pickpockets in Europe.

I work in a fairly large US city that has plenty of domestic and international tourists, but I can walk around and ride the subway with my wallet in my pocket or my iPhone in the side pocket of a bag and I never fear that anything I'm carrying will be lifted off me. Seriously, it's not something that ever really comes to mind.

I don't want to invite snide comments (Europeans insisting they'd be afraid of being shot in the US or Americans slagging off on European criminal justice systems), but I'm really very curious why there seem to be so many scams in Europe and so many thefts whereas such things are (relatively) unheard of here in the US.

Thoughts?

While I don't have the experience of many Fodor's posters, I have been to Europe a fair number of times and so far have never had any kind of incident, no thefts, no pickpockets, no attempted scams, etc.
We are always aware of our surroundings, don't show lots of money or wear expensive jewelry.
I travel a lot with a group of women friends and we're always cautious, but nothing that interferes with our touring and sightseeing.
We also don't drink to excess, never displaying signs of vulnerability due to being intoxicated.
Maybe we've been lucky, or maybe it is because we drop from exhaustion and go to bed early.
I've also lived and traveled all over the US, same situation, a bit of caution goes a long way.
NOTE: I'm not saying others are careless or invite trouble. This is just our experience.

Liam - not sure that there is so much less petty theft in the US, but it does get less attention. I have been pickpocketed twice, and both times were in the US (Orlando, NYC.)

How many languages are you fluent in? Than can be a factor when a group of pickpockets in a foreign country are standing by you chatting about how they are going to rip you off.

Another reason is most of the various governments overseas don't pursue petty theft. If hundreds of visitors to the US were being pickpocketed at major tourist venues in the US, then there would be an outcry on the 6 o'clock news and the city would attempt to put a stop to it.

Liam, do you live in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia or Washington? I name these because you reference subways.

Do you often see considerable numbers of tourists in groups, who are adults (not high school Senior trips), who are let's say middle-age or older, who are hung about with cameras and "day bags," and who don't seem to know where they are going? Or don't seem to know the language? Who are not walking purposefully, but instead standing gazing up at something?

I'll venture that these scenes are not as common in large US cities as they are in Europe, simply because the US just doesn't have the huge influx of tourists as Europe. And this type of tourist is the type most often targeted by professional pickpocketers or scammers... they are not aware of their surroundings, they are likely to carry cash, credit cards, cameras etc.

Most vulnerable are the "newbie" travelers who are not only new to Europe but unused to the "pedestrian style" of big city life in Europe OR in US big cities; they are creatures of the car and the mall, not used to sidewalk traffic, busses, trains or subways. You sound like a big-city kind of guy, so a scammer could tell at a glance that you are aware of your surroundings and not an ideal target.

You are mistaken that pickpocketing and scams are relatively rare in the US; if you want a comparison, you can get stats on this type of crime for the largest US cities that have a "street lifestyle" (not a "car lifestyle" like LA or Dallas), and I think you will find it's around.

There are places where I think pickpocketing is a real possiblity--among them, Italy and Spain. (Sorry, all you Italians and Spanish!) It can happen even if one is alert and aware of surroundings.

My sister had her purse stolen while we were having dinner in an outdoor restaurant in Barcelona. I've had people go for my purse in Madrid, and in Rome we had to fend off children who were up to no good. (We yelled at them when we saw what they were up to--hiding their hands under a piece of paper while making distracting noises at us.)

I don't feel as paranoid in other European countries, but I still keep my passport, credit cards and big money in my money belt no matter where I travel. It couldn't hurt.

I think I'm much more likely to be the victim of a crime in Spain, Italy, or France than I am at home. I live in a smallish city in the Northwest. It's very safe, unless you're involved in drugs, although if you leave your garage door unlocked at night, you're likely to be missing your chainsaw or your snowblower in the morning.

I behave exactly as Liam does, and I've never been pickpocketed, anywhere in Europe (or anywhere in the world).

It's partly a matter of perception: if you're on the trip of a lifetime, something like that ruins more than just another commuting trip to the office. And tourists are more likely to notice such things, not necessarily because they present obvious targets, but simply because they're out and about the whole day, where residents are mostly at home or at work or about ordinary daily business.

But different societies may well have different balances of risk and return from different sorts of crime, so that some crimes will be surprisingly frequent or infrequent to a visitor: indeed, that seems to be true within nation states, where there are all sorts of different criminal "micro-climates".

I've been to Europe many times and had my pocket picked once, on the Barcelona Metro, and I was certainly not a "newbie" as some of the people are very clever. In this particular instance they didn't get much.

I am not convinced that Europe is any fuller of scams and pickpockets than anywhere else, INCLUDING the US.

On a travel board one would expect to hear MORE about such instances than in other venues...some topics are more "prevalent" here than others.

Such things are not "unheard of" in the US if you listen in the right places and that is my honest opinion.

If that seems snide to you then I'm sorry.

I think Dukey hits the nail right on the head:

"On a travel board one would expect to hear MORE about such instances than in other venues...some topics are more "prevalent" here than others."

People often don't bother to report petty crime unless passports or airline tickets are stolen and they need a police report for insurance purposes. Thus it is very difficult to have accurate statistics, here or abroad.

I would be pretty suprised if the rate of petty crime were much different in tourist cities here than in tourist cities elsewhere, though we are more on the alert for differences when everything is strange.

No one is going to post here about having their phone stolen from their car seat when they leave the windows down (I live in a heavily touristed town, and this is a very common crime). Do we bother to write about our bike (rented or personal) getting lifted? Also a very common crime here. Did you lose your camera or did someone pick it out of your tote when you were shopping? Most people wouldn't know, so they wouldn't post.

They also wouldn't bother to report the crime, so it is very difficult to have accurate statistics.

A gang of well dressed pickpockets were working Newbury Street in Boston about 18 months ago: same scam as in Europe -- lifting purses from the back of women's chairs in restaurants.

I have a sense that shoplifting is huge criminal issue here in the US (see the New Yorker for two weeks ago for a good article) but I never read about shoplifting here or abroad on a travel board, so I don't know what the comparative statistics are.

Keep your eyes open and your wits about you in Boston or Barcelona. No local would wear a hidden pouch under her clothing in Boston, but I won't put down a tourist who does. Bostonians know who is sketchy and tourists don't.

I suspect pickpocketing and other petty crimes are a concern in all cities. It tends to be a bigger problem if you are away from home to get important cards/papers replaced-that's the reason to be more careful.

You are also much more likely to be "aware of your surroundings" in you normal routine than when you are in unfamiliar places trying to take in all the wonders around you. Pickpockets know this-that's their business!

WE have not lost anything to pickpockets, but have had close encounters in Paris and Vienna, and have watched groups of young thiefs case the people on the Paris metro.

~Liz

Define Europe!
The problem is less in Helsinki than in Madrid.

I live in an urban college town that is also a suburb of a major US city. While pickpocketing isn't much of a problem where I live, robbery and assault are. The murder rate in the US isn't peanuts either.

Perhaps because violent crime is much less common in {most of?} Europe, there may be more awareness of petty crime. And as others have said, people don't usually start a thread to talk about how they visited Europe and <i>didn't</i> get ripped off. You only hear from those who were victims, not the vast majority who had no problems (even if they weren't taking precautions against pickpocketing).

Frankly, I'd be happy to trade our crime problems/rates with any European country, pickpocket &quot;problem&quot; or no.

Philosophy. Pickpocketing is a business. Read Oliver Twist. Such thievery rarely causes injuies so police pay little attention to it. Few if any European city has enough police to cover all the criminal venues. Krakow had a train gang that I know operated for years there. Warszawa had another. I was tabbed getting on a train at Warszawa...a month later my wife and I were about to board the same train and I spotted the gang waiting for me! I pointed at them and said, &quot;Bandits!&quot;. They disappeared. What's the difference between a pickpocket getting your money and giving you nothing and the used car salesman selling you a known lemon? Email scams, stock and bond deals...Intercity busses are safer than intercity trains.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best!

On a crowded bus or train, hold on dearly to your bags. Close them and keep them close. Use bread twist-ties to secure the zippers. Often the most popular routes are very crowded and this is the time to be alert. You are often shoulder to shoulder being tossed and jostled by the vehicle. It can happen in a moment and you will never feel it.

Once when we were in Rome, the crowded subway emptied but there was this girl who continued to stand beside me and would not give me my space. When I saw her hand trying to dig into my bag, I let out a roaring &quot;Nooooo&quot; that scasred our pary to death. But she was gone in a minute. We laughed after the emotion subsided.

Another time we were a party of 11 and kind of scattered out on a bus. I looked over to Grandma and told her to come closer and hang on to her bag...too late...her camera was gone.

We have had attempts when trying to get on a bus/train as the crowd surges and the theives work but move on afterwards.

Lastly, don't let an incident spoil your whole trip. Plan ahead and carry nothing not stored securely in your control. Best of luck!

First: I have no fear of being pickpocketed when I'm in major US cities (NY, LA, SF, Chicago ...) -- although I'm sure it could happen.

But luckily, I'd read posts about bands of children surrounding you and cleaning you out in specific areas of Rome. Luckily, DP and I decided to be &quot;over-cautious&quot; and we took every precaution -- including putting our watches and wallets in our front pockets -- and safety pinning them shut with two pins -- from the inside.

The small amount of cash that was not in our hidden money belts was in our shirt pockets -- again, safety pinned shut.

Sure enough ... it was exactly like I'd read. At the Trastevere (Rome) flea market, we were deluged by little children -- while their mothers held up newspapers, shielding us from the other tourists. (How sad.)

Those little hands tried to get into every pocket -- but were NOT successful because of our precautions. We literally had to shove them off of us -- while screaming for the police and &quot;Fire&quot; -- to attract attention.

I'm grateful I read the posts and saved a wonderful trip from being ruined by having cash, passports, watches, etc ... stolen.

Apparently, this is very common there -- and around the Colisseum area. The vendors barely paid attention -- and certainly made no attempt to help. We were really shaken up -- but it could have been so much worse.

Better to be safe than sorry.

&quot;Such things&quot; are not unheard of in the US.

Don;t know where you live but pickpocketing and other minor street crimes/scams are fairly frequent in tourist areas of many large cities.

Perhaps you don't frequent tourist areas - where these people hang out - but they defiitely are there.

A friend of mine (but a little ditzy) has had her wallet stolen 3 times in the subway. I've even seen a purse snatching in broad daylight in Greenwich CT - a bastion of upper class safety.

I think it's happening and you just don;t see/experience it.

I'm 54 most of the people I've known even vaguely over the years are Americans who holiday usually in the US or the Caribbean at tourist spots.

Add to that major sporting events, concerts, etc.

And I can only recall my boss's elderly mother being pickpocketed in a suburban shopping mall (her CC was used within minutes).

There were probably 1 or 2 others decades ago that I've forgotten like a friend of a friend but no one I know very well.

But in Italy within a decade; Myself 3 attempts (Naples, Rome, Florence), my travel agent was pickpocketed in Termini and a person from work (mob of gypsy children) and a small handful of people I've met on holiday in Italy (usually relating past experiences).

IMO the Italian Police are apathetic to pickpockets.

If your beat day after day is in a train station and you don't notice the *same characters* with no luggage, hanging around eyeballing the passers-by looking for a target, then either you don't care or you are incompetent.

At high-profile tourist sites undercover cops as a male/female tourist couple complete with guidebooks and a camera could work wonders.
They could blend-in and look for those who didn't blend-in by their actions and focus on them.

The same could also go for the buses and metro which would be a bit harder with the sardine-packed crowds but not impossible.

Increase the penalties (which I believe are lax in Italy?) and really hit hard the repeat offenders with jail time.

And if they cannot show other means of support besides criminal activies confiscate any *luxury* items they own (car/motorcycle, jewerly, electronics, etc).

And if they are using their children, hold the parents legally responsible after a 2nd offense.

And if it sounds harsh just think how many 1000's of persons they will steal from in the course of their career.
Regards, Walter

Hi Paradise,

I agree harsher measures should be taken but really, what can the police do?
Fine them? (They have no money)
Confiscate? (They'll steal another item to make up for the one lost)
Put them in jail? (They don't do that with petty crime or it's a short sentence)
Send them back to their country? (That costs government taxes AND they usually come back anyway)

I agree that more money should be used to hire more police. If only the local government would see it that way.

Hmmm. I live in downtown Chicago and we have plenty of scams and pickpockets/theft schemes.

One well known one which I almost fell prey to ..

Car pulled over to the side of road, driver waving to others pretending to be almost out of gas, forgot their wallet and asks for cash... there are several like that.

Also - in the loop, identity theives dress as business men and pickpocket wallets. Have vans parked downtown where they immediately recreate credit cards or ids ... especially in the summer when people eat outside for lunch.

Not sure its as targeted here at obvious tourists but its here and happens often enough for my taste. -

I've been living in Paris for 28 years and not only I never had been victim of a pickpocket, but I don't even know someone who has. Maybe there are more pickpockets here than in a large US city, or maybe not.

But fact is : they overwhelmingly target tourists, not locals. For plenty of reasons :

-The tourist finds himself in a strange place, and won't notice as easily as the local an unusual or abnormal behaviour (especially so if say tourist doesn't live in a large city hence generally less cautious). Easier target.

- The tourist is distracted, searching his way around, taking pictures, gawking at monuments. The local is in a hurry because he's late for work or something. Easier target.

-The tourist often won't complain to the police or bring charges, the local often will. The items or documents taken from the tourist won't be declared as stolen. Less risk.

-And more importantly, locals don't carry around a lot of money, a couple cameras and so on. At best, a pickpocket targeting him would walk away with &euro;50. Not really worth it.

So, like you, I &quot;walk around and ride the subway with my wallet in my pocket or my iPhone (well in the side pocket of a bag and I never fear that anything I'm carrying will be lifted off me&quot;.


That said, it's true, according to statistics, that there are more petty crimes in Europe than in the USA (and also more burglaries, theft, etc...What we don't have are violent crimes and specifically murder).

&quot;And if they are using their children, hold the parents legally responsible after a 2nd offence.&quot;


The problem is, from what I heard, that they don't know who the parents are (and sometimes their parents actually aren't even in the country. The kids are sometimes &quot;loaned&quot;). The children operating in gangs are apparently drilled, and don't speak. They're handed to the child protection services and then escape.

&quot;And if they cannot show other means of support besides criminal activies confiscate any *luxury* items they own (car/motorcycle, jewerly, electronics, etc).&quot;

They don't have those. I've seen news reports and documentaries about the slums (there's no other word) where many of these people live in the suburbs of Paris...You wouldn't believe such places exist in a first world country.

Thanks for the replies. To answer a question, I live in a town that abuts the city limits of Boston and I work in a very touristy area of the city. Yes, we get inundated with busloads of tourists who get dropped off, literally, in front of my office building every day. I frequently have to cut through a crowd of camera-clad, gawking foreigners each day when I step out for a mid-day trip to the gym or to grab lunch. (I don't mean disrespect, I quite like our visitors and wish more would come to visit.)

But I still wonder about the disparity of what appears to be petty street crime in Europe v. North America. I gre up around NYC, so I remember quite a number of three card monty dealers in Times Square, but that's a different kind of theft than a pack of kids surrounding a tourist at a train station. Is it that visitors to the US don't complain about being pick pocketed? I ask this in all seriousness because I honestly have never seen nor heard of crowds of street kids surrounding tourists and lifting wallets or personal effects like you hear about Rome or certain other spots in Europe.

I was visiting Paris for four days three years ago and I saw 3 attempted pickpocketings, I live in a major metropolitan city in the U.S. and I haven't witnessed one in the U.S. Maybe I'm an absolutely abnormal traveller, but that was my experience. I believe that petty theft is much more rampant in Europe than in the U.S.

Agree. I'm been to europe more than 70 times - between vacations and business trips. And I have NEVER had any problems with pickpockets or scams.

I have heard a couple of tourists complaiing about having things stolen - but in each case they were clearly at fault.

If you choose to sleep overnight on a train sitting up in a seat and someone takes your camera when you're asleep - you're lucky they didn't take more.

And if you're standing in line to buy a ticket at a train station and set your purse on top of your suitcase while you turn back to the counter - what do you THINK will happen to it.

I know there are rings of professional pickpockets who can get things from people who are as clueless as those described above. But - they also operate in cities in the US - I've seen several reports in the news.

There are one or 2 cities where the pickpockets are more apparent - but if you know that - then just be sure you don;t fall victim. And, yes, some police are not focused on pickpockets - they're busy looking for terrorists and other major criminals.

(If you go to either Penn Station of Grand Central in NYC there are police everywhere - as well as national guard - and they are NOT looking for pickpockets. They're from the terrorism task force - and have other duties. If you're the victim of a violent crime they will help you - but if you complain about losing a wallet they'll just tell you to file a report. That's their job.)

I've been pick-pocketed twice, and close to home both times. Got my wallet stolen in a supermarket in completely un-touristy El Cerrito, CA over 20 years ago (must have left my bag unzipped while writing a check). More recently, my old, half-broken cell phone was stolen from the side pocket of my handbag when I was fumbling with an umbrella while exiting a subway station near Times Square. I'm a lot more careful while travelling.

I live in Toronto the Good and the management of the building where I work recently sent out an email warning people to be careful because an organized group of pickpockets are stealing credit cards from women's wallets in the food court. Apparently they pluck the wallet out of a woman's purse, take the credit cards, and then replace the wallet back into the handbag.

We also get the occasional email warning about thieves getting into the building and stealing people's unattended wallets while they are away from their desks.

And this is a highrise in the financial district with full security where you need your pass anytime you want to get through a door.

The US is unique if petty theft is as rare as the OP claims.

Hi Liam, I also live outside of Boston on the North Shore. Thankfully, I have never been robbed at home. Have been to Europe well over a dozen times and never been pickpocketed although many more saavy travelers than myself have been. I have gone mostly on tours but have also gone with friends independently, driven, on trains etc.

I have never taken public transportation in Europe so that is another matter. At my age, I am not out alone at night either. However, from my experience taking two tours in Spain (love that country!), I have heard a few horror stories about people being mugged.

Example - a few years back we were in Madrid, going to a restaurant in the early evening when we heard a great commotion. A couple sitting in an outdoor cafe had just been ripped off and the aggrieved male was swearing and chasing the culprit who had just taken his wallet from his table as he was paying his check.

I must admit, it was a bit unsettleling to observe this incident.

But don't let that stop you from enjoying Europe. Always have an extra credit card and some American dollars stasted away in your luggage.

Enjoy!

&quot;But I still wonder about the disparity of what appears to be petty street crime in Europe v. North America.&quot;

Let's assume petty street crime IS more common in Europe.

The point is it's petty. And we know it.

&quot;I have heard a few horror stories about people being mugged.&quot; refers to an incident in which a wallet was grabbed, but the only violence came from the victim. Mugging requires violence, and it's rare in Europe - at least in major city centres, though not in the ghastly low-income housing estates round cities like Manchester or Paris.

Almost every example of pickpocketing etc involves some carelessness on the victim's part. Since it's been going on in big cities for centuries, the prevailing public view is that it's your job to stop yourself being targetted. Having your wallet stolen is a bloody nuisance, but there are far more important problems - like the violence in low-income housing estates - for the police to concentrate on, or for illiberal judicial stunts like &quot;one strike and you're out&quot;.

Except of course for Italy's machine-gun toting absurdity. The country's run by a criminal, who knows fine that the more people diverted to pointlessly looking butch, the fewer available for rooting out his cronies' real crimes. But in the rest of Europe, where governments are accountable to voters, we're forever demanding tougher police action for this or that - but we just don't take getting our briefcase nicked once a decade that seriously. And we don't want to live in a police state so people can leave their wallets on a table for an hour.

It's just not true that only tourists are targetted: how on earth in a cosmopolitan city like London can anyone - especially someone with half a second to decide whether to risk being caught - tell the difference between a tourist and a local? You have to live somewhere extraordinarily isolated even to think there IS such a thing as a &quot;local&quot; in a real city.

What thieves target is people making themselves vulnerable. We all do it at some time in our lives. Most sensible London parents see the first time their 10 year old gets his mobile phone stolen on the way to school rather like a vaccination: a mildly unpleasant experience that'll build resistance to real threats later.

Ultimately, it's a kind of mirror image of the health debate. Europeans regard it as the job of a stroller in a city to prevent himself from being robbed. If he gets this wrong, there's only minimal assistance or prevention available from the State, and we deeply mistrust the idea of giving the State extra resources or powers to protect the feckless from the consequences of their lack of feck.

&quot;how on earth in a cosmopolitan city like London can anyone - especially someone with half a second to decide whether to risk being caught - tell the difference between a tourist and a local? You have to live somewhere extraordinarily isolated even to think there IS such a thing as a &quot;local&quot; in a real city.&quot;

Huh... That's easy. The tourist is wearing shorts, the local a tie. The local's belonging are in his briefcase, the tourist's in his backpack. The local is reading the paper, the tourist is reading a map. The local is using his cell phone, the tourist his camera. And finally the local is to be found around an office building, the tourist around a monument.


To paraphrase you, I would say : &quot;You have to live somewhere extraordinarily isolated even to think there IS no way to easily find an obvious tourist in a large city&quot;

flanneruk was probably only referring to tourists from the Continent. Europeans spend lots of time and effort to blend in with regard to proper local attire to avoid scams, as we all know from numerous threads.
I always pack my Saville Row suit and bowler hat when I head to London. Wearing expensive business attire on my way to the City is the best way to scare off thugs, since they rather steal any tourist's white trainers and 5 year old Nikon than my brand new Blackberry and 500 GBP briefcase.

&quot;Don;t know where you live but pickpocketing and other minor street crimes/scams are fairly frequent in tourist areas of many large cities.&quot;

This is true, however it is not the case in all countries. We moved to Australia 14 years ago, from a very dangerous and crime-ridden part of the world. Until our move we really used our street smarts (and our revolvers and burglar alarms and rottweilers and security devices) every day because petty crime and violent crime was rife.

I have lived in three large cities in Australia, and we have a lot of tourists. Yet this is still a country where you can leave your purse on the roof of your car while distracted by a baby who does not want to be strapped into a car seat, drive off, and have your purse returned to you fully intact a few hours later. The same goes for handbags left on buses, money dropped in shopping centres, wallets left on counters in shops, sunglasses left in public toilets, etc, etc. even 14 years later, there is not a day that goes by that I don't pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

The downside to this is that tourists from countries where stealing uncommon are so trusting that they are easy prey. My children have grown up believing that everyone is honest but I know that I will have to give my children a comprehensive lesson on how to protect their belongings before our European trip in December. I am so sad that this will be necessary.

I would not be surprised if there was a guild of pickpockets. It's a craft that's been practiced for centuries, handed down the generations, don'tcha know.

Pickpockets don't discriminate between locals and tourists, having worked out long ago that people get as distracted reading the paper or answering their cellphones as they do snapping a photo or consulting a map (which, by the way, locals must do on occasion as well - if they go outside their ordinary routine haunts in the city.) Also, a pocket is a pocket - be it on a pair of trousers, or a pair of shorts.

&quot;The tourist is wearing shorts, the local a tie&quot;

Have you ever been to London? Or Paris? Or any other real city?

Some places are just more prone to one type of crime than other. Factors such as opportunity, where law enforcement bodies place emphasis, and cultural/social issues enter into it.

Certainly places like Rome, Paris, Venice, etc. have masses of easily identified tourists who make relatively easy targets as opposed to locals--with less risk of prosecution even if caught. Many of these cities in Europe also have a lot of new immigrants who are economically disadvantaged--they need a source of income, like tourist wallets and purses.

I just returned from visiting family in El Paso, Texas. Pickpocketing by Mexican and Central American immigrants (legal and illegal) is not a problem, but you'd better not leave a garage door or window open as you'll lose a pickup truck full of stuff in a few minutes--even if you're sitting in your den watching TV or out in the backyard with a beer watching the barbecue turn your steak into charcoal.

People who need money are going to try to get it however they can--and that varies from place to place.

I was planning to say something, but it's no need since Clairobscur said it all.

I've been vacationing in Europe, almost annually since 1973, and I am always more on guard as for the pickpocketing/scam situation in some European cities than I am here at home.

As for the comment to the tune of tourists walking around looking like a target with a camera out etc...well, I'm from L.A. County...over 40 years here... and this is a BIG tourists area and trust me there are PLENTY of tourists here walking around especially beach cities like Santa Monica with or without cameras out, but looking like OBVIOUS wandering tourists.

I was just in a store, last weekend, not in a beach area though and a young guy and his girlfriend were wandering around looking like real tourists and he had a big camera, with a telephoto type of lens, strapped across him. I thought to myself why would anyone be so obvious?

And as to the comment about if a person speaks various languages so they can know what the pickpockets are saying as they are planning to pickpocket them...well, I have had 9 languages in school and whenever there has been an attempted pickpocketing on me over the 30-plus years that I've been going to Europe, I didn't hear anyone talking about it. If there were two pickpocketers, they already knew what they were going to do before doing it. I watch BODY language and EYE contact as they will give each other EYE contact.

One of my best friends, who's American, and fluent in French had his passport and money ripped off of him in the metro in Paris and he had it in a pouch, around his neck and tucked in his shirt. He's been to Paris a lot and has even lived there. The pickpocketers didn't discuss what they were going to do in his presence, they just got into the metro train and did it.

He ended up the whole day at the police station and the American Embassy reporting the theft and trying to get another passport. Who would have gone to the police station and stayed for hours going through all of the bureaucracy to report it if only money had been taken? And even if it had been reported, then what are the chances of it being recorded in some statistical report on thefts?

Also, one of my closest Danish friends and a friend of hers came to visit me here in Pasadena and they didn't have to strap a camera across them to look like a tourist. They stood out like a sore thumb. I sent them out and around L.A. County, for a few days, on the Red(?) line, or one of those public transportation lines, as I had to work and couldn't drive them around. I gave them some lifeskills lessons first. They took public transportation on all of the days that I had to work and when they came back each day, they said that people were so nice and would just walk up to them, out of the blue, and ask if they needed directions somewhere. Some people even went with them all the way to their stop, on the train line, to make sure that they could find where they were going and arrive safely. They said that they were sitting outside having something to drink when yet another person, out of the blue, curiously them where they were from. They said this happened every day that they were out. They asked me if they really looked that tourist obvious and I told them that they definitely did.

And as far as to the comment of whether one sees considerable numbers of tourists in groups in the States, well there sure are here in L.A. There are large groups of Asian tourists and lots of other groups aimlessly wandering around. Happy Travels!

A friend who has traveled around the world had his camera bag ( with very expensive equipment) stolen at the home town airport while checking in ( he put the bag on the floor for a few minutes only).
Thieves are everywhere looking for
victims.
It may be up to us to be mindful of that - as much as one can be.

correction...&quot;curiously asked them..&quot; Happy Travels!

&quot;The tourist is wearing shorts, the local a tie&quot;

Have you ever been to London? Or Paris? Or any other real city?&quot;


Since a detailed explanation is apparently required

Disclaimer 1) I know there are locals who don't wear a tie. Lots of them.

Disclaimer 2) I know there are tourists who don't wear shorts. Lots of them

However, as (almost, apparently) everybody could have understood, my point was that it's not difficult to notice and find a target.. I mean a tourist... If you intend to.
But if if you really insist on stating that really, nobody could possibly notice the slightest difference between a random accountant going to my office building and a random tourist going to the major Paris museum that is situated right next door, go ahead. I won't discuss this anymore.

Someone also wrote &quot;A pocket is a pocket, on a pair of trouser or in a pair of shorts&quot;. Right. Except that what interest the pickpocket is the *content* of the pocket. Next time you visit a museum, look at the wallet of foreign tourists buying their tickets and more specifically the amount of cash some of them are carrying around. Compare it to the average amount of money you're carrying around at home.

Finally, several posters mentioned the kid-thieves and such. Where are they to be found? Do you often see them hanging around in districts mostly devoted to housing and office buildings, or nearby major
tourism sites? If they're equally interested in tourists and locals, why aren't they found everywhere? Because they enjoy studying architecture between two thefts?