cbo86

My niece and I (her 1st time in Europe) had just finished a week in London,then took the Eurostar to Paris arriving at Gare du Nord station around noon. At the Station I changed some money, had a light lunch and bought a carnet of Metro tickets from the machine. Yes we looked like weary tourists just arriving in Paris and I knew a target so I thought I was being careful. At the entrance to the turnstiles for Metro Line 4 I purposely waited until no one was entering since I had to show my Niece(she's 14)how to get thru the turnstiles with a ticket and luggage(had used an Oyster card in London). I let her go 1st and she got thru ok and then I followed. As I put my ticket into the gate I reached for my back pocket to check that I still had my wallet(it's a habit I aquired) when I felt a hand and my wallet 1/2 way out of my pocket. Some well dressed Man was trying to Pickpocket Me and no one else but my niece was around. I slapped his hand away, made sure I had my wallet and went thru the gate, still not believing what had just happened. On the other side of the gate it hit me and I called him a SOB (and some other expletives), Yelled for the police and shouted thief as he calmly turned around and walked around the corner away from the gate. The man looked like Seal (the singer) in a well dressed tan topcoat with a silk scarf around his neck not like the pickpocket I imagined. BTW no police ever arrived even though the train station was littered with them and with troops but not the metro entrances. I didn't go after him since I had my wallet and I was on the other side of the entrance and besides that might have been dumb. I count my self very lucky, If I had been Pickpocketed he would have gotten my wallet, about 200 euros and my atm card(I do wear a money belt with my credit cards and passport) which was dumb to carry in my back pocket. Because of this Forum I was aware of the "bump from behind" at the turnstiles but because I thought no one was around I almost became a victim. It would not have ruined our vacation but it would have bummed me out to no end. So be careful it can happen to you just as it almost happened to me.

Travelnut

Thanks for the warning... so - what pocket will you be using from now on?

nytraveler

Travel rule #1

Do not keep your wallet in your back pocket - makes it super easy for anyone to get it - either pulling or slitting. ALWAYS use your front pocket.

(And this is true of everywhere - all over the US too - not just busy tourist area of Paris.)

Dukey

The typically perfect set-up...you are on one side (the wrong one to give pursuit) of a turnstile as the wallet or other valuable is pulled away from you.

This same thing used to happen pre-9/11 at security screenings in airports as people behind unsuspecting travelers would reach onto the conveyer and pull out the last carry-on and walk away.

Glad you didn't get robbed.

djkbooks

It's best to leave your wallet home.

cbo86

When I travel I usually keep only enough money needed for that day and I usually keep it in my front pocket. But I had just used my wallet to buy tickets and had foolishly placed in in my right hip pocket as was my habit. I guess I felt it couldn't happen to me but it almost did. I just want others to know that it does happen and not to let your guard down especially when you think you are being careful. All it takes is one small slip up.

ira

>Hi cb,

Thanks for the warning.

> I reached for my back pocket to check that I still had my wallet.... I usually keep it in my front pocket.<

1. You shouldn't have a wallet at all.
2. If you do have a wallet, neither your back nor your side pocket is a good place to keep it.
3. If you do keep it in a side pocket, put a safety pin over the opening.

robjame

ira is right (I say that a lot)

Many men's pants are being made now with a zippered pocket within one of the front pockets.
Windbreakers or jackets can be found with zippered inside pockets.
These are ideal for tourists.

tjenneke

if you put your wallet in your back pocket, you deserve to be pickpocketed

lucygirl

tjenneke, oh that's nice...so if I find myself walking through a parking lot at night alone then I "deserve" to be raped?!?

djkbooks

The pickpockets go after what is easily accessible, so the best defense is to ensure anything important to you is not.

If you take your wallet out at a train station and put it back, it's highly likely that someone will watch then follow you. There are many stories of people being relieved of their wallets and passports after buying tickets for the RER at CDG, figuring they'll secure them once they're on the train.

wombat7

Thank you for the informative post - glad to hear you weren't robbed.

PalenqueBob

I reached for my back pocket to check that I still had my wallet(it's a habit I aquired) when I felt a hand and my wallet 1/2 way out of my pocket.

anyone who carries a wallet in their back pocket will be pickpocketed and deserves to be.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you are a naive novice traveler but next time read the many posts about not doing so anywhere on Fodor's

it's kind of like saying 'here i am go for it'

aucho53

thanks for the warning cbo86....

No one DERSERVES to be pick pocketed!!!

Layla

Padraig

Nobody *deserves* to be pickpocketed.

But people should recognise that there are dangers, and take appropriate precautions. To fail to do so is unwise. I am glad that cbo86 learned his lesson the easy way.

PalenqueBob

I agree No one deserves to be pickpocketed - poor choice of words

should be is "asking to be pickpocketed"

i waas remiss to use deserves.

Christina

I'm a female, and on one hand can agree with the analogy, but on the other hand do not (about rape). Rape is a violent, brutal crime and has little to do with anyone's behavior and often nothing to do with walking in an area (although one can get kidnappered by doing that, of course). Pickpocketing is just a minor property crime not involving violence, where the pickpocketer is just out to make a little money.

I think deserves is the wrong word, except in the sense that maybe it would teach them a lesson for future travel. I've seen people doing things so egregiously stupid that I've sort of thought the same thing, I admit. I mean they were doing everything stupid to entice or allow pickpocketing, even more than just having a wallet in your back pocket (which is pretty bad on the scale of thiings not to do -- especially in a crowded area and the metro system).

I think a better term is saying that carrying a wallet in your back pocket greatly increases the probabality that you will be pickpocketed.

I don't use a money belt either, and don't agree with the person who claimed you could wear one and not know it. We must dress differently, that is very possible, as there is no way in the world I am not going to know I am wearing such an item on my person (yes, I tried it a few times and then discarded it)--at least the waist belts or neck pouches. I couldn't wear those neck pouches without showing with my usual attire and clothing styles. I don't think any woman could very well unless you wore very baggy clothes. I don't want lumps around my hips or waist either, and I don't wear baggy pants that it would even be possible without showing.

Anyway, I don't use one and have never had a problem because I am careful and don't lend myself to pickpockets. I don't leave things in areas that can easily be reached into, don't wear backpacks, and don't have dangly totes or things at my side with anything valuable in them. I also take the metro, of course, and sometimes hold onto a pole, but I do not leave my purse open to others, unnoticed while I do that. Even when I use by arms to hold on (although that is rare you need both to hold onto the pole). I carry things in a purse that is small enough that I have my hand on the zipper or whatever closes it, or would have it tightly under my arm near my armpit, perhaps, if I really had both hands on a pole.

Padraig

Like Christina, I do not use things like money belts. I rely on a set of sensible precautions, the most important of which is to be reasonably aware of my surroundings and the people near me. So far, so good. But we have to recognise that nobody is immune. All you can do is reduce the risk.

The phenomenon that most reduces the risk for me is that so many other people offer themselves as easy marks.

hanl

"The phenomenon that most reduces the risk for me is that so many other people offer themselves as easy marks."

I fully agree!

When I lived in Paris, a colleague of mine managed to get her wallet stolen from her bag on the metro a grand total of three times in six months. Meanwhile, I wasn't pickpocketed once in three years.
The problem with my colleague was that she really was an easy target. She was always getting distracted and she'd carry her wallet in a messenger bag which she'd swing round to her back when holding on to the pole or handrails on the metro. Obviously, it was extremely easy for thieves to slip a hand into her bag and extract her wallet without her noticing. And even after the first two thefts, she still carried her stuff around in that messenger bag and wore it across her back!

FainaAgain

"The man looked like Seal (the singer) in a well dressed tan topcoat with a silk scarf around his neck not like the pickpocket I imagined." - I wonder what did you imagine, some kind of a pickpocketing uniform? Of course he should look good not to draw attention to himself.