Getting Robbed in Italy
Dec 29th, 2012, 09:37 PM
#42
Some great points made about globalization, travel awareness and caution, and reading up on the latest scams. This thread is a good reminder.
PS -- never been a victim of crime in many travels to Italy; most people are surprised to hear I was robbed in Brussels (chain and small pendant around my neck torn off me)-- outside the south train station, unsurprisingly.
PS -- never been a victim of crime in many travels to Italy; most people are surprised to hear I was robbed in Brussels (chain and small pendant around my neck torn off me)-- outside the south train station, unsurprisingly.
Dec 30th, 2012, 02:09 AM
#44
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Danon, your attitude is dangerous, it can happen to anyone. I, wearing a zipped up crossbody bag, encountered a gypsyish woman with a new technique in Rome and lost my money and cards. I still sometimes think I would like to find her !
Dec 30th, 2012, 07:34 AM
#46
tarquin - what was the new technique?
I always wear a money belt, so the one time I was pickpocketed in Rome the thief got very little. I was hit by the dirty water scam in Buenos Aires on my last trip and that thief got nothing, as I carry nothing in my pockets. It can happen many places, to anybody.
I always wear a money belt, so the one time I was pickpocketed in Rome the thief got very little. I was hit by the dirty water scam in Buenos Aires on my last trip and that thief got nothing, as I carry nothing in my pockets. It can happen many places, to anybody.
Dec 30th, 2012, 07:39 AM
#47
the only place I have used a money belt was for our first trip to Rome - having rad so many threads here, I thought that it was a sensible precaution.
i found that it had advantages and disadvantages - you need to put some small notes and change in a pocket, so as not to have to keep going to it, and if you want to use your credit card, there is the performance of getting to it!
still it did make me feel secure, but i confess that four our next trip, I just used my purse in my handbag. it has a zip and a flap, and short of its being ripped out of hands [possible I know] it's pretty safe.
but I agree that none of us are safe, and IMO those who kid themselves that they are too "savy" to be victims have just been lucky - so far.
i found that it had advantages and disadvantages - you need to put some small notes and change in a pocket, so as not to have to keep going to it, and if you want to use your credit card, there is the performance of getting to it!
still it did make me feel secure, but i confess that four our next trip, I just used my purse in my handbag. it has a zip and a flap, and short of its being ripped out of hands [possible I know] it's pretty safe.
but I agree that none of us are safe, and IMO those who kid themselves that they are too "savy" to be victims have just been lucky - so far.
Dec 30th, 2012, 08:09 AM
#48
ann - I carry a day's supply of cash, and one credit card if I think I will need one, in a wallet in my day bag, not in my pockets. There's a reason they're called pickpockets! (I'm not a shopper, so I usually only need a credit card for dinner, if then.)
Dec 30th, 2012, 08:36 AM
#49
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Hi Thursday. The technique was begging and thrusting a heavily veiled "baby" at me while unzipping and exploring my handbag underneath. I know, it sounds like too many hands would be needed, but some must have been false. Now I don't allow any similar creatures to come anywhere near me as I know they are smarter than I am!
Dec 30th, 2012, 10:25 AM
#53
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I too have seen the baby throwing technique - similar in a way to the handing women a rose thing they do in Spain.
All you have to do is refuse to engage in the scam. And, yes, I've had someone put a "curse" on me for not taking a flower - and then become even more irate when I laughed at the "curse".
I know it may be difficult not to respond is someone tries to throw you or had you a baby - but the key is to put your hands on your purse instead, turn away or back up - and yell. If nothing else yell leave me alone. But I prefer the local version of thief - voleur.
And I have over 100 trips to europe - with no thefts or scams - and that's using a regular purse on business trips or a sportsac on vacations.
All you have to do is refuse to engage in the scam. And, yes, I've had someone put a "curse" on me for not taking a flower - and then become even more irate when I laughed at the "curse".
I know it may be difficult not to respond is someone tries to throw you or had you a baby - but the key is to put your hands on your purse instead, turn away or back up - and yell. If nothing else yell leave me alone. But I prefer the local version of thief - voleur.
And I have over 100 trips to europe - with no thefts or scams - and that's using a regular purse on business trips or a sportsac on vacations.
Dec 30th, 2012, 12:29 PM
#54
ann - I carry a day's supply of cash, and one credit card if I think I will need one, in a wallet in my day bag, not in my pockets. There's a reason they're called pickpockets! (I'm not a shopper, so I usually only need a credit card for dinner, if then.)>>
thursdays - i think you misunderstood me - my credit card was in my money belt, along with most of my folding money, which meant that if i wanted to make more than a small purchase, i had to go through the performance of getting it out. to me, the whole point of having a money belt is to carry valuables around, rather than having them in a bag. The only things in my pockets were small change a some low value notes.
<<And, yes, I've had someone put a "curse" on me for not taking a flower - and then become even more irate when I laughed at the "curse">>
reminds me of being sworn at by the "sign this petition" gang in an obscure part of Tuscany when i was with my italian friend - she thought that i was being awful when i told them to take a hike. it was only when I pointed out that if they were genuine they wouldn't swear like that, that she understood that they were scamming.
thursdays - i think you misunderstood me - my credit card was in my money belt, along with most of my folding money, which meant that if i wanted to make more than a small purchase, i had to go through the performance of getting it out. to me, the whole point of having a money belt is to carry valuables around, rather than having them in a bag. The only things in my pockets were small change a some low value notes.
<<And, yes, I've had someone put a "curse" on me for not taking a flower - and then become even more irate when I laughed at the "curse">>
reminds me of being sworn at by the "sign this petition" gang in an obscure part of Tuscany when i was with my italian friend - she thought that i was being awful when i told them to take a hike. it was only when I pointed out that if they were genuine they wouldn't swear like that, that she understood that they were scamming.
Dec 30th, 2012, 12:51 PM
#55
ann - no, I didn't misunderstand you. I carry three or four credit cards on a trip, so only one is outside my money belt at any given time. Plus I carry enough cash outside the belt I don't need to access it during the day. I may still get robbed, but it won't be a disaster.
Dec 30th, 2012, 01:20 PM
#56
thursdaysd: That's what I do as well. In my wallet/purse is walking around money and either a credit card or ATM card depending on my plans for the day.
The other cards and 'extra' cash (and passport if there isn't a safe in the flat or B&B) are in my money belt. I haven't once needed to access my 'stash' in public - and never would. That would sort of defeat the purpose.
I think of it as a 'body safe' not a 'spare purse'
The other cards and 'extra' cash (and passport if there isn't a safe in the flat or B&B) are in my money belt. I haven't once needed to access my 'stash' in public - and never would. That would sort of defeat the purpose.
I think of it as a 'body safe' not a 'spare purse'
Dec 30th, 2012, 02:10 PM
#58
What's complicated? Everything that I really don't want to lose - passport, ATM cards, credit cards, cash, medical insurance, maybe not tickets now we have etickets - stuff I don't carry around at home - goes in my money belt. I put it on in the morning under my clothes and forget about it until I take it off at night. What I need for the day goes into my wallet in my bag, just like at home.
Dec 30th, 2012, 02:18 PM
#59
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Like the others who've posted, I carry one credit card, "walking around" money, and my small digital camera in a small cross-body bag from PacSafe. Everything else goes in the moneybelt, which goes on as I dress in the morning. Easy-peasy. I usually travel in the fall, so the cross-body bag is generally UNDER a coat or cardigan.
