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Thieves and robbery are not uncommon in Italy. But we were victims of a very sophisticatedly organized robbery which I did not read anywhere before.

This happened in the afternoon of July 29, 2007 in the center of Milan:

First, person A pierced our tire with a knife while we were driving. Then, person B (probably the same as A) on scooter passed by and notified us (we heard noise of wheel but we thought it's because the trolley tracks we were driving on). I pulled our car to next roundabout and found a place to park (in front of a building entry). When we were replacing the tire, person C appeared and shouted at us - "no parking", pointed to a sign and pretended calling police. When our attentions were attracted to person C, person D snapped our bag (which was on the floor of the passenger's seat). We lost passports, cash, and 2 cameras. (Note we never saw A or D.)

I don't know why we were picked. We just returned from Nice (a non-stop drive) and we kept our windows closed.

At US consulate, we learned that this scheme is pretty common in Milan. Milan is not safe. Be aware.

Theft and other criminal activities can occur anywhere of course, but if tourism is important to the local economy and tourists are being targetted and the authorities are not doing enough, perhaps tourists should be considering boycotting particular cities to get a response - see also recent posts on this topic concerning Barcelona. And just think what "named Fodor's tourist pickpocketing capital of Europe" would do for a city or region's tourism marketing campaign.

I wasn't robbed, but our family witnessed one in Como. A young man, probably twenties came speeding by on his bicycle and grabbed the purse from an older woman on the street.

Close enough to feel the wind from the bicycle and wish we could have reacted fast enough to knock him over.

The woman wasn't being overly protective of her purse, just letting it dangle by the handle.

My husband was robbed(same as Nikki) boarding the Circumvesuviana train in Naples.

Older teens with tamborine blocking us boarding the train to Sorrento. My husband's wallet was lifted from his very deep front pocket as he had both hands on the luggage.

I was also targeted boarding the train in Brussels for Amsterdam. A nice gentlemen in a suit and tie came up to help me board the train and while I was stepping up on the stairs he unzipped my backpack. Fortunately I turned just at that moment and he jumped down from the train and ran down the stairs to the main station. NOthing lost.

As a very naive tourist the first time in Europe I asked our waiter in Vienna if we tipped over and above the service charge and he said definitely "yes".

Oh well, generous American I not only paid the service charge, but a 15-20% tip on top. I did this every night.

Back home and going through my memorabilia years later I looked at the receipts from the restaurants I ate at and realized my mistake. That could be robbery or it could be my stupidity.

Oops, a clarification. I was eating in Venice, not Vienna where I had no problems. Just wanted to set the record straight.

300 plus days over the past 15 years in some of the great pickpocket capitals of the world. Never had a problem, don't think we have ever been close, and cannot say that I have even seen a pickpockets. Lucky maybe -- but according to some recent Interpol date I saw about 1 in 4 Americans will have problems.

My husband had a really good Nikon digital camera lifted on a bus in Warsaw. Big mistake was that he took a photo right before we hopped on the bus. We had to stand; it was a crowded bus; some rather large and not "aromatically correct" guy somehow wedged himself between us. When we got off a few stops later, the camera was gone. It was upsetting, since we had a whole slew of photos on the camera; also, we realized that we were not as alert as we should have been.

A few months ago, we were boarding the train in Brussels to go to the airport. We had our luggage and my husband was wearing his backpack. Out of nowhere, this guy came up to us and pointed out that my husband had this sweet gunky stuff all over the back of his jacket. We were there at a time when it was not busy (early in the morning); the guy started to offer my husband tissues to wipe off his jacket. When I pulled out my own tissues and started to get upset, he took off.
We think he was trying to get my husband to remove his backpack to clean up what was a sticky icky mess. Think it was a milkshake or melted icecream. And then someone else would have appeared and grabbed the pack and ran. Fortunately for us, it didn't work. And since we had our luggage with us, it was possible to get rid of the mess and change into clean stuff on the train. VERY annoying... and the first and only time we have had an experience like that.
We have traveled far and wide; Africa, China, Peru--those are the only things that have ever happened to us. One really needs to be alert and aware of space around you. For example, if I feel like someone is too close in back of me, I will stop to look in a window. In New York City, one afternoon, my daughter and I were walking down a fairly busy street, like 45th. I felt a few guys coming up behind and closing in nearer than I liked. I pulled her over to look in a window, and just as these guys passed me, they grabbed a camera from a tourist 20 feet in front of us. He had it hanging on his arm.
I think awareness of who and what is around you is imperative.

Just got back from Paris and Italy and had no encounters with the pickpockets, etc which I did fear.
Paris _Interestingly enough...I got ripped off buying a pack of cigarettes at the well-known Les Deux Magots Restaurant...Downstairs...set up outside the bathroom a lovely lady was selling cigarettes for the normal cost of a pack of Marlboros. I bought a pack, and so pleased for the service provided, left a one E tip. I was very surprised when I opened the pack and it looked tampered with, more surprised when I realised something that was not burnable tobacco had been stuffed in the cigarettes.
After trying to smoke a couple, I decided to leave them on a bench in the Metro station...thinking if someone was really desperate...they might want them...
Imagine my surprise when we got on the Metro and a young guy also boarded and said, "I think you left these." I would have expected someone just to relish the find. I explained to him the problem and if said he would keep them and give them a try and thanked me.

So...honest people are about.

Italy -I also dropped a 5Euro Note in the airport in Pisa. I turned around a minute or so later...expecting it to be gone, and there it was still on the floor. (I gave it to a taxi driver as a tip...I felt very fortunate.)

People were begging, etc. but I kept my money,cc's, etc. in money belt...had my purse around my neck and shoulder....but I had no incidents.

The only time I was ever robbed I was with my young family in Amsterdam. I guess I let my guard down because it was our last morning, in fact we were boarding a bus for the airport! I had used an old purse all week and at the last minute had bought stamps in the hotel reception so I could post postcards from the airport. Realising our bus was due at the stop any moment I crammed the purse in my handbag and hurried along.
There was a couple already waiting at the bus stop, pretty scruffily dressed, I didn't pay them much attention as I was intent on soothing the baby. The bus duly arrived and the other couple waved at us to get on ahead of them, "How kind!" I thought. My husband went on ahead with our luggage and our toddler,and I was somewhat flustered with the baby and a couple of bags. When I got on, I checked to see I wasn't impeding the couple's progress, but they were turning away and I figured they'd changed their minds about getting on.
It was only as we pulled up at the airport that I noticed my handbag had been unzipped and my purse was missing. Luckily for me, all they got were a few Dutch guilders and some postage stamps.
It was a shame but it made me more careful and 10 years' on, no further incidents and it certainly hasn't put us off travelling.

I have been robbed twice. Many years ago on the Costa del Sol a gypsy tried to push flowers in my face while her accomplice managed to rob my wallet. Ten years ago somenbody "fell" ahead of me on an escalator near an underground train in Prague and I found my cell phone had disappeared.There are a lot of robbers in Europe and they seem to prosper there. Perhaps the law is too kind to them. I read last week that a group of 100 Roma had arrived from Romania and settled into a camp beside one of the main roads in Dublin. The Irish government sent them back home.