Sorry to hear of your misfortune and also the fact that your CC issuer was unable to deny the charges but i also assume you are limited to a total of $50 in liability in event of fraud.

Complacent or not, these people who pick pockets often do so for a living and they are VERY proficient. In my own personal experience they will usually back off quite quickly if you are able to detect their theft and confront them.

As to charging $5000 in a store...depends on the store. in some establishments, in Rome, it wouldn't necessarily be all that unusual.

worldinabag,

I think credit card thieves know which shops to go to where no questions are asked, and where store owners or employees may be in cahoots with them.

denisea,

I never book an urban hotel that doesn't have room safes. It would take multiple levels of thievery for a hotel employee to make an unauthorized opening of a room safe, which would quickly be detected and reported, so they are more secure than relying on cross body purses, hiding things in the room or in luggage, etc. In rural areas, I book with family-run places.

DH and I love the decoy wallet idea! He was also thinking about a mousetrap device and maybe even an RFID embedded in the wallet or credit cards.

My mom accidentally ended up with someone else's iPhone in a bag after a triathlon - and was shocked when the owner showed up at her house to pick it up, after tracking the phone somehow travel from the race site to her house!

Thanks iowamom for the reminders...I think I had become complacent also and your kind efforts have woken me up for my next trip!

I have always had concern about being pickpocketed. For many years now I have travelled with a dummy wallet. I also place Kleenx in my pocket on top of the wallet just to make it a little more difficult for a thief to remove it. I usually place fake money in the wallet(Canadian Tire money or similar)with the hope that some hapless thief will try to cash it if they do get my wallet.

I put our spending money in my socks and my wife will carry one credit card someplace other than her purse. We only carry a photocopy of our passport with us and leave all else in our room safe.

One year a group of young children approched us at the Colliseum. Now I had previously read of the old 'hand under the newspaper' trick so was well prepared to respond to these kids. However before I could say a word my wife (ll 5'1" of her) stepped forward and yelled at them.....don't even try it, get lost and stepped towards them. They scattered as we laughed and pointed at them as we yelled thief.

zeppole,

You are 100% correct. It's not just the person who tries to pickpocket you. It could also be somebody watching for a reaction.

I take very few of my miscelaneous wallet things with me. No need for my US National Parks Pass, etc.

A credit card, some Id and a couple of cards all go into my belt-looped pouch and are slid down inside my pants.

When the man returned his paltry take from my back pocket there was no need to verify everything was ok as there was nothing of value in my pockets.

This reminds me of the last time we were in Amsterdam. There were signs "outside" a museum telling people to mind there valuables and not touch where they were. They indicated that thieves stand near the signs inside waiting for people to read the sign and touch their valuables. It was a charicature sign. Very good sign.

Men can't resist checking their valuables.

I always repeat this to my friends who are so overconfident when they travel-these pickpockets are PROFESSIONALS-most of the time you won't even know/feel when it happens!
I also tell them to never use the ATMs out on the streets-always go inside the bank!

I don't know, but I'm just glad that when I first started traveling, there was no Fodors Forum; I'd have been afraid to step foot outside my door.

LucieV,

Now you're afraid to step outside because you know too much. Can't win!!!

The first story I heard was many years ago. It had to do with jamming a towel under the door of a train sleeper so we wouldn't be gassed and robbed.

How did we survive these trips?

I dislike those posts from people claiming it will never happen to them because "I do this or that". It happened to my husband a former detective on the train in Rome. Lost money and credit cards and worst of all drivers' license. Couldn't drive rental car and almost happened to me in Paris last June when someone jostled me on the metro. My purse was opened but there was only my camera in it and I guess it wasn't good enough for him so he pretended to see someone he knew and jumped off the metro. And yes my husband is still smarting from the experience.

Being American helps. We're used to being around people who can kill us if they want to.

"One is very small and has a narrow belt loop. It slips down inside my pants. In there I keep a credit card and about $50 as second level cash. If I'm in a store and need my credit card, I'll pull it up, use the card and slide it back inside my pants."

Well... once I needed something from my money belt, I pulled it out of the skirt with elastic waste, no underwear in sight. Still, the look on the woman's face... My credit card is in my purse ever since.

Thank you for sharing this upsetting experience. As someone who is married to an "I always know where my wallet is and I carry it in my front pocket" kind of guy, I am going to make sure he reads this.

Pickpocketing is very prevalant in London and there are signs noting this as you enter a lot of tube stations.
They say thieves watch people when they read these signs because a lot of tourists will feel for their wallet at that moment..hence pointing out exactly where it is.

Putting your bus/metro ticket back into your wallet in public serves the same purpose.

As for your husband feeling guilty, I know many people, careful, aware, well-travelled people, who have had the same thing happen in Italy~so he shouldn't beat himself up.

Conclusion: Italy is a dangerous country for travelers.

Italy isn't dangerous, very few travelers suffer any injury. Some lose their wallets, though.

One of my friends who has lived all of her life in New York City, was in London a couple of years ago. She went into a pizza place for lunch and just slung her bag over the back of her chair. (I bit my tongue and refrained from saying, "How could you do that?! Even this country hick knows better." When she came to go, the purse was gone along with plane ticket, passport, credit cards and money. She said she thought she felt someone bump the chair, but thought it was just the close quarters of the place.

I keep reading the stories of wiser travelers than I and hope that I will avoid complacency, etc. but know the odds are that eventually some thievery will catch up with me.

Thanks for sharing the reminder Iowamom!

Just had an email this morning from a friend just back from her first trip to Paris.Before she left I had given her all sorts of restaurant and sight seeing recommendations and also a few warnings about pick-pockets, the golden ring trick, the petitions, the Roma girls outside the Louvre,the bracelet guys at Sacre Couer etc.

Well she said " I met all your friends in Paris that you warned me about" ! They managed to fend them all off, although she almost fell for the ring trick, just instinctively bending to pick it up before she caught herself.
Unfortunately on their last day she was pick-pocketed on a very busy Metro car, she said they managed to unzip her bag, steal the wallet, and zip the bag back up! Luckily she noticed as soon as they were off the train and she was able to cancel her cards quickly.
She loves Paris nonetheless!

kayd: I was being facetious.

I have not read all of this, but I generally do use hotel safes.

At major chain hotels I can tell you that most of the staff can't access them. If you ever have one break you will see what I mean....some "special" person must be summoned to deal with it.

However, at my suburban Atlanta grocery store we have signs. "warning purse snatchings have been occurring". So it is not like I am that much safer at home :)