joebear

Reading up on going to London it seems there are tons of warnings about pick pocketers. Please advise how to identify and what their techniques are or other pit falls we should be aware of...Just want to be an informed traveler, I realize crime is everywhere.

djkbooks

Pickpockets go after anything easily accessible, so best line of defense is to ensure that anything of value to you is not.

Leave your wallet at home. Use the slimest/smallest case that will hold a few cards and a bit of cash. You do not need all that stuff, and it's nearly impossible to easily secure/protect a large/fat wallet.

In airports and on public transportation to and from, your passport and other valuables are best carried in an under-your-clothing security pouch.

Common advice is to "just" be alert and aware of your surroundings. But, it's all too common to get or be distracted.

Pickpockets, who usually travel in a group of two or three, are highly practiced in their "art". It's more important to be aware of anyone in your personal space. Take a good look at them (they don't want you to be able to identify them later) and watch their hands. If you're traveling with someone, watch each other and anyone nearby.

I leave my passport in the hotel safe and carry a copy. I keep a card or two in a deep front pocket and a bit of cash in the other. Any extra cash/cards stays in the hotel safe.

Carry around only what you really need for the day.

Christina

yeah, right, that old crime is everywhere line. Well, you will have a better chance of being pickpocketed in Rome than in Lima, Ohio.

Don't have things accessible to strangers in your pockets that are valuable. They do it by being very good at taking things out of pockets quickly and as unobtrusively as possible so people don't feel it that much. They do this in crowded areas -- lots around tourist sites and on public transportation.

I just met a guy last weekend who claimed he was a real experienced traveler, etc., and he tells me he was pickpocketed in the RER train in Paris going to the airport. Said he had been there a while "and didn't feel any danger in the city", like that has anything to do with it, so he was careless. He just had his wallet right in his pocket on a crowded public train and was standing near the door on top of that. So he did all the wrong things, as they like to pickpocket guys standing near the door so they can easily do it and jump out at the next stop. He thought he had some magical dispensation about not being pickpocketed just because he had his wallet in his front pocket, not his back. A lot of guys think that, I've noticed that on Fodors.

sandi_travelnut

read this:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35086335

suze

Don't expect a pickpocket to look like one. They may be very well dressed.

Watch out in crowded situations like train stations or public transit when people are lined up or bumping into each other.

Don't have anything that's easy to lift, like a wallet in an outer pocket.

chartley

I have lived in Britain for over sixty years, and have never picked anybody's pocket. Similarly, nobody has ever picked mine. And I cannot remember anyone telling me that their pocket was picked.

I think you want to be aware of risky situations, and take reasonable precautions, but not become obsessive.

If you are standing in a crowd watching the changing of the guard, with money sticking out of your pocket, there is a risk that it will be stolen.

My advice would therefore be:

1. Keep different valuable items (cash, cards) in separate pockets.
2. Keep things in inside pockets.
3. Have zipped pockets wherever possible.
4. Share valuable items between different members of your party.
5. Be aware of what is going on around you, especially in crowds

People with experience of law enforcement may have other ideas, but my feeling is that pickpockets are mostly after cash. Cash is untraceable and non-incriminating. Being in possession of someone else's passport or credit cards is very incriminating.

joebear

Where do you get those under the clothes security pouches? I am the watchful type by nature so I am not expecting trouble but just need to aware of tricks I have not been exposed too yet..

Reisender

Beware the gypsies throwing their babies at you!

KayF

You can buy the security pouches you wear under your clothes anywhere they sell travel accessories or luggage. Any major department store will have them or an outdoors/bushwalking type store.

We find the ones you hang around your neck more comfortable than the ones you tie around your waist. They are also easier to get stuff out of, should you need to access something, like a credit card for example.
Kay

Big_Red

Being aware and thinking about what you are doing is your best defense.

Make yourself less of a target.
Maybe you pack one case (not two) so that you have a hand free. How quickly can you react with a suit case in each hand.

Personally, I like to put a rubber band around my wallet and never use a rear pocket. Probably false security but you are several times more likely to feel someone in your pocket that way.

Be aware that the old lady that falls just in front of you is probably a planned distraction. [I talked to a family in Barcelona that had a case stolen at the airport this way.]

There is a sign in the elevator at the Eiffel tower that warns people that they are standing in pick pocket heaven.