Southern European Pick Pockets

[white cloud]

My wife and I have the good fortune of going to Spain, Italy and France this summer. We have been advised that the pick pockets are common and very skillful.

I live in a medium sized Southern city and wear cargo shorts and Carhartts 75% of the time. I have no experience with pick pockets. I would appreciate any pointers on cut proof ways/products for carrying my wallet, SAK and cell phone. I need the same sort of help for my wife. She likes those cross shoulder purse things for travel.

 

[ladder13]

I returned from 10 days in Venice, Florence and Rome about two weeks ago. I carried my wallet and phone in front pockets. My wife bought one of those bags with a stranded wire running through the strap.
Never leave any of your personal belongings out of sight especially in crowds, but that goes for anywhere.
The big city, such as Rome, has many beggars roaming about, they tend to get real close.
People will bump into you constantly in crowds and just walking by on narrow streets such as in Venice. It took me about an hour to realize most of that is cultural, people are in a hurry. I just bumped back
Just be aware of your surroundings like you would anywhere else and have a good time.
My first trip to Italy but I'm already planning a return. The people are friendly, at least the natives, and the food is off the charts.
Make a copy of your passport and keep it in the hotel safe.
Security in Italy is very tight, there are police and military at every major transportation hub and at the popular sites.
I have a post about my trip there.

Benvenuto in Italia

 

[steveno]

keep your billfold , passport and stuff in a front pocket

 

[oneounceload]

Front pocket, carry the minimum and leave the rest in the hotel safe or room safe. Bring two different credit cards and only carry one - if one does get lost or stolen, your vacation isn't ruined.

 

[hoc9sw]

Get a money / passport sized zipper pocket that hangs inside your pants from a loop around your belt, carry it at 1 or 11. put any docs you must have and backup cash in that pocket. Carry a color photo copy of passport and DL in that pocket as well. Remember that in Europe you can (and probably will) be asked for ID at some point.


Usually the pickpockets got my phrase books. Only lost the phone once in 13 years.

A relative is over for a first trip now, has already lost phone and wallet, even though in inside jacket pocket.

These thieves are good!

 

[xring33]

This is sort of in the same vein. When I worked in a rough area of Kansas City, Kansas I carried 2 billfolds. The one in my front pocket was the one that had money, credit cards and ID. The one in my back pocket had 2 dollars, some of those fake credit cards that you get in junk mail and a few pictures. When I did get robbed I gave up my fake billfold, made my escape and at least lived to tell about it. I made a police report but, nothing happened.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bigwheelzip]

Hubby and I just leave our wallets home. We wear passport holders around our neck and tucked under the front of our shirt/blouse. Add a credit card to it, and a few Euro, and your good to go.

During decades of travels around the continent, we experienced this problem indirectly, only twice. My father-in-law had his compact camera removed from a coat pocket while at the Vatican, and a vendor at the Spanish Steps was attempting to pickpocket our daughter-in-law, while he pretended to sell her flowers. Hubby saw the attempt and convinced the offender it was a bad idea.

Have a great time, and post some pictures.

 

[steveno]

I have been to London twice and I wish I had the sign making concession around the Tower of London. there sure was a LOT of "watch out for pickpocket" signs there.

I don't remember that it was ever a problem in West Germany or Holland. I think there was an unwritten rule not to mess with American servicemen

 

[Absalom]

The general rule in Europe:

You are personally much safer than in the US, but your stuff is more at risk.

The chance that someone will actually rob you by sticking a gun or knife in your face is remote, and you can stumble drunk through the deserted streets of most European cities alone at 3 in the morning and nothing will happen (lived there, done that, ).

But if you set down your sunglasses someplace and turn away to take some pictures, you can't necessarily expect them to still be there when you turn back to pick them up.

Germans who visit me here can't believe the American habit to go outside in the morning and start up the car to let it warm up, then go back inside. In Germany, if you did that, the car would be on its way to Eastern Europe by the time you came back out.

My mom, who lives in Germany, is in her 80s but still rides her bike shopping. A few years ago someone stole her shopping bag and purse out of the basket mounted on the rear while she was waiting at a red light, without her noticing. These people are GOOD.

No need to be paranoid, but traveling in Europe, forget about your back pockets. A passport-size travel wallet shoved into a front pocket, maybe secured to your belt with the neck lanyard, is most secure and accessible. For ladies, a fanny pack worn in front is most practical. That's an easy way to recognize European tourists here; they do that a lot when traveling, too.

 

[ameridaddy]

In Europe, NEVER carry a wallet or anything else in a back pocket; Europeans don't ever carry there, some don't even have back pockets. A bulge there marks you as an American tourist, and therefore a "wealthy", safe target for pickpockets or just rip-off prices.

Also, if wearing long pants, be sure they reach all the way to your shoes, preferably with a break in them. Nothing screams "American Tourist" like socks showing below your pants cuffs.

Lots of good advice above; for carrying credit card, folding money and other stuff normally in a wallet, forgo the wallet, fold the paper money over the cards, wrap the bundle with two rubber bands, and put in a front pocket. The rubber bands make the bulge smaller than a wallet, and also make it tougher to withdraw from the pocket without you felling it.

Never carry a camera by a strap - I lost one once in Berlin when some jerk cut the strap in a crowded elevator.

Unless you are with a local friend or professional guide, stick to the tourist areas and don't wander around or accept an invitation to "just step around the corner to see something extra secret special nobody else sees."
Have fun, eat well!

 

[16thVACav]

Watch out for little kids who try to show you a picture or magazine up close - they are using it to screen their hands reaching in your pockets.

 

[mtgianni]

In Europe, NEVER carry a wallet or anything else in a back pocket; Europeans don't ever carry there, some don't even have back pockets. A bulge there marks you as an American tourist, and therefore a "wealthy", safe target for pickpockets or just rip-off prices.

Also, if wearing long pants, be sure they reach all the way to your shoes, preferably with a break in them. Nothing screams "American Tourist" like socks showing below your pants cuffs.

Lots of good advice above; for carrying credit card, folding money and other stuff normally in a wallet, forgo the wallet, fold the paper money over the cards, wrap the bundle with two rubber bands, and put in a front pocket. The rubber bands make the bulge smaller than a wallet, and also make it tougher to withdraw from the pocket without you felling it.

Never carry a camera by a strap - I lost one once in Berlin when some jerk cut the strap in a crowded elevator.

Unless you are with a local friend or professional guide, stick to the tourist areas and don't wander around or accept an invitation to "just step around the corner to see something extra secret special nobody else sees."
Have fun, eat well!

Nothing will mark you as much as an American tourist as wearing jeans. Wear dress slacks even if you have to buy them from Goodwill. You can always leave them in the trash there and wear the last pair home.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I wore my passport ID and money in a neck pouch and had a cheap decoy wallet in my back pocket stuffed with paper. The decoy wallet was stolen in a train station in the Alps. I hope they appreciated the note.

 

[Old TexMex]

While on a city bus in Bogata, the woman with me had her hand in her shoulder bag purse thing when she felt another hand touch hers. She broke the guys wrist and elbow before he could get his hand out of the slit he'd cut in the bottom of her bag.
He picked the wrong chick to mess with.

I never had anything stolen from me while I was in France or Spain.

 

[6518John]

I can't be the only one who enjoyed the scene where Inspector Pazzi hired the pick-pocket Gnocco to try to rob "Dr. Fell" (Hannibal Lector) and get Dr. Lector's print on the sliver bracelet. I thought this was all Hollywood drama until I read an article in the New York Times about pick-pocketing rising to a near art form in Europe.

You all may recall things ended badly for Gnocco—a Spyderco Harpy met with his tender places and severed his femoral artery.

 

[white cloud]

My wife likes the shoulder bag with wire reinforced strap idea a lot. Does anyone have a make/model they could recommend?

 

[Kanewpadle]

I suggest going a step further and scan your important documents to a flash drive. Actually two of them. One for you, one for wife.

Might come in handy if yours are stolen.

Don't keep all of your money in one place. Certainly not your wallet. Use a money clip.

 

[Onomea]

I bought a money belt, looks like a regular leather belt, from Orvis, years ago for travel to Southeast Asia. A coupla years back, when my second son accepted a teaching job in Quito, I bought him a similar one off Amazon.

They're a good, secure way to carry cash but you need to be somewhere private to remove the cash so as not to attract attention and become a target.

 

[27 Man]

AAA office sells a shoulder bag that is reinforced to prevent pickpockets from slashing. My wife bought one. We leave in 4 days for Rome. Timely thread.

 

[shouldazagged]

My wife likes the shoulder bag with wire reinforced strap idea a lot. Does anyone have a make/model they could recommend?

The problem with the wire-reinforced purse strap is that the wearer can be seriously injured when it's violently grabbed by a running purse snatcher.

Unacceptable risk, to my way of thinking.