What to do about Pick-Pockets!?

I know that this is a problem with most cities in the world to one extent or another, but what are the best ways you have found to confound pick-pockets and keep them from being successful.

 

My DW and I are going to be visiting Amsterdam next year for a few days prior to our cruise.

 

I would be interested in knowing what innovative and/or proven ways you have found to deal with pick-pockets.

 

Are there good or best products out there to help? What has worked best for you?

 

Thanks...

You keep your wits about you like in any big city. Don't carry large amounts of cash and have a cross body bag. It really is just common sense.

There's lots of products on the market. I've read posts on here about Eagle Creek and Pacsafe. I think their bags have safe inner pockets and straps that can't be cut etc, so if you're very worried you might get something like that. I usually take a Kipling bag with various pockets and I find them useful. However I have to say when we were in Amsterdam in May, pick-pockets were the least of our worries. Beware the mad cyclists! They come from all directions and we felt we were taking our lives in our hands. :D

I wear a money-belt where I keep the can't lose stuff. Then I carry just enough cash and one credit card in my pocket. DW has a pack safe purse that has a steel reinforced strap and she always carries the purse near her body on her shoulder and under arm.

 

Also, awareness is important. Pay attention to who is around you and frankly, if possible stay away from crowds. If on a subway or bus, I clutch the cash and card in my pocket with my hand.

You keep your wits about you like in any big city.

Also, awareness is important. Pay attention to who is around you and frankly, if possible stay away from crowds.

I think the best first line of defence is not to go around with "Target!" written all over you. Walking around London, it's so easy to spot the tourists who are easy meat for pickpockets and the like. They dawdle, they gawp, they allow themselves to be distracted by all manner of things, and they fail to pay any attention to their surroundings and to the people around them.

 

Unfortunately, some of the techniques and equipment that sometimes suggested only reinforce that and highlight the fact that you might provide rich pickings. You have to remember that it's not just pickpockets; there are bag grabbers, distraction thefts and other techniques too.

 

Look like you live in the city, walk with a sense of purpose and a feeling of belonging (which doesn't necessariliy mean fast), and the thieves are likely to move on to someone else who looks like they're an easier target. It's not the only thing to do, and it won't be an absolute defence, but it's a good start.

I have traveled the world with the Cdn military..lived in Managua Nicaragua and now Ecuador! And was just in Amsterdam this past August. Some of these pick-pocketers are good! They are at the Wayne Gretzky, Babe Ruth level! One just has to be aware of their surroundings and where your valuables are. I keep my wallet in my zippered front pocket! Wife doesn't have a huge purse, yelling steal me, actually she keeps small wallet and does the same (front pocket) Do not wear $$$ jewelry! And yes thieves have been known to rip off ear rings right from ones ears...or grab that necklace and run! I could go further into detail, but thats more for Central America,lol Thieves (well not all) are pretty good at what they do, they wait for that prime opportunity and make their move! Pretty hard to get at my front zippered pocket, and since my wife doesn't have a purse..they go after someone else! And if one wants to carry a small purse...dont keep all ur $$$$/valuables in it! We had a great time in Amsterdam....loved it more than our British Isles cruise....and no, we did not visit any of the "coffee shops" lol

Currently in London and pass the test when we are not stopped to be given the brochure for the HOHO buses. They only stop TOURISTS...

Leave your cameras in your hotel room and download stock photos if you must have a photo of Piccadelly square!

If on a subway or bus, I clutch the cash and card in my pocket with my hand.

 

Which highlights to a professional thief where you are keeping your valuables :)

Whenever we are walking in a major city we are very observant of our surroundings. We leave jewelry on the ship. We take a travel wallet which you can conceal and take one credit card and one atm care with us as well as some cash.

 

Keith

Some advice gets my goat. What's the point of being a tourist if you don't "dawdle, gawp, and allow ourselves to be distracted by all manner of things."

 

I want to take photo's of my nearest and dearest in front of a view. I want to take pictures of quirky things from odd angles. I will dawdle and gawp at anything and everything. I will also take care of my possessions and take nothing with me that I don't actually need.

 

Apart from the obvious, I always advise having two entirely separate lines of credit. My father once had his wallet stolen in France and got his credit cards stopped promptly. It wasn't until my stepmother went to use her card that they realised that hers were on the same accounts and no longer worked. This was on a Saturday morning and French banks don't open at the weekend or on Monday.

 

You should also take particular care at ATMs.

Some advice gets my goat. What's the point of being a tourist if you don't "dawdle, gawp, and allow ourselves to be distracted by all manner of things."

 

I want to take photo's of my nearest and dearest in front of a view. I want to take pictures of quirky things from odd angles. I will dawdle and gawp at anything and everything.

You can choose to do that if you want, but you will look like you have "Target!" written all over you. And thus you will be at greater risk - and not just from pickpockets.

Which highlights to a professional thief where you are keeping your valuables :)

My system has worked in all the high theft areas of the World. I don't clutch like that unless in a crowded train or bus where people are up close and personal.

 

Regarding looking like tourists (other comments posted), North American tourists in Europe are easy to spot. We carry cameras, wear athletic shoes and while site seeing find the sites interesting, not routine.

It is hard to look like the locals when you have a camera around your neck and are carrying a guidebook. Also, I generally wear a baseball type cap when visiting sunny places. Most Europeans do not wear baseball caps.

 

Although a potential target, DW and I are always aware of our surroundings and try to avoid the sitting duck situation.

I'm a big fan of my PacSafe purse, it has served me well on several European vacations. I wear it across my chest and keep one hand on it in the most crowded tourist areas. PacSafe has its own website with all its merchandise, you can usually get some items through Amazon at a better price. DH wears a neck pocket wallet under his shirt, quite a change for a man who always has his wallet and money clip in his pocket at home, but it feels a lot safer. And of course, we don't carry more than we need to with us when sightseeing.

 

Here is a link to what DH uses:

 

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/75336?productId=1247356&attrValue_0=Stone&pla1=0&mr:trackingCode=BBF9B696-B0F0-E211-A497-90E2BA285E75&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=plaonline&mr:ad=62960479280&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:tid=aud-99862603760:kwd-133931714960&mr:ploc=1018204&mr:iloc=&mr:store=&mr:filter=133931714960&mkwid=koX3AB61_dc&pcrid=62960479280&qs=3091367_google&product=0LXN771000&cvosrc=cse.google.0LXN771000&cvo_crid=62960479280

Edited September 24, 2015 by cynbar

My system has worked in all the high theft areas of the World. I don't clutch like that unless in a crowded train or bus where people are up close and personal.

 

Regarding looking like tourists (other comments posted), North American tourists in Europe are easy to spot. We carry cameras, wear athletic shoes and while site seeing find the sites interesting, not routine.

It is hard to look like the locals when you have a camera around your neck and are carrying a guidebook. Also, I generally wear a baseball type cap when visiting sunny places. Most Europeans do not wear baseball caps.

 

Very sad!

Put elastic bands around your wallet deep in your pockets ....lock those pockets with diaper pins ...harder to open

Put big bills in your shoes ..do not carry big amounts

Do not carry a purse ....carry a thin back pack on your chest

I lock my purse with a combination lock

Currently in London and pass the test when we are not stopped to be given the brochure for the HOHO buses. They only stop TOURISTS...

Leave your cameras in your hotel room and download stock photos if you must have a photo of Piccadelly square!

 

It is my misfortune to look like a tourist nearly everywhere I go. All over Europe, people speak to me in German. (I'm not now, nor have I ever been German, and my German is terrible). In Germany, they speak to me in English, so they are the only ones who get it right. :p

 

I carry a small Pacsafe cross-body bag, and while it might mark me as a target, I look like a tourist anyway. At least this way, I look like a tourist with a difficult-to-open handbag.

Edited September 24, 2015 by lisiamc

I've never taken any extra precautions, and never met any pickpockets. Am I doing something wrong? ;)

 

As for not looking like a tourist - don't look at your surroundings, don't take photos, don't carry a guide book, and best of all don't go on holiday. If you stay in your own front room, you won't meet a pickpocket.

Edited September 24, 2015 by dsrdsrdsr

I've never taken any extra precautions, and never met any pickpockets. Am I doing something wrong? ;)

Maybe you're doing it all right: doing it with self-confidence, looking like you belong, moving and doing things with purpose, and looking like you know what is going on all around you. That drives them off to look for better targest.

As for not looking like a tourist - don't look at your surroundings, don't take photos, don't carry a guide book, and best of all don't go on holiday. If you stay in your own front room, you won't meet a pickpocket.

It's perfectly possible to visit big cities and not look like a tourist. There are plenty of locals who are doing local sightseeing and taking photos of themselves and their friends, but who don't behave in a way that screams "tourist". So it's perfectly possible to blend in, especially in London which is particularly cosmopolitan in any event. Edited September 24, 2015 by Globaliser

You can choose to do that if you want, but you will look like you have "Target!" written all over you. And thus you will be at greater risk - and not just from pickpockets.

 

I have never met a "native" of any country who is in the tourist business (and thieves definitely are in the tourist business:D) that can not tell in one glance who is a tourist and generally which country. We take a fair amount of private guides as it works out for 3 adults -- we often sit with the guide and play "what country?" while people watching in cafes . I have done this in Greece/China/Turkey/England/Tanzania/Kenya (where first learned of the game) and Chile so fairly good selection. Americans have a distinctive body language and attitude -- not just the clothing but the way we style ourselves and present ourselves. Most often if mistaken for anyone else Americans are taken to be Australian/NZ or Canadian or German. All areas that have people fairly sure of themselves and assertive and sure they have "rights"! Most guides/hotels like Americans -- loud/noisy/rushed but we did spread tipping all over the world:p

 

So tourist unite and enjoy yourself. Chances of being any more of a target are not worthy of missing out on personal photos or having what you might need in purse or pocket. I have had my pocket picked or purse stolen more often in my home area (Washington DC and yes we have our PP's) than the twice in Europe (Paris and Antwerp Belgium). My personal guide in Chile also could spot the pickpockets and gypsies from a block away and would guide us away from them as they did in Bali -- there more beggars than pick pockets but still they wanted what we had!) When you are waiting for cab or for train even if the station "seems" fairly empty be alert -- 2 or 3 person teams come up and distract in some way and another grabs the whole suitcase and roll it away. I try to keep my hand through the handle now -- where do you keep valuables -- in your carryon. I also keep spare credit cards and cash in a soft cloth pocket that I tie to my bra strap and then tuck it up on the side of the girls:o (my dear MIL called it bosom money) Keeps me from leaving it by mistake or rubbing my neck. If anyone gets close to this pocket -- I have a bigger problem than lost money!!! I-Phones (especially like mine the I-6 +) are large and especially bulky. I have a baggalini purse with zippered pockets that I can put the phone in and then wear cross-body. I don't want the no cut strap purse because I fear that my arm/body part gets tangled and I would be hurt as the thief pulls me down with the purse or cuts me instead of the purse strap. JMOPF (Just My Own Private Fear!)

Edited September 25, 2015 by Bowie MeMe

I think the best first line of defence is not to go around with "Target!" written all over you. Walking around London, it's so easy to spot the tourists who are easy meat for pickpockets and the like. They dawdle, they gawp, they allow themselves to be distracted by all manner of things, and they fail to pay any attention to their surroundings and to the people around them.

 

Your list of "dawdle, gawp, and allow themselves to be distracted by all manner of things" is too general. In a sense, that's why we travel. But there are ways to do what tourists do that invite -- and ways to reduce -- theft.

 

Start by leaving your valuables at home; real jewelry and expensive cameras are two things that should not be going on trips. If I'm a tourist I'll take one pair of real earrings that were bought at a discount store specifically for travel -- no sentimental value and little actual value. But otherwise, I take no real jewelry. I don't need to impress the local citizens. Anyone who is going to find me wanting if I'm not dripping with real jewelry is someone I don't care about.

 

Never carry more around than you can keep track of. You will stop throughout the day -- to eat, to read the map. You should only have as much as can remain on your person or placed between your feet maintaining contact. It does ladies little good to own a PacSmart purse and leave it lying unattended on the floor during a meal.

 

This "walk like you know where you're going" advice has very limited practical application. We don't know where we're going! If you need to read your map, find a quiet place with your back against the wall. Organize your possessions so you keep contact with them and, only then, read your map.

 

The woman holding a baby, the person squirting mustard, the person with a sign begging for money are all actors in well known schemes to distract tourists and separate them from their possessions/money. If someone approaches you with a petition or sign, just walk purposefully away. You're not a citizen of X; your signature has no legal standing on a petition. And don't discuss your behavior. Just walk away. If someone squirts you with mustard, walk away as fast as you can. Accepting help from people nearby will be more costly than the price of dry cleaning. Those helpers are likely picking your pocket.

 

If you think you're in the midst of a staged scene to pick your pocket, scream "pickpocket" as loudly as possible. Don't yell "help;" it's too ambiguous. People nearby have to assess: What's the danger? What am I being asked to do with this cry for help? That's why screaming "pickpocket" works better. You want the pickpockets to go away more than you want nearby people to come to your aid. Screaming "pickpocket" draws attention to the culprits' identity and they'll remove themselves to strike somewhere else.

 

Finally, as everyone has said, the pickpockets are good. Minimize your risk even if all else fails by carrying few credit cards daily and keeping one or two accounts that you can fall back on if your primary cards are stolen.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

Well, I will just add one more thing about my point, and then I will leave you all to it. It's a joke.

 

Two guys were out camping in the bush, when they saw a hungry lion that was about to charge and attack them.

 

One of them reached for his running shoes and started doing them up. His friend said "What are you doing? Are you crazy? You'll never outrun a lion!"

 

The first guy carried on doing up his shoes, saying "I don't need to outrun the lion - I only need to outrun you!"

 

Like many good jokes, it's funny because it contains a kernel of logical truth. Big cities are jungles, and there are predators everywhere. Big city people deal with them almost subconsciously, like jungle animals do. Make the predators go after softer targets than you in the first place, so that your travel wallets etc don't even get called on to defend your belongings. You don't have to stop sightseeing to do that.

Well, I will just add one more thing about my point, and then I will leave you all to it. It's a joke.

 

Two guys were out camping in the bush, when they saw a hungry lion that was about to charge and attack them.

 

One of them reached for his running shoes and started doing them up. His friend said "What are you doing? Are you crazy? You'll never outrun a lion!"

 

The first guy carried on doing up his shoes, saying "I don't need to outrun the lion - I only need to outrun you!"

 

Like many good jokes, it's funny because it contains a kernel of logical truth. Big cities are jungles, and there are predators everywhere. Big city people deal with them almost subconsciously, like jungle animals do. Make the predators go after softer targets than you in the first place, so that your travel wallets etc don't even get called on to defend your belongings. You don't have to stop sightseeing to do that.

Loved your joke and well said.

There used to be signs in some London Underground stations - "BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS" the thieving scrotes loved them because, many men, seeing the sign, instinctively patted the pocket where their wallet was.

 

When I am a tourist, in my own or any other country, I look like a tourist. I carry a camera and take pictures, which locals don't do. I stop and 'gawp' at anything remotely interesting; locals pass by. I queue up at attractions, look at my map and ask people for directions.

 

Of course I make sure that all the pics in my modest camera are safely uploaded. I read up on what's worth seeing and I never carry a wallet. My cards and cash (the minimum) are spread around. I also keep my eyes open for lions as I want a head start.

I just got back from 5 days trip to London. Always had my camera, map, phone(sometimes all of the above) handy. Used common seance and Kipling shoulder bag. Walked a lot, even late in the evening , once on kind of deserted Embankment. Beautiful view by the way! Once a young women in the tube station asked for a few pounds, and I felt awkward not to help (had only my London pass and Oysters on me). One "fishy" looking guy was asking if I speak any English (it was around Tower Hill). English is not my first language, so I let more qualified passerby s attend to his needs.

I have used a small PacSafe bag in Europe and the UK several times now and love it. It is an older version of this one and can be used as a cross body bag or a fanny bag. I prefer to use it as a cross body bag, it takes about a day to get used of having a "man bag" and after that I hardly know I have it.

 

http://www.pacsafe.com/metrosafe-100-gii-hip-shoulder-bag.html