Europe and pick pockets

Pet Nit Noy

I do agree with you, but pick pocketing in Europe seems to be a number one issue, rather than finding out the best parts of a place to explore.

With regards to the immigrants, well, that can be a problem, but I doubt not to anybody on a cruise ship.

My friend lives beside the coast in southern Spain and often sees discarded buoyancy AIDS and other paraphanalia where they have crossed from Morocco.

We often see immigrants in northern France too, but not as much as a year or so ago. There is a huge police presence and increased security in Calais.

Often, after reading threads here on CC I read the advice given to travellers by the US and British governments. Most times you would think they are discussing totally countries. The US government is much more scaremongering telling citizens not to travel, but here it normally says to be vigilant. Moral of the story, don't believe all you read in the press.

The only place I have ever been a victim of petty crime was in my home city - NYC although I take some responsibility for that loss; I'd placed my purse in a less than ideal location and helped make it easier to be taken. I have *never* done the same thing again and so more than 22 years later, I've not had anything taken from me at home, nor abroad on 4 Continents and countless cities, countries. Living in NYC helped prepare me to be vigilant but anyone can learn to be aware.

I would also not ever wander about outside the US without my passport. One might be asked to produce it anywhere, anytime for any reason this day and age and although unlikely, I'd rather have it than not - especially in the event of an emergency. On occasion a transaction requires a passport - again, maybe not very common but it can happen. Having copies is indeed brilliant and, essential these days either on paper or one's phone or tablet for backup. I'd rather take responsibility for my passport than leave it to anyone else or their safe, but that's just me.

The reality of these crimes is something to be aware of but I like what another member said - wouldn't it be great if everyone that posted their concerns returned to say "nothing happened, all was well" to help allay worries/fears that often gets more discussed than an entire voyage. Staying safe, sound is of course paramount but when one does stay safe - we do not hear about it...we love good stories too! :) (It would be great if we could fizzle out some of the over-hyped hype)

I am thrilled that I've been safe in so many places and people have been quite kind - I was never too sure about traveling alone but it was wonderful. I took care and didn't take wild chances whilst meeting amazing people and seeing phenomenal places - I like to think it was a joint effort, locals - other travelers and me. ;)

I've stayed in plenty of small hotels that don't have in-room safe facilities. I never bothered asking if they had a hotel safe, because I never travel with anything valuable enough to warrant it.

Most of the time, the "valuables" that we're leaving behind are just passports and iPads. In that case, we'll put them inside a piece of luggage and lock it. If we're particularly worried, I might toss a piece of laundry on top to conceal the lock.

As with pickpocketing, a lot of hotel theft is also a crime of opportunity. Being discrete with your belongings and making yourself a more difficult target go a long way.

Londontown might find it interesting that having done over forty-five years of extensive international travel (to 6 Continents), and living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for the past 10 winters....the only dangerous situation we encountered was an attempted mugging (and a threat to cut DWs throat). And this happened in London, England...on a glorious winter day....near Waterloo Bridge. And on another trip to London, we narrowly missed an IRA bombing at Victoria Station (Feb 18, 1991) where we had just departed on the tube about 5 minutes before the bomb killed 1 and injured dozens. And over all those years we have successfully foiled pickpocket/purse snatch attempts in Arles, Istanbul, and Bologna. Having lived in the USA for over 60 years, we have never had our pocket picked or been the victim of street crime. And living in Puerto Vallarta, the greatest danger we face (nearly every day) is the risk of drinking too many Margarita's, falling off a sidewalk, and being killed by one of the crazy local bus drivers :).

So based on a lifetime of travel, our own experience should teach us to avoid London. I should admit that we now do avoid London, but not because of the fear of violence....but because of the high cost :).

Hank

Well despite my PacSafe bag, Dudette's heavy chain gold bracelet was cut from her wrist while sitting in her wheelchair at the Vasa Ship Museum in Stockholm at the begining of this month. We never thought of taking it off as it was difficult to remove but we never thought of it being cut off by the thieves who approached her wanting her to sign a petition.:mad:

Removing a gold bracelet from someone in a wheelchair? That is really cold.

Well despite my PacSafe bag, Dudette's heavy chain gold bracelet was cut from her wrist while sitting in her wheelchair at the Vasa Ship Museum in Stockholm at the begining of this month. We never thought of taking it off as it was difficult to remove but we never thought of it being cut off by the thieves who approached her wanting her to sign a petition.:mad:

I'm so sorry to read this. Unfortunately, your experience represents a cautionary tale for others. There is no reason why a tourist should sign a petition! Being approached to sign a petition should trigger everyone's sense of possible risk. You can't scream "petition" and you shouldn't scream "help". But if you are approached, you may want to scream "pickpocket" loud and clear. The last thing pickpockets want is for attention to be directed to them.

Here's a rather forcefully worded statement from a traveler posted to the Rick Steves blog. I liked the blunt, clear instructions.

"...The petition girls.. and they usually are youngish females.. will often be outside some touristy site.. asking people to sign a petition that has some vague cause like "to help deaf people" or " to keep children off drugs" etc.. They may start with a simple "do you speak english?" . WALK ON .. do not stop for them. .first off.. once you sign this phoney petition they will demand some money..making you think you HAVE to donate.. and secondly.. as they are now standing close to you.. there may be a few of them, one will try and pick pocket you while others distract you.

These scams are easy to avoid if you can simply learn to walk on, don't slow down, do not respond to their "do you speak english"( think about it,, in your country do your petition gatherers walk up to tourists and say "speak Japanese" or "speak German" and try and get the tourists to sign petitions.. no of course not for goodness sake, only citizens' signatures are good on petitions anyways.. not tourists...

Ignore

Walk on

Well despite my PacSafe bag, Dudette's heavy chain gold bracelet was cut from her wrist while sitting in her wheelchair at the Vasa Ship Museum in Stockholm at the begining of this month. We never thought of taking it off as it was difficult to remove but we never thought of it being cut off by the thieves who approached her wanting her to sign a petition.:mad:

ARGH! And in a country that most would think is safe. We (and others) have advised here for years, that folks should never, ever, wear any valuable jewelry when traveling around Europe. We have been flamed for this advice, and even one of our friends (who wears decent jewelry in Mexico) thinks we are nutz. If you do not wear expensive stuff, you do not have to be concerned. And if you properly deal with your money and credit cards...it is also unlikely you will not have a problem. And if you do not carry your Passport (worth thousands of dollars on the Black Market) you do not have to worry. And folks will read my post, wear their expensive jewels, carry their Passports, and think that Hank is just an A&&. Fine. We could fill pages of a diary about stories of folks that ignored this kind of advice, would say "I have traveled for fifty years and always carried my Passports and worn my good jewels" and then we hear them at Guest Relations crying about how they lost all their valuables.

Two years ago it actually happened to a NYC Police Detective who had his (and his wife's) Passports and other valuables stolen off a beach in Tel Aviv. This happened on the Celebrity Silouette, is messed up 2 days of their trip (not to mention the issued afterwards) and this cop told me the worst of it was he had to deal with his DW who wanted to know how a cop could be so stupid.

Hank

We were approached this week in Berlin near Alexanderplatz by young women wanting us to sign a petition for the deaf. I kept on walking but my husband stopped. I grabbed his arm and told him "pickpockets". He thought I was crazy.

We went on a Segway tour and then on the tram towards the Reichstag. It was pretty busy, and at the last second before the tram door closed, a group of 5 or 6 young girls pushed their way on the tram car. Got off at the next station. I told my husband they were probably pickpockets, and to check for his wallet, which he had insisted on putting in his knee pocket of his cargo shorts (which was secured with velcro AND a button). He told me he was tired of hearing all this security info, but then realized his wallet WAS missing! Luckily only 1 credit and day money but now remains a hassle to replace his drivers license too-(required in Germany for Segways). We called the credit card company immediately, and the thieves had already attempted a charge for 571 Euros, but it had been declined. The bad part is that we are now down a credit card for the start of our trip, as the credit card company will not replace cards internationally (something I did not realize). I do carry a cross body bag, but now will leave extras in the room, and just take one card and day money with me.

Lesson learned, use money belt or bag!

Excellent thread and great information.

I am the original poster of this thread and wanted to follow up with our experience in Europe.

Short version....Every place we went, we felt safe and had no problems.

Thanks to this thread, my DH and I were prepared for possible problems. But, as stated, it is just not in Europe, that we are extra careful, but in any BIGGER city.

Thank you to all who have contributed to this thread!

kandj05

Glad to hear you had a good time. The last thing on my mind would be pickpockets and as you found out, it is not an issue as long as you are aware of your surroundings.