Tag Archives: pickpocket

Many travelers think they know how to spot a pickpocket, but good pickpockets aren’t easy to spot. Do you think pickpockets look like the stereotype of “shady characters” who look like a crook? While that is true for a small portion of the time, most often professional pickpockets go to great strides to blend into the crowd and area so their victims are not aware of them.

Chopstick pickpocket goes unnoticed. He places what he steals into his bag, out of view

How to spot a pickpocket

To prove this point, the police in Sterling Heights, Michigan have alerted the public that they should not assume that the sweet old lady in a hat they see standing next to them in the mall is so sweet after all. She just may be part of an organized crime gang!

Police in an upscale Detroit suburb say an all-female criminal ring, made up of middle-aged and elderly women, is running a sophisticated con in which they allegedly pick the pockets of unsuspecting shoppers and use the stolen credit cards elsewhere. The group which police nicknamed the “Mad Hatters,” is a pickpocket ring is made up of at least six women who frequently wear hats to disguise their identities and have allegedly swiped more than $500,000 in the past year and a half, authorities say. One bank alone estimated it had lost at least $200,000 at the hands of the hatters. Travelers should be very aware that pickpockets come in all shapes, ages, colors, and ages.

Here are a few tips to help spot a pickpocket before they strike

Watch out for people that make a scene

People who make a scene within a crowd are often regular people. They may be a bit disturbed, frustrated, or clumsy like dropping their groceries but they typically have no agenda. However, some of them are just aiming to create confusion among a group of unsuspecting onlookers particularly if they are trying to engage others in their drama, and their accomplices are just there waiting on the sidelines for you to be distracted by the commotion so that they can then pick your pocket. Some pickpocket teams have children cause a scene or approach tourists asking for money.

Be aware of those that try to get close to you

Getting close to people is unavoidable, especially in crowded areas. This can be even natural in a culture with less personal space or in locations popular with tourists. However, if you find someone crowding your personal space incessantly and you feel uncomfortable, then he or she may be a pickpocket, and it would be wise to go to an area less crowded and with more open space if possible move towards someone who is a person of authority like a police officer or security guard.

Keep an eye out for people trying to make a conversation

In this setup, someone may stop you while walking on a crowded street, in the subway, or in other tourist locations with people around to ask you something. They may ask about road directions, show you a map, or ask if you have seen a certain person. There is a strong chance that they are part of a pickpocket team trying to divert your attention so that their partners can take advantage of your momentary diverted focus. The advice in this scenario is not to stop and look at a map and just keep going. Being rude beats losing your wallet.

Be cautious of anyone trying to blend in

The main weapon of a pickpocket is his or her ability to blend in with a crowd. Still, you can probably observe people who are trying too hard to join the crowd for the purpose of stealing from them. Be wary of everyone when in a crowded area, and don’t trust anyone simply because they are a child, old, infirm, or even pregnant. Hold your backpack or purse in front of you or crossbody style.

For peace of mind carry your valuables in a neck wallet you tuck under your shirt or a money belt you wear around your waist under your shirt. Today’s options of money belts and body pouches are slim, smooth, and soft. See some of the latest styles here.

How to Pickpocket Proof Your Purse or Shoulder Bag

Try to pickpocket proof your purse or shoulder bag if you don’t want to purchase a pickpocket-proof purse or shoulder bag. You may want to modify your own purse or handbag to make it pickpocket-proof if you absolutely love the style and/or don’t want to spend money on a new travel bag. While it may not look as sleek as those anti-theft purses and shoulder bags that were designed specifically to stop pickpockets, this simple modification should do the trick.

The two items shown here may be found at your local hardware store. It’s a DIY hack that may take some thinking on how to best lock your entire bag zipper or just a pocket inside your bag as not all bags have the same design or features to work with.

Locking Your Zipper Pull to Your Bag Helps Keep Thieves Out

Ideally, your purse should always be in your hand, over your arm, over your shoulder, or across your body at all times. Across your body with your bag resting in front of you and not on your rear hip is the safest way to carry it. But even carried in this manner your bag could be targeted by a pickpocket who can slip a hand into your purse and remove your wallet without you noticing it. Try this hack using a swivel clip and split ring you can buy at a home improvement store to keep their hands out. This hack works for purses with zipper pulls and in particular, zipper pulls that have a hole in them.

Follow these steps.

Buy Split Ring and Swivel Clip – You may need one or two split rings depending on the design of your bag and zipper pull. Split rings are like those in key rings, and one swivel snap bolt or swivel clip is all you need.
Feed swivel end of a snap bolt into a split ring. Inside your purse, choose a compartment that closes with a zipper where you will keep your wallet and other valuables. Feed the slip ring through the hole in the zipper tab. Note the zipper pull must have a hole in it for this hack to work.
Strap Attachment Ring When the zipper is closed, snap the bolt onto the ring that attaches the strap to your purse. If too short to reach, feed the second split ring onto the ring that attaches the strap, and snap the bolt onto that. If the strap does not attach with a ring but is sewn to the purse, buy a large size split ring and feed the entire strap into the ring. Either snap the bolt onto this large ring or feed another small split ring onto the larger ring and snap the bolt onto that.

Travel Bags with Built-in Anti Theft Features

We think the best anti-theft travel bags are shoulder bags you wear crossbody style in front of you. Features to look for in this type of bag are an adjustable strap for comfort and a way to lock the main compartment to keep out thieving hands.

Secondary features are RFID blocking pockets, slash-proof material, and a strap that you can detach from the bag one end so that you can loop the strap to a stationary item like a chair back and then back onto the bag so it becomes snatch proof.

Pacsafe Metrosafe LS250 Anti-Theft Bag Pickpocket Proof Your Purse or Shoulder Bag

Pacsafe Metrosafe LS250 Anti-Theft Unisex Travel Bag

Travelon Crossbody anti theft travel purse, Pickpocket Proof Your Purse or Shoulder Bag

Travelon Crossbody Anti Theft Travel Purse- More Colors

Pacsafe Women's Citysafe Cx Anti Theft Convertible Backpack-Fits 10" Tablet, Black

Pacsafe Women’s Citysafe Cx Anti Theft Convertible Backpack- More Colors

Purse theft by thieves and pickpockets has been around since purses were first made. Purse theft is a crime that every woman should be vigilant against, as having your purse stolen or picked, can be a huge inconvenience if not devastating. If a purse thief victimizes you while you’re traveling the purse theft can be a vacation-ruining experience.

Here are a few ideas to help you better protect your purse from being stolen, snatched, or your wallet lifted out of it. First, you need to know that most pickpockets and purse thieves don’t feel guilty or sorry about stealing. It’s their philosophy that their victims were careless and it is their obligation to take advantage of the opportunity to steal. It’s the victim’s fault for not being vigilant. It’s just business to them, it’s not personal. So where to begin – let’s start with the identification process of the victim.

What Purse Thieves Look For

A woman who drapes her purse on the back of a chair or on the floor beside her.
A woman whose wallet is sticking out of her purse.
A woman who leaves her purse or wallet in a shopping cart.
A woman who has set her purse or wallet down on a table or counter.
Purses are left in unattended offices or dressing rooms.
Purses and coats dangling on coat racks.
Purses or bags are left in an unlocked car.

The best target is a woman alone with a dangling purse or one she is not aware of. A simple snatch isn’t difficult to set up; the hard part is waiting for just the right moment to strike. There are three different kinds of purse theft:

Snatch and Run Purse Thefts:

Boiled down to basics a thief will just grab the purse from his mark and run off with it. Simple, effective, and not very creative. This is the most recognizable version of snatch theft; known at large as purse snatching. This is for more daring thieves.

Dip and Lift Purse Theft:

This is a very simple pickpocketing theft where the thief dips down and removes something from an “open” purse – usually the wallet or cell phone. Often the thief or an accomplice stages a distraction or bumps into the victim so their attention is momentarily averted from their bag. We suggest you do not travel with open-top totes that do not have zipper closures.

Sneak and Stash Purse Theft:

This is also a form of pickpocketing; more commonly known to the world as sneak-thieving or opportunistic pickpocketing. It is not violent just opportunistic when a thief steals without being noticed.

What Purse Thieves Look For:

We’ve all seen the woman who leaves her purse in her car, or unattended in the grocery store shopping cart, and the man who puts his wallet in his jacket pocket or in a baggy back pocket so wide you could stick your whole hand in.

But going back to the woman in the grocery store.

The most common scenario involves a grocery store. The thief sees a woman checking out something in the aisle, completely turning her back on her purse that is temptingly sitting there in her shopping cart. While she is distracted it’s the perfect time for the purse thief to strike, either taking just the wallet or taking the whole bag. Just taking the wallet gives the thief more time to get away and is less obvious, compared to taking the entire purse which is more noticeable. The stolen item is frequently placed inside another bag to hide it and to make the getaway easier and less obvious.

Techniques Used By Purse Thieves and Purse Pickpockets

Kick the Purse

Sometimes when a woman sits down at a table or bar she will put her purse down on the floor. This theft method is where the thief gets close to the victim and kicks the purse out of her view so it can be easily taken without her knowledge. A variation on this theme is he may even say “oh pardon me” and reach down to slide the bag back into place while simultaneously helping himself to the wallet from the unzipped bag.

What Time is it?

This is a common distraction that requires a team of thieves to execute. One thief engages the victim in a conversation by asking a question. As the conversation progresses a second thief or accomplice will steal the purse while the mark is distracted by the kind tourist or local who began the friendly chat.

Chair Lift

This is a very common theft method – the thief simply removes a purse from the back of a chair. Never hang your bag behind you so that someone can remove your purse without your knowledge.

So what should you do? Travel with a purse that has a few key built-in anti-theft features and use them! The antitheft features we like for travel handbags are locking zippers to keep pesky pickpockets out and we also like purse straps that detach on one side of the bag so that they can be wrapped through a chair back or around a table leg and attached back onto the bag, in effect tethering the bag to the stationary item. Lastly, always carry your travel purse crossbody style with the pouch in front of you and never behind you.

Stop thieves and pickpockets with a security travel handbag.

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Anti-Theft Classic Small Convertible Backpack

Pickpocketing and RFID digital ID theft are two ongoing problems affecting tourists around the world. San Francisco shows an increase in the numbers of pickpocketing crimes. Meanwhile, one thief at Coachella allegedly pickpocketed more than 100 phones at the music festival. Thieves have even been caught on video pickpocketing victims, who fall asleep on public transportation or subways. The bottom line is you can be a victim anywhere there are crowds.

When traveling overseas, Independent.co.uk reports pickpocketing is a major issue in the crowded tourist locations of Barcelona, Rome, Prague, Madrid, Paris, Florence, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Athens, and Hanoi.

While being pickpocketed is a crisis when you discover your wallet has been stolen, most people don’t report pickpocketing to the local police because there’s nothing they can do to investigate for a lengthy period of time. Most people don’t even bother with filing a police report because it’s a lower priority crime. Instead, the victim cancels his or her credit cards immediately and hopes his or her identity doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. The thieves know this and continue to victimized tourists.

Now, digital identity thieves are using RFID scanners and skimmers in public places to steal your credit card information without you knowing until your identity has been stolen and the financial damage is done. It only takes a few seconds to steal your information with a digital scanner or skimmer held close to your body. Identity fraud hit a record number of Americans in 2016. While your credit card may provide limited protection from fraud, it’s a fact that debit card holders have even less protection against theft because a bank account can be depleted in minutes. Passports now contain all your personal information on a RFID chip, so they can transmit your personal information too. For peace of mind when you travel to popular destinations protect your RFID chipped cards and passport, and protect your identity.

Travel Tips to Prevent Pickpocketing

It’s always important to take precautions to protect your identity, especially when you travel. Here are tips that will help you safeguard your credit cards, wallet, and digital identity from pickpockets.

Protect your passport, credit cards and identity with RFID blocking travel gear.
Only carry zippered purses; better yet upgrade to a handbag with an anti-theft locking zipper.
Limit the number of valuables in your handbag or backpack, dividing them up if you can.
Do not put your wallet into your back pocket, also known as the “sucker pocket” to pickpockets and thieves.
Limit yourself to carry only one credit card in your wallet.
Limit yourself to carry only one ID card or driver’s license in your wallet or handbag.
Limit the amount of cash you carry in your wallet or handbag.
Copy or take photos of your credit cards and passport in case they’re stolen, so you can your cancel credit cards quickly.
When getting cash, check the ATM machine for an illegal skimmer, best to use one found inside a bank.
Hold your belongings in front of you in crowded tourist areas, this includes public transportation and even churches.
Be aware of your surroundings or if someone is following you. Stop, step into a store, or turn around to confirm your suspicions.