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Pickpocket Stories

On a trip to Prague, a friend of mine almost had her purse and camera stolen by pickpockets in the metro. After typing out this story in a travel forum, others told their pickpocket stories, too. i put those stories together on this page - hopefully spreading these stories & the lines of advice helps to keep some purses, handbags and cameras saved.

Prague
In the metro in Prague, a group of pickpockets worked together: two of them blocking the passage, so that we couldn't move on, and came to stand close to the one who first tried to shield the view to my friend's handbag with a big bag, and then opened the handbag. this happened right after we were warned, and ignored the warning, well-travelled as we are. the whole story, here: Beware of Pickpockets, he said.
- D.

Madrid
When I was in Madrid I got my bag stolen, I was wearing it over my neck however the person taking it just yanked it, cutting my neckin the process. I was so annoyed with myself as I had noticed this boy seemed to be following us but when I mentioned it to my friend she told me I was being stupid and paranoid. Next time I'll pay attention to my gut instinct!
- K.

Barcelona
In Barcelona I almost had my purse stolen. We were sitting at an outside table having a drink, my purse was on the table. A begging lady came over with a baby in one arm and a paper in the other. I was suspicious immediately. Anyway - you could see she was trying to get her baby between my eyeline and my purse, she put her paper in front of my purse and went to pick purse up. I just quickly said excuse me and took purse back from her. She walked off. It was only afterwards that I thought I should have made more of a fuss.
- H.

When traveling
When traveling or carrying anything more than $100 or a passport, I always use a moneybelt inside my clothes.
- R.

Diyarbakir (Turkey)
In Diyarbakir, they don't even try and be subtle. My husband got "thrustpocketed", which means the perp runs up behind you and violently sticks his hand in the pocket grabs whatever, and dashes off. It came off worse for the guy though, he only got about 7 bucks CDN, but lost his shoe when he tried to get away from hubby's grip.
- M.

Madrid
I had my purse stolen in Madrid. And it was my own damn fault. I KNEW better! At an outdoor cafe, with 3 friends, speaking in English... looking like typical tourists. My bag was there, then it wasn't. I was tired, and not paying attention. And at that point had been backpacking for about 10 months, it was totally dumb of me. Luckily I was in Madrid, the embassy was there, and I had Spanish friends to help out. More of a hassle than anything else really. And a valuable lesson!
- S.

Steal me
The worst is the so called Fanny packs / Bumbags.
They just call out to be stolen.
- R.

London
I almost had my mobile stolen in London. I was sitting inside a cafe, at one of the tables in the back of the room, waiting for a friend. We had arranged that she called me on the mobile phone when she arrives at the nearby underground station. So I had my mobile on the table. Suddenly the door opened, and a group of young kids ran into the cafe, heading right to my table. One of them, a girl, maybe 10 years old, had a map in her hand, and put it on the table, asking for directions. It was all so odd and unexpected that I immediately reached for my mobile, just as the girl tried to cover it with the map. "Hey!" I shouted, and held on tight to it. The next second, they ran out again. I was so perplexed, i just stared at them, just like the waiters did.
- D.


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