How to protect your valuables from pickpockets while travelling

Pickpockets are thriving as tourists return, particularly in Europe, where pickpocketing has become an art form. Photo / 123rf

Pickpockets have been doing good business since the return of tourists. Here’s a guide to their tricks – and how to foil them.

It’s happened to almost everyone who’s travelled overseas. If not, it’s happened to someone they know.

“Friends and I were walking to a gelato store when a woman with a baby came up and grabbed my shirt lapels. She pleaded for help to feed the baby. In the meantime, her other hand was reaching into my jeans pocket and taking what she could. When we got to the gelato shop, I offered to pay for the icecreams but all my money was gone.”

“My wife and I were catching the metro to Versailles. Two men asked if we needed help and we asked them where to get off. While the three of us were looking at a map, I noticed the other man walking around the seats where my wife had left her backpack. Needless to say, when we got to Versailles my wife’s wallet was gone.”

“I was double-parked in Madrid while my friends ran across the street to see if the hotel had rooms. A man came up to the window, speaking Spanish and pointing towards the rear of the car. I turned around to look, and he took the purse from my lap.”

Travellers beware: as tourists return in greater numbers than before, pickpockets are doing a thriving trade, especially in Europe, where it’s been raised – or lowered – to an art form.

As you’d expect, the crime is most common in areas where there are large crowds because the thieves prefer to operate while their victim – or “mark” – is distracted or where they can create situations using accomplices.

Neuroscientists suggest that successful pickpockets exploit the loopholes in our brains rather than relying solely on nimble fingers. Photo / 123rf

According to neuroscientists our brains come pretty much hard-wired to be tricked. In fact, the key requirement for a successful pickpocket isn’t nifty fingers – it’s a working knowledge of the loopholes in our brains.

Our brains are not set up to multi-task, and most of the time that’s a good thing. It allows us to filter out all but the most important features of the world around us.

Neuroscientist Susana Martinez-Conde, author of the book Sleights of Mind, told the BBC a good trickster can use that against you. A researcher at the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience in Arizona, she studied Las Vegas stage pickpocket Apollo Robbins.

“When Apollo gets someone on stage,” she says, “he is making them look at things, he is talking to them, he is touching their body, he is coming very close to them and producing an emotional response as he is entering their personal space … It’s complete attentional overload.”

So while sleight of hand helps, it’s as much about capturing all of somebody’s attention with other movements. Street pickpockets use this effect to their advantage by manufacturing a situation that overloads your attention system.

“People think it’s about distracting someone by making them look away but it’s actually about directing the mind towards something,” says James Brown, a British stage pickpocket and hypnotist, co-author of Secrets of Pickpocketing: The Beginner’s Guide to Mastering the Art of the Steal.

Rule 1 for avoiding pickpockets is to stay aware of your surroundings and not zone out in public. Photo / 123rf

“If I want you to stop looking at something on the table it’s much easier for me to give you a good reason to look at something else.”

Confidence plays a major role too. “The biggest ploys used by theatrical pickpockets, and the kind of street pickpockets that will actually engage with you, is simply an incredibly alluring display of confidence,” Brown says.

He observed pickpockets outside late-night clubs in Trafalgar Square. “They employ some clever tactics. A classic is that a girl comes up to you outside a club and starts talking to you. As she’s doing it, she starts rocking very gently. The person thinks they are rocking so they compensate, start rocking and fall over.

“She’s very kind and helps you up and maybe her friend helps, too. You stumble off and the next morning you realise your watch and your wallet are gone.”

Or maybe pickpockets are not all that smart. Brown says most thefts are opportunistic. “Having spent some time with the Romanian pickpocket gangs in London Bridge, it was fascinating to see how the level of skill is far less than you think.

“There’s a danger that these people are portrayed as being so skilled that it becomes almost endearing and elegant. Most of these people aren’t that at all, they are mostly opportunistic thieves.”

We’ve come up with a shortlist of the most common pickpocket tricks and German police advice for taking basic precautions when travelling.

The experts agree: Rule 1 is, don’t zone out in public. “A street thief will avoid people who are demonstrating a very open awareness of their environment. The man on the tube who is looking around, being very aware, they won’t go anywhere near,” Brown says.

And another traveller’s tale shows that the pickpocket won’t always get what they hope for: “On a business/pleasure trip I ruined my last pair of pantyhose and decided to buy another pair in a big-city department store. I paid and put the tiny box in my jacket pocket.

“A man bumped into me, said ‘Pardonnez-moi’, then moved on. I soon realised the pantyhose was missing. He was shorter than me so I’m not sure they were his size.”

What to watch for

The most common methods used by modern-day pickpockets are:

• Driving by and snatching a passerby’s items. This is common in cities like London where mopeds are a common way to travel.
• Offering to help someone with their luggage, then disappearing in a crowded area. This works well because it gives the victim a false sense of trust with the pickpocketer.
• A team of three or more people in a crowded area find their mark. Two pickpockets slow down, walking in front of the mark, appearing as a lost couple. The mark is stuck behind them and their accomplice goes through the mark’s bag unnoticed.
• Using large crowds where a small doorway – say, in trains – forces the crowd to squeeze together to get through. A pickpocket sticks their hand into peoples’ pockets unnoticed.
• Using a stooge, fake couple or a group, a pickpocket asks the mark for help – say, to take their photo, hold their bag, ask for directions or get them to hold a map. As this is happening their partner goes through the mark’s bags while they are distracted.
• Using a child to pickpocket or as a distraction is common in many countries.
• The bump, the most famous method, is often used in movies. The pickpocket bumps into the mark, allowing them to access the mark’s pockets. It usually requires expert sleight of hand.
• The slash and grab. The pickpocket cuts a purse or bag strap without the mark’s knowledge and makes off with the bag. They extract the contents and leave the bag and any ID in the trash or an alley.

Source: Southern Cross Travel Insurance, scti.co.nz/travel-advice/outsmart-pickpockets

How to protect yourself

Handling cash, cards, etc

• Only ever take with you the amount of cash that you’ll need.
• Never handle all your money where it can be seen by others.
• Never keep your card and PIN number in the same place.
• Storing money securely while you’re out and about.
• Always keep your money, credit cards, papers and other valuables close to your person. Make use of sealed inner pockets.
• Never put your purse, valuables or mobile phone in outer pockets.
• Wear your handbag or shoulder bag with the fastening facing you and in front of you.
• In large crowds, wear your rucksack on your front.
• Always maintain contact with your bags.
• Never leave valuable items in your jacket when you hang it in a cloakroom or on the back of your chair.
• Be alert, particularly if you’re being jostled around or when, seemingly by accident, your clothes are messed up. This could be a trick to get hold of your money.

Caution when using ATMs

• Be vigilant when you withdraw money from ATMs. For example, don’t get involved in a conversation or anything else that may distract you.
• When withdrawing money, stand directly in front of the ATM and make sure that nobody is watching you enter your PIN. If necessary, demand others to step back and cover the keypad when entering your PIN.
• Keep a close eye on the ATM. If you notice anything unusual, for example with the input box or the card slot, or you see any suspicious persons, cancel the transaction and immediately inform the police. This also applies to when you notice anyone suspicious in the area.

Source: German Federal Police, bundespolizei.de