# Does this stuff happen in the US (pickpocketing, scams, etc...)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024 "2016-05-05T21:12:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/21 "2016-05-08T12:36:28Z")
Hanoi often makes the top-10 lists of pickpocketing cities, but I’ve not had problems there. Bangkok has some razor artists, they’ll slash your bag open on a crowded sidewalk of mass transit. Also some scammers around including Westerners who ask for money saying they’re broke but for some reason just cannot go to the police or call their family etc. Someone here reported waiting for a bus when a Frenchman walked up to him with a sob story. He gave the Frenchman some money, then six weeks later at the same bus stop was hit up again by the same Frenchman, who did not recognize his mark. For a while, there were reports of a white South African lady hanging around the airport with a sob story about how she lost her money, ticket, everything but for one reason or another could not ask the police for help, or her embassy, or her family. After the airport got a little hot for her, she was spotted pulling the same scam at tourist sites in central Bangkok. I personally was accosted by a quick-change artist in a 24-hour grocery about 1:20am one morning and even started a thread about it here somewhere. He got nothing from me, as it was obvious what he wanted and I refused to play. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/22 "2016-05-08T14:17:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > That’s my experience, except no big guys. It’s a gotcha. Standing there, you _do_ got your shoes on Bourbon Street. The mark is supposed to feel stoopid and pay up. Stupid and/or intimidated if some stranger starts loudly demanding that you owe him $10. I’m not sure where the line is between “scam” and “creative panhandling”. For instance, there are black guys around here who make money by handing out a photocopied “Black History Guide” to passersby and then after someone takes a copy they say the “Guide” costs $5 (hoping that white guilt prevents people from refusing to pay, I presume). Is that a scam? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/23 "2016-05-08T14:34:16Z")
Definitely happens in the US, as well. When I worked at the Renaissance Faire, there was a running joke/not joke that our pickpockets were the most historically accurate part of the event. As everywhere, crowded places are the most likely to be hit. I don’t think they care whether the wallet they steal belongs to a local or not, but crowds are more likely to also have tourists in them. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/24 "2016-05-08T15:00:54Z")
This may be apocryphal, and I don’t recall where it was supposed to be, but I heard of one place where pickpocketing actually increased after warning signs were put up. Seems people would see the sign and then automatically pat their wallet in order to be sure it was still there. This told the observant pickpockets where the wallet was. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/25 "2016-05-08T19:35:38Z")
Only unpaid interns become pickpockets in USA. \<\\> ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/26 "2016-05-08T19:43:25Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I mean, I’m 43, and I have yet to encounter a pickpocket or casual thief in the US (or for that matter, Europe), and nor do I know anyone else who has encountered them in the US, although several have run into them in Europe. I do not know. In USA in order to become a thief, you have to obtain a PhD in Theft Studies and complete 10 years of Unpaid Theft Internship. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/27 "2016-05-08T20:48:50Z")
Snatch and grab is fairly common here in CA, USA. Takes no skill. Cellphones, purses. It takes time and practice to become a good pickpocket. Say what you will about our prison system, most crooks get caught before they get that good, and they stay a long time in jail. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/28 "2016-05-09T11:01:41Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Stupid and/or intimidated if some stranger starts loudly demanding that you owe him $10. I’m not sure where the line is between “scam” and “creative panhandling”. > > For instance, there are black guys around here who make money by handing out a photocopied “Black History Guide” to passersby and then after someone takes a copy they say the “Guide” costs $5 (hoping that white guilt prevents people from refusing to pay, I presume). Is that a scam? I can only speak for the NOLA panhandlers. It’s a party atmosphere, and I prefer to play along rather than break down the fourth wall.😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/29 "2016-05-09T17:26:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I can only speak for the NOLA panhandlers. It’s a party atmosphere, and I prefer to play along rather than break down the fourth wall.😃 I never give to beggars, but always to buskers. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024/30 "2016-05-09T18:34:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I never give to beggars, but always to buskers. I’ve seen awesome beggery and piss-poor buskery. I reward based on a combination of quality/heart/appearance/and myBAC%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-stuff-happen-in-the-us-pickpocketing-scams-etc/754024.md?page=1)