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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
