I went to Germany when I was in high school, and traveled to various Euro countries when I studied abroad in London. Nothing happened to me, nor anyone I was with the entire time we were there.
Given the rest of this thread maybe I was just lucky?
Also, what’s the Gold Ring scam?
There are several, but this is the one that got pulled on us:
NO. My wife had her wallet lifted from a bellypack in Shillong, India, but she knew better than to keep anything valuable or important in her bellypack. That has always been in my moneybelt, which has remained untouched through 140 countries. Nothing has ever been stolen from me, anywhere. I sleep with the moneybelt around my waist.
Nowadays, I carry only cash, in a moneybelt. US $100 bills. I carry a credit card for emergency, but rarely use it.
I got fast-change scammed by a menacing guy in Nice (France) one time, but I have gravelled quite a lot and never had my pocket picked.
My tip would be: if you have to stop to consult a map or check your text messages, get out of the pedestrian traffic flow first. Move to the side, back to a shop wall or something so you can’t be approached from behind.
Back in the late 80s/early 90s, I was in London with my parents. We were touring the city, walking across some bridge, and on the walkway right next to us a man started yelling at a gypsy-looking woman, about her having tried to pickpocket him. In return, she started to trying to push her baby onto him, arguing that he’d have to support the baby instead.
I felt something, then turned quickly and grabbed a guy’s hand going into the top zipper of my daypack in the Metro in Barcelona. He protested loudly that I had left it open and he was trying zip it up. I didn’t make a scene (it’s harder than you think to draw a bunch of attention in this kind of situation). All he would have gotten out of that pocket was my map and a snack anyway. Valuables were in a money belt.
Good stories. I lived and traveled in Europe (both east and west) for about seven years and never had any of those problems. But here’s a maneuver that’s usually successful: a person will walk up to you, seemingly not paying attention to where he/she is going, and will spill a drink or an ice cream on you. While you’re doing the dance to try to avoid it, someone behind you has a hand in your pocket or your purse strap is being cut. In some places, there’s no food involved; a person will simply walk up and spit on you, and while you’re doing the WTF? dance, the same thing happens.
We had an American guy show up at our embassy. He had sat down on a park bench on a very hot day and a local guy sat down on the same bench and began talking to him, saying he wanted to practice his English. As they became friendlier, the local guy said something like “It’s really hot; I have two Cokes in my bag, would you like one?”, taking them out and (apparently) opening them. Of course, one was spiked and one wasn’t. The guy woke up an hour later and everything but his plane ticket was gone.
Another half of the gold ring scam is simply distracting you so they or a partner have opportunity to lift something.
Another common one is a person handing out flowers or knicknacks. They will hand you the flower, unsuspecting people might take it as a gift, then they will imidiatly start demandin payment for it. This is to simply get you off guard while someone snags your wallet.
When traveling I keep a very stripped down version of my wallet in my front pocket. I’ll have a photocopy of my passport on me and the real one locked away.
Motorcycles/mopeds are a common thing. In the Netherlands my friend had his smart phone out searching the web. Moped drove right up to him, punched him in the face and grabbed the phone. Guy was long gone before he even processed what happened.
If you are in a foreign country no local is going to stop or apprach you for any good reason. Don’t stop for them or give them the time of day on the street, just keep moving, preferably towards somewhere safe.
I haven’t had issues abroad I know a multiple people who have.
These kind of things aren’t unique to Europe, it’s basically anywhere the local scumbags can pick out a foreigner. It’s a lot easy to commit crimes against people who may not speak the language, may not know how to quickly respond, may not have the time to help an investigation, may not be able to return if the thief is caught.
I think the US sees less of it only because it’s harder to pick out the foreigners.
If anytghing loike that h appens, bystanders will be yur best allies.
Wairting for the ferry from Burundi to Zaire, someone grabbed my shoulder bag off the ground and ran with it. Several bystanders started chasing and shouting, he dropped the bag and ran, and the bystanders apologetically brought my bag back to me.
On Porto Alegre, Brazil, on a quiet Sunday morning, I saw a guy grab a woman’s coat and tried to grab her bag, and ran with it. A couple of bystanders saw him, and chased him down, and beat the shit out of him.
In Santa Cruz, Bolivia,suddenly there was a loud disturbance in the crowded marketplace. Some guys saw a pickpocket try to rob someone, and chased him down and beat the shit out of him.
Places like that are often self-policed, as the citizens cannot depend on the police to be anything but a corrupt enemy.
Everywhere, Gypsies are a menace. Don’t be shy about using physical force if they start laying hands on yhou.
I disagree zippers or velcro won’t put off opportunistic thieves, they’re much more likely to target tourists with easier to pinch personal belongings like an expensive camera or handbag with thin strap.
Not me, but a friend was on one of those sightseeing tours in London and had her wallet and passport taken out of her purse while she was standing amid a group of people outside St. Paul’s.
I had my pocket picked on the Lisbon metro. I keep my cards, papers, and serious money in a moneybelt, so all the thieves got were the one day’s worth of money that I keep in my wallet.
Also I got scammed once in Greece–the deal where a guy chats you up, drags you into a bar, and then you get stuck with the tab for expensive drinks. I cut if off at $20, though, and the guy was such a stereotypical Zorba-style BSer that it was almost worth it as entertainment.
This is good advice. As much as one might want, as a traveler, to be open to interaction with locals, it’s better when the traveler initiates the interaction. Good things seldom follow when a local accosts you on the street.
I can thank a Rick Steves guide for preventing my getting pick pocketed in Rome.
Just as detailed in a guidebook.
I was in a crowded underground train station when I felt something pressing the small of my back. I reached down to my front pants pocket, where I had my wallet, and felt a hand there. I turned quickly around and saw a teenage girl pushing her way away from me through the crowd. An older woman was watching several rows back and joined her as they disappeared.
Just take a credit card and small amount of cash with you, lock everything else in your hotel.
Rereading the OP reminds me of another attempt, more of a scam. In Zurich I had paid for a shuttle from the airport to the hotel. The driver attempted to get me to pay again and wouldn’t give me my bags. I got very loud, very quickly, and sent my wife into the hotel to call the “gendarme or polizie”. As soon as she was inside, he said “fuck you” and gave me my bags and left.
These are very much the exception to the rule. Most people are wonderful, particularly in Italy.
That is actually my policy in the US, as well as overseas. I will not stop my forward progress for you, so if you try to talk to me you have only a couple of seconds for your pitch. Want to know where the metro station is? I’ll stop and give you directions. Start to tell me that your car ran out of gas and you need to get to a doctor’s appointment and need $2 to blah blah blah, sorry can’t stop.
Eh, it depends. When I was in Japan, random strangers walked up to me and asked if I wanted them to take my picture. They were for real. I would hand them my camera, and they would take a nice photo of me in front of some landmark and hand the camera back.
Random strangers never approached me in Germany or the UK. Well, except one beggar in Germany, but I said “no” and he took that politely and left. In Greece, random men hit on me, and in Italy I ran into some people who were probably scammers.
Wow, you could be me. Literally every single point.
My passport, debit/cash card, drivers license, extra cash, and back up credit card are always in an under-the pants hip pack. A single credit card, museum passes and 20 euros cash in a wallet. Never had anyone (waiter, shopkeeper) look at me strangely when I’ve had to dig for my passport or ID- they knew what I was doing.
I got approached with the gold ring scam in Paris. I was with my young child and the guy tried to involve my kid in his scam as his opening. He put the ring in my hand, I turned and launched it into the Seine and said, “I’m not stupid, but you seem to be in your judgment of me.” He threatened me and got in my face, and I flagged down a cop while chasing after him for a block. Taught him a lesson!
Travelled around the world for nearly 40 years (my Dad for 50) and the only time we were pickpocketed was in Turkey when someone got super close to my Dad and tried to get us to buy postcards from him as we walked over a bridge. He was really persistent and only left when I walked around the back of my Dad to ask him to leave us alone. Minutes later we realised the camera my Dad had in a little holster on his belt was missing.
So beware of anyone trying super hard to get really close to you for no reason, or get you to focus on something - it could well be that they are trying to distract you. (Oh, and don’t have things just hanging off your belt. I keep things in a padlocked backpack when travelling, and have a wallet with a chain attached to a belt loop.
Japan is an exception. It’s the only country in the world where I’d expect good intent from a stranger. If someone there says hey you dropped this 10,000 yen note, it’s because you did.