Trick Thieves in European Cities

[Steven Tribe]

As the number of tourists in cities of note in Europe, so do the activities of the thousands of trick thieves increase.
Tourists are the main target as:

- they generally have cash on them.
- they don't know the current danger spots/scenarios.
- they don't want to waste their precious holiday time with police reporting, which means that the same trick can be done over and over again at the same spot.
- any photographers will have their hands full!

An example.

Someone in my family was in Barcelona last week with a friend.
They know all about trick thieves and the reputation of Barcelona, particularly.
And they have seen the TV documentary about Roma girls travelling into the city centre for their daily "work".
Not only were they given a last minute warning from me - but the flat renting agency also put a warning in their last mail!

Anyway, they were taken in by one of the classic tricks.

Approached by 2 young female "students" in a central park.
"you have some birdshit on your" - "let us help you get it off".
Strangely these bird droppings smelt dreadful - which is quite unusual.
And the "students" happened to have cleaning materials with them.
They didn't realise what had happened during the cleaning process until an hour later!

The good thing is that they only go after cash.

So be very wary of any contact with people in difficulty, especialy where there is physical contact or you have to hold something in your hand (maps, for instance) or a very unusual occurance. People can be of all ages, although the park/bird shit scenario is usually done by young girls. I have heard that some travellors agree a safe word between them so that if someone gets suspicious they can alert the others.
Perhaps our Spanish friends can give some other current scams?

[hoffner]

-
Perhaps our Spanish friends can give some other current scams?

Because you seem to be well informed about it perhaps you could give us examples of current thieves scams in your country, in Denmark?

[soeren]

We have absolutely no crime in Denmark :D
Hmm I think we have mainly pocket thieves here and of cource the "gamplers" you know the trick with one dice, stone or the like and three cups. They play at strøget and suddenly a guy wins big time (ofcource he is one of them) thus luring bystanders to try (they never win) while playing they have others liberating spectators from the burden of their values. Be allert when in crowded places like train and metro including the stations. Keep your values in innerpockets close to your body never in purses or bags on your sholder or bag. Move fast and with confidence like you know where you are going. Dont flash your wallet and smartphone unnecessary and not near car and bicycle lanes. smartphones have been stolen by thieves on mopeds and bicycles.
Have a nice vacation :rolleyes:
Best regards

[soeren]

Oh and cover the machine when entering your code when paying with visa etc.

[Steven Tribe]

We have mostly a house break-in problem from motorised groups from the new countries in the EU all the year round.
There is a lot of trick household thieving that targets "older citizens" - " I come from the council etc.". But resident Danes do this a lot too!
But these not a problem for tourists.
Spring used to bring organised groups from South America to Copenhagen, but I don't think this has been such a problem in the last few years.
The groups coming from Southern Europe, tend to use Public transport, Busy Cafés, arranged 3 card tricks (associates are in the crowd) and is a mixture of bag stealing and traditional pick-pocketing. There is very little violent crime and the flagging down of cars (for non-existant tyre problems) is a very rare occurance (by comparison with other countries).

[soeren]

And then we have the gypsies pulling over on the motorways selling gold ( Beginning to sound like DK is a mekka for criminals :) )
Best regards

[Richard Wasserman]

I'm glad I'm going to Barcelona in about 2 weeks and won't be anywhere near Denmark.....

[Shootar401]

A big part of avoiding this is to do a little research and learn to act and more importantly dress like the people who live there do. Do away with the shorts and sport team T-shirts and try to blend in. I did this once in Paris and I was invisible. I learned the hard way in Germany when I was almost pick pocketed out of my cash and passport, luckily I felt the guy reach for my wallet and turned around and whacked him in the face 8 or 9 times with my F4s. My viewfinder still has a dent from his face LOL. Oh, and learn some slang such as "F- off" or "go away" etc.. and the hand gestures to go with it.

[Nathan Potter]

Attach a braided and flexible wire like picture hanging wire to your valuables and clothing (around your belt is good) so that thieves get you along with the valuables. Inconvenient but effective. They will flee without the goods.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Steven Tribe]

Do away with the shorts and sport team T-shirts and try to blend in.
This is wishful thinking!
The places you visit, the paths you walk and the language you speak to each other gives you away - even to the novice pick-pocket.

[Jan Pedersen]

whacked him in the face 8 or 9 times with my F4s

Perfect treatment. An F4s is as good a weapon as it is a camera! A camera with long lasting memories.

[Drew Wiley]

No different here, except that they might shoot you first, then take something!

[SergeiR]

Try to go to St. Petersburg in Russia, if you think that was bad.. heh..

[Heroique]

Attach a braided and flexible wire like picture hanging wire to your valuables and clothing (around your belt is good) so that thieves get you along with the valuables. Inconvenient but effective. They will flee without the goods.

And if you’re walking with a heavy day pack, make sure those pocket zippers (behind you) are zipped tight and extra secure – if not locked.

For another trick is for one or two smiling kids (say 10 or 12 years old) to approach you w/ items to sell or “seeking directions” – and while you’re giving them your undivided attention, their confederates sneak-up behind you to un-zip & empty those pack pockets. The operation takes only a few quiet seconds. This happened to me in Rome, another time in London, but I’d been alerted to the strategy and shooed them away each time, front and back. It’s like being surrounded by a few wily coyotes, who scatter with a stern look. Heavy day packs are of course at risk, but backpacks are the preferred target.

It’s all right out of Oliver Twist.

[Tin Can]

When I encounter a scam, thief, or taxi doing the wrong thing, I lean into them and quietly say, 'I am from Chicago, don't fuck with me.' Everybody knows Chicago is a very dangerous place. rat a tat tat

[goamules]

A couple of rules I learned in the Navy have always prevented me from getting into trouble. 1. If anyone approaches you or looks you in the eye, be suspicious of a scam coming. 2. If anyone tries to hand you something, just keep you hands to your sides and don't take it. In crowded streets, shopping districts, and rest areas, exactly why would you think a stranger would need your help, and just yours?

Con men/women play on our good nature and politeness. If you are walking down a sidewalk and someone off to the side says, "Excuse me, sir?" I smile and keep walking. Let them waste some other suckers time. Once you make eye contact or are holding some trinket they handed you - you're stuck with them for the duration of the spiel.

[Tin Can]

Unlike NYC, normal people in Chicago do look each other in the eye, maybe even nod, and keep moving.



A couple of rules I learned in the Navy have always prevented me from getting into trouble. 1. If anyone approaches you or looks you in the eye, be suspicious of a scam coming. 2. If anyone tries to hand you something, just keep you hands to your sides and don't take it.

Con men/women play on our good nature and politeness. If you are walking down a sidewalk and someone off to the side says, "Excuse me, sir?" I smile and keep walking. Let them waste some other suckers time.

[Leszek Vogt]

I smell some paranoia in this pile....urr, thread. Drew, not sure where you hang out (OAK-Richmond ?), but I lived and worked in the Bay Area for over 5yrs, I mean from Muir Woods, Twin Peaks, Japan Town, G. Gate (both sides), Gir Square, and mass of other tourista locations....and folks took conventional precautions and no one was ripped off...including myself. I worked with tourist industry, so I had a first hand experience. If one goes to less known areas, you take certain precautions....a snug cover for your backpack (several at REI or elsewhere) will prevent those zippers to be pulled. Agree, it requires extra step or two, but at least there will be something in that pack to pull out.

Les

[Drew Wiley]

Guess you're sure behind the times, Leszek.... Maybe nobody will rip you off at Pier 39 except the galleries! But you don't have to be very far from either a sports venue or slightly off into the Mission district and the name of the game changes entirely. We're not talking about pickpockets. Entire neighborhoods have become war zones. Muir woods is for lil' ole ladies who don't want a real hike... but gangbangers don't seem to wander over to Marin - I'd be more worried about rigged traffic lights in San Rafael. Oakland has wealthy neighborhoods and deadly ones, but the crime is creeping everywhere due to cutbacks in the police force. Richmond is relatively safe if you stay out of the Iron Triangle. Here around my office near the Berkeley waterfront it's quite safe during the day, but really spooky at night. ... if they want something, they'll simply shoot
you first and take it. I wasn't kidding.

[Tin Can]

There is much shooting near me. Today I found 3X6 foot sheets of diamond plate in our storage room. Removed when the 2nd floor walkway was repaired. I am seriously considering putting it in my street level windows. It's 3/16" and won't fully stop most rounds, but it will slow them down. Simple installation, just pop it inside next to my existing glass block. I am worried about stray bullets. We find them in the parking lot.

I am not kidding. I am 3 blocks from what the police call 'The Twilight Zone'. Don't enter ever. Summer is here and thieves go where the money is. I am poor, but 2 doors down is a 2 million dollar house. It's a fortress.



Guess you're sure behind the times, Leszek.... Maybe nobody will rip you off at Pier 39 except the galleries! But you don't have to be very far from either a sports venue or slightly off into the Mission district and the name of the game changes entirely. We're not talking about pickpockets. Entire neighborhoods have become war zones. Muir woods is for lil' ole ladies who don't want a real hike... but gangbangers don't seem to wander over to Marin - I'd be more worried about rigged traffic lights in San Rafael. Oakland has wealthy neighborhoods and deadly ones, but the crime is creeping everywhere due to cutbacks in the police force. Richmond is relatively safe if you stay out of the Iron Triangle. Here around my office near the Berkeley waterfront it's quite safe during the day, but really spooky at night. ... if they want something, they'll simply shoot
you first and take it. I wasn't kidding.

[CantikFotos]

Not long before he died, Herbert Keppler (the editor of Popular Photography) was robbed of his photography gear while at a sidewalk cafe in Madrid.

[Paul Ewins]

I lost an SLR and three lenses while on a train between France and Germany a couple of years ago. My bag was in the overhead rack directly above me and all the thief did was put his bag next to mine, rummage for ten to fifteen seconds and then go and sit down. He got off at the next stop along with the gear he had transferred from my bag to his. The railway people had warned about pick-pockets but to me that meant someone stealing my wallet from my coat, not the procedure they actually used. The useless unlockable Lowepro backpack has been replaced by a much smaller Pacsafe bag that can sit on my lap when travelling and has lockable zips to prevent dipping fingers. Instead of six lenses I now only take a superzoom, a fast prime and a good wide. Less weight means less temptation to take the bag off my shoulder or leave it in a hotel room.

[brucep]

I lost 5 Canon DSLRs a laptop and lots of lenses whilst having a meal in the African bush.

15 mins after reporting it, a truck turned up with 6 fully armed anti poaching police/trackers and they were off with torches into the bush. In the morning I was notified that they had tracked them 20km to a main road. 4 days later I was told that they had told the famlies that the thiefs should hand themselves in by midnight at the local police station or the armed trackers were going after them at first light.

The following morning I went down to the local police station and was given all my equipment back!

[thicktheo]

I'm glad I'm going to Barcelona in about 2 weeks and won't be anywhere near Denmark.....

I'll be there in three weeks, covering a music festival. :cool:

Barcelona is a huge tourist destination, so it also carries the usual thieves associated with such places. pickpockets, scammers, etc. For anyone visiting Barca, be wary of people coming around your table (where you're having coffee, brunch, etc) and distributing leaflets. The hand under the leaflets usually picks up your mobile phone or anything you have left on the table.

If we're discussing European cities, I have to say that Athens is one of the safest cities around. Just try not to totally look like a tourist (universal advice, ain't it?).

[Robert Langham]

Roma pickpockets, boys, outside the Louvre with clipboards and a fake petition. Don't take them.

94315 Shiprock, Afternoon shadow across the pulpit.

[Valdecus]

Yes, Europe is very dangerous. Best not to travel there... ;-)

Cheers from Germany,
Andreas

[Dan Fromm]

If you are walking down a sidewalk and someone off to the side says, "Excuse me, sir?" I smile and keep walking.

I dunno, Garrett, I once had a very interesting conversation Rome that started that way. A priest addressed me. It turned out that he was a professor of geography. That's one of my fields and he'd been a classmate of one of my teachers. We had a long chat on problems in mathematical geography. One never knows ...

[goamules]

Well, I mean take some other factors into consideration. I'll talk to folks and enjoy doing so.

[anglophone1]

Better not leave home wherever you are.........

Yes, Europe is very dangerous. Best not to travel there... ;-)

Cheers from Germany,
Andreas

[Nicolasllasera]

I live in Spain and have traveled a lot. As long as you are aware of what you are doing you are fine in most places. Just a little common sense is needed.

[Tin Can]

Update from Chicago. Warm weather warning.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130501/chicago/3-dead-at-least-17-wounded-12-hour-stretch-chicago



There is much shooting near me. Today I found 3X6 foot sheets of diamond plate in our storage room. Removed when the 2nd floor walkway was repaired. I am seriously considering putting it in my street level windows. It's 3/16" and won't fully stop most rounds, but it will slow them down. Simple installation, just pop it inside next to my existing glass block. I am worried about stray bullets. We find them in the parking lot.

I am not kidding. I am 3 blocks from what the police call 'The Twilight Zone'. Don't enter ever. Summer is here and thieves go where the money is. I am poor, but 2 doors down is a 2 million dollar house. It's a fortress.

[nede]

in France , people outside supermarket with some paper to sign, only ask If you can write down your signature, then ask for money.
A theory says that if you say yes a first time, it's harder to say NO then. Here first question is "please can you sign for "orphans/blind /..."

When at a café, if someone put a map on the table and wants help, keep you wallet/camera/iphone in sight or better, in your pocket...
When in town centre while driving, don't put valuable things on you passenger seat, windows wide open...
Remove you GPS holders from your windshield...
when people come to ask you anything, first say "No thanks " "Non merci!" in France

enjoy you holidays... :)
Best regards from France (where we love strangers ;) )