Have you ever been pickpocketed in Europe? What type of bag were you carrying at that time?

[Anonymous]

It mostly happens in train stations and crowded tourist spots. We avoided trains and kept our distance in crowds. No issues.

[Anonymous]

Madrid, going through a turnstile. I had all my valuables in a money belt, but was wearing a small purse with a cross body strap for convenience, it just had a coin purse, a hairbrush, and some make up and first aid stuff in it!


As I went Stile the guy ahead of me, stumbled and fell, and the guy behind me pushed up against me and started fumbling, I realize in hindsight he was rummaging through my purse, trying to find anything useful to steal. Took him quite a while! Poor guy, he ended up getting about five dollars worth of coins is all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an everlane fanny bag worn crossbody tight against my chest in Paris. Pickpocket was still able to unzip and remove my Wallet without me noticing. Luckily a Good Samaritan stopped them and made them return it. Now I have a travelon crossbody bag that has locks on all the zippers.

I do not understand how someone was close enough to you to unzip a bag on your chest and remove be your wallet without you noticing. Even on a crowded metro or in a crush at one of the tourist sites. Pickpockets can be aggressive but that's insane. I don't get it.

Btw I've been to Paris a half dozen times and never had an issue with this.

[Anonymous]

There is a very easy way to thwart any pickpocket and it costs virtually nothing. No expensive name-brand bag, belt, etc. necessary.

It's called a large safety pin, like they use on diapers.

Use a pin to secure your pocket, zippers on bags, and hand-strap of your cellphone.

I've been doing this for many, many years - prior to all these "pickpocket-proof" expensive travel items.

Never been pickpocketed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had an everlane fanny bag worn crossbody tight against my chest in Paris. Pickpocket was still able to unzip and remove my Wallet without me noticing. Luckily a Good Samaritan stopped them and made them return it. Now I have a travelon crossbody bag that has locks on all the zippers.

I do not understand how someone was close enough to you to unzip a bag on your chest and remove be your wallet without you noticing. Even on a crowded metro or in a crush at one of the tourist sites. Pickpockets can be aggressive but that's insane. I don't get it.

Btw I've been to Paris a half dozen times and never had an issue with this.

I am not surprised at all. Subway takes a turn, you get tosses a bit. It takes a couple seconds for a skilled pickpocket. I absolutely hate these people and don't understand it as a career choice, because it very much IS a career choice. Doing it requires physical and mental skills you could use to not harm others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also try not to walk around holding your phone out. Phone snatching is very common too, especially in crowded areas. It has happened to me and I’ve seen it happen to others too.

Also if you want to look like a tourist wear a backpack.

They know you are a tourist regardless of what kind of bag you use.

Anyway, who cares? You ARE a tourist and there is nothing wrong with that.

Tourists are targeted because they are unfamiliar with their surroundings. They also are likely to have cash, credit cards, passports or other important items on them.

Sure, but you’re not going to blend in to the point that people can’t tell you’re a tourist anyway.

We’ve carried backpacks in Europe, because we had kids with us… but the backpack only has things like snacks, water bottles, sunscreen, etc. Anything of value is secured on our bodies in a money belt or something similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wear a crossbody and adjust the strap so it fits tightly just under your chest.

People with totes and backpacks are easy targets.

There is a woman I follow on tiktok who is an American living in Paris. She talks a lot about pickpockets and how they work. She also talks about how she had a lot of things stolen her first few years and she has actually realized that deep tote bags are the safest. Her reasoning on why she likes tote bags is because they are deep and the opening is under your armpit so it would be very difficult for someone to put their hand under your armpit and reach to the bottom of a deep tote bag without you noticing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had an everlane fanny bag worn crossbody tight against my chest in Paris. Pickpocket was still able to unzip and remove my Wallet without me noticing. Luckily a Good Samaritan stopped them and made them return it. Now I have a travelon crossbody bag that has locks on all the zippers.

I do not understand how someone was close enough to you to unzip a bag on your chest and remove be your wallet without you noticing. Even on a crowded metro or in a crush at one of the tourist sites. Pickpockets can be aggressive but that's insane. I don't get it.

Btw I've been to Paris a half dozen times and never had an issue with this.

A large group will work together on their target. They proposedly bump into you, get close and create commotion. In a crowded areas like a train when a lot of people are bumping into you it is easy to not feel them take things from your bag. Again, they scope out people that look like easy targets or are distracted.

I saw a video of a couple on train that almost had their laptops and contents of their backpack stole. They put it by their feet and were targeted because they were a couple traveling together so busy talking to one another. Luckily someone neat them noticed the guy who purposely sat behind them reaching into their bag. After he took it he ran into the bathroom.