How To Outsmart Pickpockets

Crime-Safety-Security.com Newsletter

PICKPOCKETS

Pickpockets go for easy targets. Pickpockets may be anyone from a mother with a child, someone limping with a cane, to a couple dressed as well-to-do elderly, someone in a wheelchair, or any possible disguise to appear harmless – while they and/or a partner perform the ‘trick.’ They're masterful thieves - they practice daily for many years. They watch where you put your wallet or cash. They then distract you by touching you with one hand while the other hand steals your stuff. Their highly-trained hands are a blur.

Pockets with zippers and buttons make ‘lifting’ more difficult, so they'll use a tiny razor. They hold it between their middle and index fingers and with one swift movement slit open the bottom of the pocket. The wallet then falls into their hands.

A friendly stranger who gets very near you might be a pickpocket. Most people think nothing of it when someone presses or bumps into them (to distract them from the thief's sneaky hands). Try to keep a hand on your belongings when such a person approaches you.

See much more on how to outsmart Pickpockets

Crime-Safety-Security > Newsletter Archive > newsletter-27-Jan-09