When I had the pleasure of working through Visa as a customer service person, I had the pleasure of hearing about some unfortunate travel experiences that occurred to people while in Europe. It appears that Barcelona and Rome are hot as far as pick pocketing and purse snatching is concerned. The method of which the person gets the wallet out of pocket or away from you varies but the means is largely similar, if he gets you distracted you can lose your precious belongings. For people to be more conscious of how they carry their money and jewelry I came with a short list of ways that people get robbed in Spain and Italy. This most likely occurs in other countries too.
- A person comes to you from the front and nudges you while you are on a bus. He is likely working with a second guy who takes your wallet from behind while you are distracted.
- A gypsy may stick a large poster right in front of your face. While she does that another may lunge for your breast pocket and rip out your wallet.
- One thief may pose as a director and offer you a role in a picture as you take coffee together. While you go into the café to pay, he conveniently takes your bag you left on your chair and sticks it in his.
- You are wearing a money belt you think is fool proof but some con artists are so quick, they can unzip the ones that have zippers all across and take out your wallet while you are still in shock
- You can be walking down a street with a shoulder bag while a guy on a moped decides to run by you on the street and rip the bag right from your shoulder
- You can be walking under a window while all of a sudden some manure is dropped on your suede jacket from above. A man from behind you offers to help you off with your coat while you are of course concentrating on the stink; he gingerly takes your wallet. At the same time the man upstairs offers a profuse apology for the shit dump and offers to clean the coat. Naturally the thieves work as a team and you have to be absent minded for them to rip you off.
- You could be on the road to Barcelona from Madrid when a motorist drives up along side you and points to your tire. If you are naïve, you will stop to the side of the road and check it out but so will he. When you get out, he gets in your car.
- You could be driving along the same road and the assailant will literally jump out in front of the car and refuse to move. As you leave the car to challenge him, his assistant runs into the car and drives off.
- You take a hotel room as a tourist and a person renting a room next to you knocks on your door in an emergency. Naturally you go and see what the problem is but as you do, his associate gets into your open door and takes your passport.
- You have just bought a necklace and are showing it off to a friend when a thief coming from the opposite direction literally pulls it off your neck. Naturally this works best with a light chain or string of pearls.
