I have never been pickpocketed in India in all my years of living and traveling here.
Day 2 in London and I was relieved of my wallet DESPITE taking precautions.
This wasn’t a scam but a stunningly common occurrence in many European countries. Happens in public places and happens inside hotels/restaurants.
I had my wallet inside a zipped up bigger bag that hung across the front of my body. I even had one hand on it. So how did I still lose it?
The MO of the pickpocket was as follows.
It was the evening rush hour at the London metro called the Tube.
When the train pulled into the station, it was already full. As I stepped inside, I felt someone run in just behind me and give me a big push. The person seemed to have lost balance and fell on my back. In turn I fell onto some people at my front. I put my hands out to grab something to balance myself.
That person seemed to struggle to stand and grabbed me from the back. The next second she cursed loudly that she had gotten into the wrong train and stepped back out of the train, just before the doors closed. I never saw who it was.
When I straightened up, I discovered my bag was unzipped. And my wallet was missing. The person had been so quick and smooth that in a few seconds, she had not only reached around me with her arms, she had also unzipped the bag, removed the wallet and exited the train.
I looked up in dismay. The passengers around me noticed what had happened and shrugged. I had become yet another hapless victim of pickpocketing in London tube.
Keep in mind a few points when you travel anywhere and not just Europe:
- Be pre-warned that tourists are favourites of pickpockets since they always carry cash and often don't report such crimes.
- Avoid rush hour travel in public transportation.
- Be wary of over-friendly strangers offering help.
- Do not be a typical tourist standing on road-side peering at a map. Be aware of your surroundings all the time. Do not open your bag and fiddle with the contents when you are in a busy place like a train station. You are being watched.
- Keep your wits around when you stop to watch road-side tricks/shows. You will be pulled in to participate. You put your bag down for an instant. And that’s the last time you will see it.
- Don't carry all your cash in one wallet. Spread it out. A jacket with an inside pocket that zips up is the safest place.
- Do not carry your valuables like the passport and traveller’s cheques on your person all the time. Leave them in a safe deposit box at your accommodation. Have a picture of your passport saved on your phone.
- Before leaving home, remove all the extra credit or debit cards you are not likely to be using.
- In India, you need to put in your pin when you use your credit card. Abroad, that same international credit card may not even require a pin. If you lose it, someone can easily misuse it.
- Have the customer service number of your credit card company saved on your phone so you can instantly disable the card in case you lose it.
- To be able to call, you need a calling plan already enabled on your phone. Many Indian telecom providers now offer affordable plans that you can buy before you go. That way your phone is usable as soon as you land and you are not scrambling to find calling plans after you land in a foreign country.
- And keep your guard up all the time even if the country you are traveling to is much more ‘affluent’ than your own. The tricksters and pickpockets bank on you being ignorant and careless.
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