* On That (Monthly) Note
Beware of Pickpockets
by Jacquée T.
Beware the pickpockets
by Jacquée T.
I’ve known people who had their wallets inconspicuously taken by engaging strangers. And I’ve heard stories about folks whose wallets, or purses seemed to disappear.
Voila! Gone are their IDs, their cash and credit cards, and in the time it takes them to realize it, the pickpockets have made purchases.
My friend Lois from Minnesota, for example, was visiting with friends to attend a conference. While in Union Station to catch their train home, they carried stuffed bags and suitcases, and took the elevator from one level to another. A couple of well-dressed fellows held the elevator doors for them to get on, and engaged them in conversation.
Lois had just gotten out of the cab, and paid the cabby. Her wallet was at the top of her shoulder bag.
She left the elevator and arrived to the ticket counter to present her ticket, and noticed that her wallet was gone.
Immediately she called her husband, who was back at home. He cancelled her credit cards within 15 minutes.
Yet by then, there were already three charges to a gas station.
Lois was an experienced traveler, used to guarding her belongings. In retrospect, she knew exactly when the pickpockets took her wallet – when they drew her attention to the fact that the elevator would open at the opposite side she faced.
“This just happened to be a let-down moment,” she said. It was in that half-turn to look at the back elevator doors, she later realized, that one of the fellows snatched the wallet. “I didn’t feel a thing.”
When Lois told me about this, I interviewed a Chicago police officer who had been part of the Chicago pickpocket detail for 16 years.
Pickpockets have nothing but time on their hands, he said. They usually work in teams and they watch for opportune moments when a person’s guard is down.
Many of them dress well, as they dress on other people’s money. Yet pickpockets wear anything from Armani suits to shorts and t-shirts. “It’s really hard to pick them out of a crowd.”
Pickpockets like to prey on tourists, he said, as they figure if they get caught, the tourist likely wouldn’t return to town to go to court.
They’ve gotten sophisticated. They have “writers” who can make up an ID using the victim’s info. “Crews will actually ride around the downtown area.
“The pickpocket calls up the ‘writer’ and says ‘I have three wallets, and need three IDs.’”
They meet at a location near where the theft took place. Within minutes the pickpockets have new IDs to use. They go on a shopping spree. They also steal identities, beginning with using victims’ IDs and credit cards to obtain store credit at various locations.
Other places
Pickpockets work in teams, for a pass-off at crowded areas like revolving doors, busy elevators, escalators, bus or train doors. They might smile and talk to you, or they might seem invisible, whatever it takes.
A pal told me about a time she was at a restaurant and her purse was on the floor, when her friend noticed her purse being dragged by a long hook. Once noticed, her purse was de-hooked and the culprit disappeared.
A hotel staff, let me know that after a hotel bar reported theft, they checked the security camera to witness the thief taking a purse from a barstool back. He walked out the door, never to be identified.
One afternoon I stopped at a downtown restaurant for appetizers and a glass of wine. I chatted with folks at the bar, when a fellow came in, sat near me.
My purse was in my detection, as I’d made a habit to keep my feet against the purse, or the straps looped at my ankles. I felt the purse being drawn in this fellow’s direction. My eyes fell upon him. Seeing that, he promptly left, my purse yet safe.
In summary
‘Tis human nature to want to trust fellow humans like we trust ourselves. Even folks who are wary have low-guard moments. Pickpockets take advantage of that – usually in organized teams – in crowded places.
Unfortunately we need to be vigilant while out and about, which isn’t most comfortable nor friendly, yet may be fairly systematic. Keep purses tucked forward and under-arm. Zip or snap shut purses and shoulder bags. Gents, keep wallets in the front pocket, or wrap a rubberband around the wallet so it’s not easily snatched.
You might feel a little less relaxed as a human among other humans, yet more relaxed as a human among potential thieves.