Thievery report - Athens

Paul,

Unfortunately this sort of thing happens all over Europe, on transit systems or on the street. Sorry to hear that you were victimized, but thankfully they didn't get Passports or credit cards.

It's interesting that you believe the thieves were scanning for credit cards with an electronic device? There have been some discussions about that sort of thing on the forum but it's not something that most people have had to deal with.

The neckwallet was in my *pocket*, loosely.

I carry my neck wallet/pouch around my neck and under my shirt and jacket. In high risk areas, e.g. Paris and other big cities, I wear the neck wallet strap "cross body" under my shirt where the wallet is under my arm and covered by shirt and jacket. Helps to travel during cold/cool weather where it is comfortable to wear both shirt and jacket.

We spoke to a security guy. He said there are gangs of guys from Egypt, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Romania, gypsies. They communicate by phone.

Interesting that it is always the immigrants and not the locals who are the criminal element.

Sorry it happened to you. I always keep my credit cards in foil-lined security envelopes to prevent scanning and skimming. I do the same with my passport.

"Don't feel the need to be polite." True....I don't and especially when I see myself boxed in on the Metro.

Interesting that it is always the immigrants and not the locals who are the criminal element

Because immigrants, either illigal or transient, invariably have no job or reasonable source of income and often resort to crime.

Actually, these are very often not immigrants, but organised groups who arrive for a few weeks and are then replaced by other groups. Usually these poor guys have to hand over the proceeds of their "work" to their boss.

(Btw, 50€ was a special offer, so to speak. I lost 800€ in Milan a few years ago on such an occasion (I had to pay the rent for the apartment of my daughter in cash and was obviously observed when I picked up the money at the bank) and last year I lost alsmost €200 in the infamous overcrowded bus #64 in Rome by the oldest trick: someone gave me a ribbing as the bus stopped, and while he apologized verbosely, another pulled my wallet out of my pocket.)

Call them immigrants, call them migrants, whatever. They are not locals.

I merely offer this as a report. It was my own fault.

As to the scanning, we are not 100% sure that this was the objective. My wife says she observed a man manipulating a device inside his sweat and deliberately aimed something at my leg.

The thieves are a gang. The security person we talked with said that they call around to others on the Metro. He talked about some japanese guy who was flashing a LARGE amount of cash. The money was clearly visible, and a large crowd of thieves followed him, as did the security fellow. 15 were arrested.

Keep you cash out of sight. I am now holding my hand on my wallet.

Thanks for the report, Paul. I'm glad it was a fairly trivial amount of cash and that you didn't lose passport or credit cards. I've fortunately not had this happen, but it's a reminder to me to be aware of my surroundings and to secure the neck wallet.

Sorry to hear about your loss. As reported up thread, we heard from a local RS guide that groups of "organized" perpetrators are brought into towns/cities. This was in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It can happen anywhere. It's a good reminder to to keep valuables secured. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Paul, you mention you are now holding your hand on your wallet...........is it in a pocket?

Sometimes the "hand on the wallet" simply signals to pickpocket what you want to protect. If you move your hand for just a few seconds....such as to grab a pole in a bus/Metro, etc. if sudden jerk happens, then wham!
Saw a video one time that where there were signs (in tourist places) warning to keep one's wallet safe, most people tended to feel the pocket in which there wallet was placed.......duh......I would guess that just helped the pickpockets follow and strike when the person later let their guard down.
Keep your large amounts of money, credit cards, passport, etc. UNDER your shirt or UNDER your waist.......not 100% fool-proof, but much better.

"...holding my hand on my wallet." Exactly. I do likewise since my wallet with cash and credit cards is in my front left pocket.

When I see I am entering a packed area, where the bad guys, if any, think the pickings are good, you can be sure that I am walking through with the left hand covering the wallet. Of course, "they" don't know why.

“Of course, they don’t know why I am holding my hand on my pocket”, ( they being the thieves.) Actually, you are signalling “my wallet is in this pocket.”

Better with my left hand than my right hand

“Actually, you are signalling “my wallet is in this pocket.”

Yes, and so is his hand.

And, of course, the best solution is nothing in the pockets. And we have had reports that keeping the hand in the pocket one hundred percent of the time is impossible. Someone recently reported that he always kept their hand in the pocket but something happened, he had to removed is hand for a couple of minutes, and then when he returned his hand he realized the billfold was gone. Sure better to keep your hand on it for awhile but it is not fool proof. I gave up carrying a single billfold years ago so I can relax and not worry about someone pushing against me because there is nothing in my pants pockets to take except a map or two.

PS -- Found it. See Tom's response at 7.45, 5/13/17 -- https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/greece/avoiding-petty-crimes-in-greece

Sorry you experienced this.

The worst I've seen to date is Barcelona and Madrid. That may be because I was there in April (high season for Spain). It was also bad in Munich during Oktoberfest. I'm usually shoulder season and have only seen relatively minor activity in Paris and Rome.

The goal should always be to avoid being an easy target.

I do similar to what was said, neck wallet over head and arm, worn under armpit under shirt. I keep some cash in one front pocket (never more than 60 euro, usually half that or less) and a debit and/or credit card in the other front pocket. It's likely true that when you put your hand in your pocket in a crowd, it signals where your valuables are at. At the same time, it makes it harder to get to those valuables. As long as you don't have more pockets with valuables than hands, you're probably going to be passed on for another easier target.

As far as scanning your cards is concerned, I'm not concerned with it right now. A card without a chip needs to be swiped to copy the mag stripe. Thieves will focus on altering ATM's or other ways (like a waiter or bartender) to steal the info from your card. Keep the card in sight rather than handing it to someone and letting them walk away. I walk to the bar/cashier to pay. At ATM's, don't let anyone see your PIN (including a nearby person or a tiny camera placed on the ATM).

RFID scanners seem like a remote issue too, they're more likely to steal the card. In Ireland, last week, they've instituted a rule about touching your chip to the pay point. No more than 30 euro transaction and no more than three times in a day. That limits fraud if your card is lost or stolen.

Thieves look for easy targets and unfortunately find many. If you make yourself a hard target, they just go to the next potential victim.