Really need to worry that much about pickpockets on the Metro??

Greg

As with any other big city you need to be careful but I travel on the metro really frequently and have never had any trouble.

Don't worry overmuch.

Cheers
Alan

Thanks, Alan. We'll just be our normal careful selves, then.

In general, the more crowded the Metro is the more vigilant you should be. If you're not seated and if you're carrying a daypack don't sling it over your shoulder behind you. Keep it in front of you.

Greg, nobody ever said Strong-Arm. Where did you get that?? Strong-arm is where guys in Italian cities on motorbikes whizz by & grab your shoulder bag. No confrontations, only distractions. What is reported -- almost entirely on the Piraeus Metro -- are skillful practitioners (many locals say its a ring of illegal immigrants but hard to prove it). When the train is CROWDED, they look for US newcomers who are struggling with luggage, gazing around and chattering, people who never take public transit at home, and are unused to standing in crowds. Then, one of the "gang" creates a distraction (falling down, bumping into you) and in the hubbub, whoops! AND the most- often reported incidents (sad to say) involve men, who insist that their pocket has velcro and nobody could touch it without them realizing it (wrong!). So, velcro is not a "precaution." If you keep papers/cash in a money belt or neck pouch, and cameras in a zipped day bag in FRONT of you, you'll be fine. I've taken that Metro dozens of times no incident ever, but I demonstrate awareness. So.... don't forgo the convenience of the fast & cheap Metro, just be sensibly prudent.

Thanks for the update, Janet. We are typically very alert on public transportation. The only reason I mentioned it was I had a couple reports (maybe by formerly lacadaisical travelers) about some bullying while locals nearby just watched. I don't think I would look like a good target, but you never know. Thanks again for your response.

Greg,

Thanks for posting! I'll be heading for Greece this year also (provided the flights are operating by mid-May), and was interested to hear about the "strong-arming".

I imagine conditions will be the same as the Metro systems in Rome, Paris or other large cities. If you're wearing a Money Belt and are vigilant, hopefully you won't have any problems.

Cheers!

Took the metro - had luggge - had no problems. With the usual sensible precautions, you'll be fine.

They can be slippery. A couple we know boarded the Metro in Rome and since no seats were available stood hanging on a pole. Well dressed “gentleman” offered his seat. She accepted, and watched “gentleman” stand in her place next to her husband. With a smile she watched him slide his hand into hubby’s pant pocket, frown and move to other side of hubby and try again. Same frown. She knew both pockets were zippered shut halfway into the pocket and there was nothing there. At their stop he claimed he never felt a thing. On another Metro she felt a tug on her purse and reacted with a counter tug. Arrived at the hotel to find it had been slit open, wallet removed and currency and cards removed, wallet replaced empty.

This is for you guys out there...if it applies to the women all the better: if you carry your wallet in your front pocket, wrap it around some rubber bands, at least 2 around the length and 2-3 around its width and hopefully your pant's pockets are deep. But with the rubber bands wrapped around the wallet, they can't pick pocket you without arousing your attention. The friction caused by rubber bands against your pocket lining is the inhibiting factor.
Do this when you're on the Metro and especially in crowds. It works for me...so far.

All it means is that no one has tried for Fred. The rubber band is big myth. Within the last six months someone on this site posted that they lost their front pocket billfold, rubber and all, and in tight jeans. A good friends of our boasted that the rubber worked -- and it did for four trips -- lost everything, including the rubber band. A rubber band may add a small, additional margin of security, but not enough to rely on.

Frank, I hear you. Ever seen the older classic movie called "Harry in Your Pocket" with James Coburn? It's an education in itself. As I understand from some European friends from the "old country", there are still this type of school teaching the art in existence.

Admittedly, I have not been to places where the odds of being pick pocketed are a lot greater, such as Romania, Greece, Italy, Spain; Prague was visited in the Cold Wars days. The rubber band tactic is just additional extra security, if it's not guarantee. I got that idea from a travel book...the author was pointing out anti-pick pocketing measures one could take.

Now, after 15 trips since 1971 ranging from 3 to 12 weeks, I believe I have developed a feel for what is a potentially pick pocketing situation but some more than others. Generally, in Germany I sense I don't need a money belt on and rarely do have it...you develope a sense for it, and as an experienced traveler you had better. No need to wear one when I'm walking in towns/cities like Munich, Berlin, Aachen, Kiel, Hamburg, Hamm, Cologne, Bonn, Dortmund, Potsdam, Stuttgart, Eutin, Marburg, even Frankfurt, though much improved since the mid-1970s, Dresden, Bremen, Hanau, Soest, etc.

Some people as tourists are never approached/accosted, others are. My old waist belt was unzipped in the Paris Metro once in the 2001 trip, nothing was taken because all the culprit saw were plastic 35mm film containers. (I don't use a digital camera) But what's in those containers???

As I said before -- the vast majority of people reporting being victimized are men, who seemingly insist that they are smarter than pickpockets, and maintain their divine right to keep their (rubber-banded) billfolds in their pants pockets. If manly men really want to, then they should not complain at what happens.

As for the woman whose daybag was cut into -- that was in Rome. I have never heard of that trick in Athens ... and in fact, no report of any woman losing stuff when she uses a daybag worn in front, with shoulderstrap (I wear mine crosswise).

One of the oldest tricks is to use a razor blade to slice through the outer denim pocket and let the contents fall out naturally. Person wearing the jeans, jacket, purse will not feel the slice at all. Same thing would apply to bags.

Fortunately I have only heard of this tactic being used in States and not in Europe.

Edwin

Edwin, let's just allow this thread to end. Newbies are anxiety-ridden enough! Why add on descriptions of techniques that do not apply here. All that matters is to use common sense, be aware of your surroundings, remember u are on mass transit (a shocking change for most Americans), and you'll be fine.

BTW -- a word of advice about the Green Line... right now (May) it's undergoing renovation station by station, so it's not the speedy transport it usually is. It goes ONE stop from Piraeus, then people must get out & board a shuttle bus to go around the closed station, then get back on a train to reach Monastiraki Station. Therefore, if a group can find a taxi AND insist the driver use the meter, this can be the most efficient transport for the next few weeks at least. ONe hopes this renovation will be completed by High Season (july-August)!!