How Paris Pickpockets Choose Their Victims

Comments · 756

• LE

  @LesFrenchiesTravel · 3 weeks ago · pinned

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• DJ

  @djm58sk · 3 weeks ago

  As a frequent solo traveller in my 70s, my number 1 rule is: always look like you know where you&apos;re going, even when you don&apos;t.

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• SO

  @sooliangchua6477 · 2 weeks ago

  I would have a large open tote bag with mouse traps inside

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• IS

  @isashax · 3 weeks ago

  Phones and wallets on the back pocket? What are those people thinking?

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• YU

  @yuckyool · 2 weeks ago

  God forbid they actually arrest and detain the known perpetrators who account for 85% of these crimes.

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• LE

  @Lemonspeppasteppa · 3 weeks ago

  One tip that wasn&apos;t mentioned... Don&apos;t assume that all pickpockets are men. Alot of pickpockets are young women.

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• MI

  @MikeYQR-k8r · 3 weeks ago

  I witnessed a pickpocket in action at a Paris market. I couldn&apos;t believe how quickly it took place! Someone (an accomplice) bumped into the victim from the front, as if he wasn&apos;t watching where he was going, while the accomplice immediately had pulled the victim&apos;s wallet out of his back pocket and disappeared into the crowd. The victim didn&apos;t even know the theft had taken place. For a high school kid, it was shocking, yet at the same time an incredible lesson. Thank you both for the additional advice 👍

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• ME

  @Medlr8 · 3 weeks ago (edited)

  Pickpockets don’t always look like typical bad people stereotype.<br><br>Two times I’ve seen pickpockets in the metro in Paris, the thieves were children! The first one was four 11-13 year old girls surrounding a woman. The three in the front were on their phones pretending to be distracted. As soon as the doors opened, they pinched the woman together while the fourth grabbed her wallet from a tote bag that had no zipper. As soon as she ran out with the wallet, the other three girls stopped compressing this woman together and ran out before the door closed. <br><br>The second time was three teenage girls. The door opened and two girls turned around and began pretending they’re walking backwards while pushing another woman with a handbag. The third girl rips it out of her hand and was running out, but a man grabbed her and returned the purse to the lady as he was walking out of the train with this girl crying her eyes out in his grasp. People were clapping for the man.

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• RO

  @robinrothstein · 2 weeks ago

  I was just in Paris. I’ve been MANY times. Never pickpocketed. I’m also a New Yorker so I may be better prepared than most. Still, I take precautions I don’t in NYC. That includes putting my phone AWAY in my secure handbag, which I keep in front of me. I also wear a watch, which I otherwise don’t ever do at home, so I can see the time without having to refer to my phone. Reduces the phone-snatching odds. I’m also quite confident of where I’m going BEFORE getting on the train by checking the direction I’m heading beforehand. Lastly, I’m a people-watcher by nature on the NYC subway and I enjoy people-watching in Paris, which is not only fascinating, but also keeps me alert to my surroundings.

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• NA

  @nathaliemalenfant427 · 2 weeks ago

  Please never leave anything of value in a hotel room safe. They are anything but safe as staff have the ability to open them at anytime ( how do you think they reset them). Have a few paper copies of your passport to hand at the front desk….never let anyone take your passport EVER.<br>There are so many ways/ items to carry your passport and money discreetly. Some cash can be carried on you but keep it in different locations.<br>I agree with the back to the wall. <br>Never walk like a victim. Walk with purpose even though you are lost for a moment. Take yourself out of the situation and regroup somewhere else.<br>Planning is the key. <br>I love this application approach.

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• GR

  @granvillesellars7491 · 3 weeks ago

  Often thought about carrying a spare bag with just a rat trap inside.

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• AI

  @AikoSnoops · 3 weeks ago

  American married to a Parisian guy, here. Wear a front-facing bag, resistant to cutting or easy open zipper opening. There are bags with extra clipping which are hard to unlock. Get that. <br>I also watch &amp; warn other people when I see a sketchy group. <br>They’re often groups of young women, both inside &amp; outside of metro.

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