Subject: Cautionary tale: Paris pickpockets

From: Dave Crocker <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 00:57:02 -0700

Folks,

There is quite a bit of publicity about pickpockets around Paris generally, 
and especially in Metro stations.  In the Versailles chateau, they make 
regular public-address announcements about it.

A little over a month ago I stayed at a hotel near the IETF venue.  After a 
thoroughly delightful Saturday sightseeing, I was entirely relaxed as I 
arrived at the Metro next to the Palais des Congres, ready to depart early the 
next morning.

I almost realized what they were doing, before they finished, but I simply was 
not in the right frame of mind.  A two-man team took me through a pretty good 
two-phase sequence (distract me to get the wallet; then distract me while the 
wallet gets away).

The experience was rather close and physical and not nearly as mystical or 
detached as fantasies about smooth pickpockets tends to be.  If I had been 
thinking I was in a high-crime area, my mental state would have caused me to 
see what was happening, soon enough to abort it.

On the web, there are jillions of pages that advise how to prevent or detect 
pickpockets.  They almost all use exactly the same text.  Most of it is pretty 
ineffective, from what I can tell.  For example, they say to carry your wallet 
in your front pants pocket.  I did.  It only slowed them down slightly.

The single most important rule does seem to be about state of mind, coupled 
with the realization that *anyone* who is touching you in any way that you did 
not explicitly request needs to be treated with immediate suspicion.

The other rule is to minimize the loss.  Obviously that means you should carry 
as little as you can.  The other gimmick is to spread things around so that 
the loss of any one bit of stuff will have reduced impact.  For example, 
luckily I had a second set of credit cards in a different pocket.  On 
reflection, I'd suggest having a third set back in the hotel, lest your entire 
person gets cleaned out.

A hidden cache, around your waste but inside the pants, is a good place to 
carry tidbits like your passport.  Carry a copy of the major passport pages 
for easy access and another set back in the hotel room.

-- 
 
   d/

  Dave Crocker
  Brandenburg InternetWorking
  +1.408.246.8253
  dcrocker  a t ...
  WE'VE MOVED to:  www.bbiw.net

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From: "JFC (Jefsey) Morfin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 13:38:38 +0200

At 09:57 24/07/2005, Dave Crocker wrote:
>carry tidbits like your passport.  Carry a copy of the major passport 
>pages for easy access and another set back in the hotel room.

When you purchase pants always ask for an internal back pocket to be 
added.You do not need it to be fancy. Put flat stuff there (passport, 
survival and plastic money). Keep a "false/plastic wallet" as a deception 
in you regular pocket, so they do not think searching further. Dave 
experimented it in Paris, I learned it in NY. The advise is good the world 
over.
jfc

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From: Aaron Falk <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:11:51 +0200

--On July 24, 2005 12:57:02 AM -0700 Dave Crocker <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
> There is quite a bit of publicity about pickpockets around Paris
> generally, and especially in Metro stations.  In the Versailles chateau,
> they make regular public-address announcements about it.

Indeed.  Yesterday my wife's purse was picked, at the Eiffel Tower train 
station, lightening our load of cash and several credit cards.

--aaron

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From: "Steven M. Bellovin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:43:46 -0400

>station, lightening our load of cash and several credit cards.

And my wife's purse was stolen while she dined at an outdoor restaurant 
about a block from the hotel.  We spent a lovely two hours at the 17th 
Arrodissement police station filing a report....

		--Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb