Travel is beautiful because of what you get to experience during your journey. However, your trip might not always go well. Occasionally it could be as terrible as you couldn't even imagine. Encountering pocket pickers is kind of very common while travelling since tourists are usually not familiar with the surroundings unlike any other locals. Today we are going to share 6 stories behind our trips to various cities in Europe and tips on how to avoid getting pickpocketed.
Berlin - Asking us to Sign Something or Do a Questionnaire
This sounds perfectly right unless you are not cautious enough. They do not actually pick things from your pockets; they will ask you for money when you stopped and signed up for a vote, or any agreements that are in a language that you might not even understand. They usually tell you that you agreed to donate a huge amount of money after you signed. And a number of people will suddenly come over and block your way until you actually paid. That's horrible, right?
Tip #1: Do not sign anything strange!
Lisbon - Following us and Open our Backpack
That's probably the most common pickpocket way everyone would have experienced in their life before. We had been followed by a bunch of people and they attempted to open our backpack bit by bit. A police officer chased us up and told us that someone were trying to steal things from our backpack; we started to panic and checking our backpack but we were fortunate not to lose anything! Thanks goodness!
Tip #2: Carry your backpack in front so you can keep your eyes on it!
London - Walking Next to us and Open our Handbag
Here's another similar story from London: a couple walked so close to us and made us realised that they were trying to open our handbag. We were walking along the River Thames near London Eye; it was very crowded so at the beginning we didn't find them strange until we realised and even caught them redhanded. They actually tried to pretend that we dropped our stuff and they were just being helpful to return our wallets to us.
Tip #3: Don't be afraid to stop the pocket-pickers. Sometimes they even feel scarier than you do.
Madrid - Falling on us and Trying to Take our Handbags
A few teenagers followed us in a shopping mall and they started to grab our stuff from our handbags while we were walking down the stairs. We didn't realise at the first place until they were acting very strange and kept falling on us. They failed and escaped at the end because one of us screamed out loud very hard to scare them away. We did that simply because there was a huge mirror and we saw them taking stuff from our bags from the reflection.
Tip #4: Scream out loud as hard as you can and try not to go to somewhere quiet.
Paris - Putting a Bracelet on us and Asking for Money
There are many reasons that people can "ask" for your money in an odd way. Those people who we had found in Paris city centre would put a bracelet on you and give you a "Pay Me" gesture until you finally paid them. They never speak a word as they pretend to be a deaf mute. Just say no to them if you do not want it. Once they gave you one, you won't be able to leave easily.
Tip #5: Always say no to things that are given by strangers.
Saint Petersburg - Taking Selfie with You and Asking for Money
If you see a cartoon character performer out on the street, they might ask you to take a picture with/of them, and this could lead you to a big trouble. We found a "reindeer" in front of a shop and he were friendly to us. After we have talked for a minute, he asked if he could take a picture with us on our phone. At the end he showed us a menu asking for unreasonable price of "shooting fee". The reindeer chased us for a few block until we found a police station. It was super scary.
Tip #6: Never talk to strangers, especially when they are in a character suit.