Paris pickpockets – kids you wouldn’t suspect
“No, no, I won’t steal from you,” the little boy says. “You’re my brother! Family! Family!” He touches his heart, repeating “family, family.” He…
Read MoreLearn how pickpockets steal. See what they look like. Never become a victim. Start with the PICKPOCKETS! link above. Read up before you travel, not after you become a pickpocket's victim or a con artist's fool. Turn your travel concerns into travel confidence, then hit the road and have the last laugh on the thieves!
“No, no, I won’t steal from you,” the little boy says. “You’re my brother! Family! Family!” He touches his heart, repeating “family, family.” He…
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Pickpocketing in Paris is out of control. Or rather, the pickpockets in Paris are in control. The police arrest them regularly then see the…
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Sometimes an exhausted traveler just has to give in and conk out. You can intend to be productive. You can try to be productive….
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Four Seasons wake-up call: great morning! I recently had the great fortune to stay in the Four Seasons Hotel in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district. The…
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Bob Arno writes about his brother. Bambi interrupts. Over the years I have written about my mentors, my old friends who have had a…
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“Torture has become such an integral part of policing in Nigeria that many stations have an informal torture officer, Amnesty International says. “Both the…
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Pickpockets are free to steal as usual on London’s Tube and trains, but they’ve lost their biggest buyers of smartphones. British Transport Police nabbed…
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I recently wrote about beggars on the streets of Stockholm. I observed that an abundance of beggars are now stationed in the streets, and…
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The pickpocket pair was plain as day to us. And we were just as obvious to them: tourists—by definition, filthy rich and fair game….
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In Stockholm, it’s that time of year. Fresh, delicious, Swedish potatoes. Get them in the neighborhood grocery stores, dirt and all. I’ve never seen…
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Window magic at Hotel Luna Baglioni I was happy to discover that all three windows opened in my beautiful room at Hotel Luna Baglioni….
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So, we’re standing at a bar near the train station, drinking espresso with pickpockets in Naples (how we got here is described in Part…
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Thiefhunters in Paradise, the research and education repository of Bob Arno and Bambi Vincent, is about pickpockets, thieves, scammers, gangsters, con artists, and travel. Learn how to avoid becoming a victim of thieves.
Pickpockets and property theft are the travel industry’s dirty little secret. Understandably, no one wants to talk about them. Not the travel magazines with advertisers to placate, not the boards of tourism with countries to promote, not travel agencies or packagers with clients to enthuse, or cruise lines with a carefree ambiance to emphasize. And why should they? It’s just a petty crime.
Who is to reveal the status quo but a stage-stealing Swede and his fancy accessory?
Because it represents our passion, as well as an integral part of our career, we’ll continue to skulk underground and pound the pavement. Sometimes though, on sweltering trains so crowded I’m pressed like a daisy in a dictionary, I’ll question our endeavors and the gritty reality of mingling with outlaws. Then we’ll catch a thief. We’ll capture a slick steal on video, which will later be used to illustrate our presentations to the public and help train police departments. We’ll discover some new artifice, an old trick twisted to exploit the moment. And that is our reward.