Bob Arno Bio
Professor of Pickpocketry

Time magazine called him “the world’s foremost expert on the techniques of first-rank ‘wires,’” the slang term for pickpockets. Ongoing research and first-hand observation of real street crime has made Bob Arno an authority most consulted by police, security experts, and film producers. He is co-author (with his wife, Bambi Vincent) of the book Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams.

Bob is a leading international provider of theft risk management solutions for the business and leisure sectors. He is an internationally recognized street-crime and diversion-theft authority specializing in a pervasive, yet little-understood subculture that has created a multi-billion-dollar industry. As an expert on body language and con games, Bob narrates his footage with insight and authority. His documentaries reveal amazingly devious con games and brazen thefts.

For the past 20 years, Bob has been “in the field,” tracking and filming real street thieves in action in the world’s top travel destinations. His goal was to bring new material to his presentations, adapted from the latest MOs of the street thieves themselves. His interviews and interrogations of countless criminals have given him a backdoor perspective on the mindset of this underclass. His unique footage of candid conversations and crime-in-action is incorporated into his presentations, shared with police and security forces around the world, and made into documentaries.

Bob’s career has moved from nightclubs to casino showrooms to theaters to industrial entertainment, and spans 30 years of success on five continents. He currently specializes in multinational corporate events, where audiences arrive with vastly varied experience and expectation. Multilingual and highly visual, his physical funny-business and audience participation break all language barriers.

He is a frequent presenter at Tourism Safety and Security Conferences and pre-Super Bowl seminars for law enforcement and security professionals. With exclusive video, live demonstrations, and well-appreciated humor, Bob offers a global perspective on diversion theft techniques and the latest international trends.

Bob Arno is a speaker, entertainer, author, and special lecturer to law enforcement agencies. He has been profiled or quoted on NPR, CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews, ABC’s 20/20, The Travel Channel, The Learning Channel, Discovery, Court TV, in The New York Times, USA Today, Fortune, Kiplinger’s, National Geographic Traveler, Law and Order, and others. He has lectured for the Police Departments of Chicago, San Diego, Houston, Las Vegas, Detroit, Honolulu, Anaheim, and many abroad; for Tourism Safety & Security Conferences around the country, and many others; for Kroll & Associates, RSA Security Conference, and more. He taught an accredited course at the Connecticut State Police Training Academy. With his wife, Bambi Vincent, he is co-author of the book Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams.