The travel industry’s dirty little secret

travel industry’s dirty little secret
travel industry’s dirty little secret
Bambi squashed on a train

Bob and I contend that the crimes of street thieves, so often dubbed “petty,” are not that at all. First, tally the sheer number of them, particularly in favorite tourist cities: hundreds of incidents per day are reported to police. How many go unreported? Our research indicates that numbers are two or three times greater. Secondly, consider the personal and practical impact on victims. The monetary loss, the complications of replacing documents, the fear of further repercussions such as replication of identity, all these add up to an experience that isn’t soon forgotten. Add to that the indirect costs and hours required by law enforcement, not to mention diverting officers from more serious work, plus costs involved in prosecuting and jailing these so-called petty thieves.

The travel industry’s dirty little secret

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 tape, 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 will be our satisfaction.

Clever Travel Companions men's pickpocket-proof underwear; The travel industry's dirty little secret
Photo: clevertravelcompanion.com

As you’ll learn in our book, serious reductions in these crimes will not be due to law enforcement, no disrespect to them. It will be through travelers’ smarter stashing and raised awareness. Personal security is an art, not a science. Once you know the risks, you can adjust your awareness and the level of your security precautions. Thus prepared, you’ll turn your travel concerns into travel confidence.

Excerpt from Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams
Preface

© Copyright 2008-present Bambi Vincent. All rights reserved.

Stalking a moving target

Bob Arno films thieves, pickpockets, con artists.

Preface, part-a, Travel Advisory

Bob Arno films thieves, pickpockets, con artists.
Bob Arno films thieves, pickpockets, con artists.

If Bob’s and my first priority is putting pickpockets and con artists out of business, our second is to encourage international travel. Nothing would disappoint us more than to learn that we discouraged a potential traveler’s journey. Travel opens the mind and broadens the perspective. It’s the ultimate supplement to education. Plus, it’s fun.

This book is the culmination of ten years of intensive research in the streets of the world. Our hunt has taken us through more than 80 countries on six continents, to countless islands, and through the grit and glamour of cities from Cairo to Copenhagen, from Mombasa to Mumbai. In the places people love to visit most, distract theft, con games, credit card scams, and identity theft are rampant.

Bob and I are stalking a moving target. We haunt the public frontiers where tourist and street thief collide ever so lightly, ever so frequently. We don’t go off searching among the dim, deserted corners of a city; we merely join in the tourist parade, visit the guidebook highlights, and lurk where the crowds are. There, hovering near the tourist buck, waiting for or making opportunity, can be found the thieves, swindlers, and con artists. And, very close, anonymous as sightseers in a tour group, we stand, cameras aimed.

Kharem the day we first found him in 2001.After we observe a thief in action, we usually try to interview him (or her, of course). Because Bob speaks many languages, because he has “grift sense,” that undefinable faculty for the con, and because he can absolutely prove himself to be a colleague, the thieves talk. Some remain reticent, but most seem to enjoy our chats. Some refuse to speak on camera, others don’t mind at all. Kharem, a thief we found at work several times over the course of a year, is one who spoke openly with us, demonstrated his techniques on video, and arrived promptly for a meeting scheduled a week in advance. When we finished our third interview with him, Kharem had a surprise suggestion for us.

“Now I will steal and you can film me. I want to be the star of your movie,” he offered.

“That’s impossible, Kharem. We work on stage, not on the street. We cannot be part of real stealing. We cannot be with you knowing that you’ll steal.”

“I think he smells a big payment,” our interpreter, Ana, said in English to us.

“We can split three ways,” Kharem said, dispelling that theory.

“It would be great footage…” Bob mused. “But we can’t. No way.”

I agreed.

“What if he gives it back?” Ana tried.

“I don’t think he’d understand that concept.”

“He’s going to steal anyway,” Ana said. “If not now, later. Whether you’re watching or not.” She was well aware of the crime statistics in her city.

“No. We’d be accessories. We’re treading morally murky water as it is. We have to draw a line and this is definitely it.”

Excerpt from Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams
Preface (part-a): High and Dry on the Streets of Elsewhere