safe – Pickpocket Bob Arno

What’s the safest place to carry money?

The question we’re most asked is… where should I carry my valuables? What’s the safest place to carry money?

And the ambiguous answer is… it depends on who you are and where you’re going.

First analyze yourself. Are you a worrier? Overconfident? Carefree? Forgetful? Only you can choose the level of security for you. Will you be trekking in the highlands of Peru? Walking with elephants in East Africa? Or going to museums and the opera in London? What’s the tone of your trip, elegant? grungy? in between? What’s the weather? Summer clothes, especially women’s, have fewer pockets and far less security. No one is likely to get into the pockets of your jeans if you have a heavy coat over them.

Safest place to carry money

We say keep your wallet in your tightest pocket, but in many situations that isn’t enough. A wallet in a visible pocket is an invitation. Awareness helps. But maybe you don’t need to carry a wallet. Slim down your necessities, if you can.

Excellent products are readily available for the safekeeping of your stuff. Under-shirt pouches are pretty good, but they can usually be detected and demanded in a mugging. For all but the most dangerous streets, they’re a good option. Better yet is the type of pouch that hangs inside the pants, attached to your belt by a loop. These come in a full range of materials, from nylon to cotton to leather. We love these.

Another kind of pouch fastens around your waist and is worn beneath your clothes. These come in infinite styles, sizes, and varieties and are excellent for men and women. It’s a little more difficult to get to your money or credit card when you need it, but what’s a little effort? Sometimes these are referred to as moneybelts, but they’re not. A moneybelt is a regular leather belt worn outside trousers; it has a zippered compartment on the inside. You can fold in a few large bills or travelers checks, but it won’t hold much.

What about the ubiquitous fanny pack, aka waist pouch, aka bumbag? Well, it’s good and it’s bad. On one hand, all your goodies are right in front, on your body, in sight. On the other hand, the fanny pack shouts out “here’s my stuff!” For the most part, Bob and I recommend them for security, if you don’t mind the fashion statement they make. We have never seen, and rarely heard of their straps being cut. However: in many locales pickpockets are extremely adept at opening fanny packs and stealing their contents quick as lightning, while you’re wearing it. I recommend a simple preventative: fasten the zipper with a safety pin or with a paperclip and rubber band. Anything to frustrate wandering fingers. For the fanatic, fanny packs can be found that incorporate numerous safety features, including steel cable through the strap, a concealed buckle, a hidden key clip, and built-in zipper locks.

Several companies make clothes for travelers with zippered, Velcroed, and hidden pockets. I haven’t seen a look that I like much, but these are an option if you care for the somewhat dowdy styles on offer.

Pickpocket proof clothes: Clever Travel Companion's black tank; safest place to carry money — Clever Travel Companion’s black tank

pickpocket proof clothes; safest place to carry money — Stashitware men’s pocket undies.

Lastly, there’s a growing variety of pickpocket-proof underwear. The Clever Travel Companion makes a nice collection of briefs for men and women and zip-pocket tank tops. Stashitware makes several styles of underpants for men and women that have a huge central pocket I find most comfortable and useful. (And you have to love a company with the balls to use “shit” in its name.)

No solution is perfect. None is invincible. But if you carry only what you need, and secure those things wisely, you’ll avoid anxiety and better enjoy your travels. So dress down, stow your stuff, raise your antennas, swallow three spoonfuls of skepticism, and have a great journey.

Read Pocketology 101
Read Purseology 101

Adapted from Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams
Chapter Five: Introducing…The Opportunist

Hotel Front Desk Safe Theft

Hotel front desk safe

Natalie is a tour sales manager for one of the major cruise lines. She’s an experienced world traveler and accustomed to advising others on travel dos and don’ts. She and a girlfriend, both Australian, took a trip to Bali, Indonesia. A wide range of hotel options exists there, from luxury six-star resorts to shacks on the beach that rent for two dollars a night. Natalie and Linda booked a “decent” hotel; one with a lobby, private bathroom, rooms that lock, and a sense of organization. In America and Europe, it would fall into the three-star range.

At check-in, the two women were each given a manila envelope in which to put their valuables. They sealed and signed the envelopes themselves and gave them to the reception clerk, who put them in the hotel front desk safe.

Admittedly, they had a splendid holiday on the exotic isle, carefree and uneventful.

At check-out, the two were given their envelopes and they turned to get a taxi. But as they were leaving, they overheard another guest complaining at the front desk. Cash was missing from her envelope.

Natalie and Linda tore into their envelopes and also found cash to be missing. Yet, their envelopes did not appear to be tampered with in any way. The hotel denied any responsibility and, after a brief argument, Natalie and her friend chose to leave in order not to miss their flight home. Later, Natalie wrote to the hotel, but never received a reply. She didn’t take the issue any further.

Did the hotel make a system of this nasty theft? If so, it’s particularly underhanded with its intentional implication of security. As in the “pigeon drop” scam, the villain suggests and the victim voluntarily complies with the transference of valuables to the bad guy. A con if ever there were one.

The timing, too, is strategic. Most guests, like Natalie and Linda, will have a plane to catch. They’ll often plan to fight the matter later, but rarely follow through.

So how was the envelope opened? Could it have been a magician’s trick?

In my former career as a graphic designer, I occasionally used wax to fix a graphic element to a page. Rarely, because most page design was completely electronic. The wax I used was in stick form. It looked and acted exactly like a glue stick, except that it never dried.

If hotel guests were handed a wax stick with which to seal their envelopes (I don’t know that they were), they’d likely never realize the temporary condition of the closure. A duplicitous staff member could later open a supposedly sealed envelope, then glue it shut properly. Who’d know? Who’d even notice?

Alternatively, the bottom flap of the envelope could have been lightly glued, then later opened and resealed.

There are just too many people in this world who cannot be trusted, and it’s best to avoid the necessity at all, if possible. Then what to do?

Travel with hard-sided luggage and use your largest as your safe. True, the entire suitcase can be stolen, but we feel that would be highly unlikely in most situations, while a small tempting object might, on occasion, “get legs.”

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

Chapter Four: Hotels—Have a Nice Stay

hotel safe scam Travel Advisory

Publicly accusing hotels of theft

Before a lengthy stay in a certain hotel in Italy this summer, I searched for reviews of it online. Among the raves on TripAdvisor, I found one review that loudly accused the hotel staff of stealing cash from a room safe. Not only that, the writer asserted that he had discovered that other rooms on the same floor had been targeted in the past.

Hotel management immediately addressed the allegation online but, not being fluent in English, did little to ameliorate the hotel’s reputation. The damage had been done, and the accusation remains online for potential visitors to consider.

“Hoteliers Look to Shield Themselves From Dishonest Online Reviews,” wrote The New York Times on October 25.

Although TripAdvisor does allow property owners to post responses to reviews, some hoteliers want the site to monitor comments more actively and take action when managers express concerns, especially when reviews border on libel.
…
Chris Emmins, a founder of KwikChex, a British reputation management company [is] seeking to organize a lawsuit against TripAdvisor on behalf of its clients.

Mr. Emmins said more than 800 businesses had inquired about participating in the case, but he expected only a few dozen would meet the criteria the company hoped to test, including the legality of reviews that accuse hotel staff of theft, assault or discrimination.

“I don’t think they belong on a review site,” he said. “They’re allegations of criminality.”

Before visiting the Italian hotel, I hatched a plan to booby trap the room safe, just to see if it was opened during our stay. You know—research. Upon arrival though, I gave up the idea. The place had nothing of a dodgy feel. If a safe theft had happened there, I’m convinced that it was an anomaly. During high season, many hotels take on extra short-term help, and some may be lax with background checks. But the question remains: was there really a theft at all?

Example: Back in March, Bob and I were in the lobby of our hotel in Mumbai when a guest strode up to the reception desk and accused hotel staff of stealing her iPod from a tote bag in her room.

“Wait a minute,” Bob butted in, and began grilling her. When had she last seen the iPod? Where had her bag been? Had it been zipped? in the control of others? accessible on the plane? handled by a taxi driver? By the time he was finished, the woman realized there had been many earlier opportunities for the theft and apologized to the hotel manager. Had she made her accusation online, the blot would remain, hurting the hotel, true or not, indefinitely.

Because we give presentations on theft, people constantly tell us their experiences as victims. It often seems to us that there’s quite a bit of conclusion-jumping. A few direct questions, as above, spur the victims to rethink the circumstances surrounding the disappearances of their valuables and reconsider where the blame should lay.

hotel safe theft

Hotel room safe thefts

How safe is the safe in your hotel room? Not safe at all, it turns out, unless you factor in the odds. Odds are, your safe won’t be broken into. But the fact is, the crackin’s easy. Of course it is—hotels must be able to rescue valuables from faulty memories (forgotten codes, departed guests who forgot to empty their safes), lost keys, dead batteries, and power outages.

Hotel management and/or security can always access room safes. But how? Depends on the kind of safe. Does it open with a metal key? By swiping a magnetic card, or punching in a code? Does it use a plastic key card with a pattern of holes punched in it?

Is the safe safe?

Bob and I have long endorsed the use of safes in hotel rooms, as long as they are electronic. We’ve shied away from metal- and plastic-key safes, concerned about how many copies float around. But there are other ways to enter safes, and an untold number of people who have access, authorized or otherwise.

A deluge of thefts from hotel room safes in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, led to an investigative report by Burkhard Kress for Extra, a news show on German RTL TV (unfortunately not online).

Kress booked a room there and mounted a hidden camera, then called hotel management for help opening his safe. The hidden camera footage captured the code that management punched into the safe’s keypad, which ended with the room number. With the permission of the guest in the room next to his, Kress tried the same code appended with the other room number. The neighbor’s safe opened. Anyone with the master code could open every safe in the hotel.

And anyone with a hidden camera could capture the master code.

Kress had his cameraman stake out a different room for a week, waiting for a safe break-in. Alas, he was never hit. Eventually, Kress found out why. The thefts occur in rooms booked by two or more friends staying together. When a theft is reported, front desk staff insist the theft was committed by one of the “friends.”

Guests are required to pay a fee for the use of the safe. This, along with the fact that the only rooms hit are booked by two or more friends, leads me to suspect that these safe thefts are inside jobs. Who but front desk staff know both those facts? Of course the thieves might also be former employees, or individuals in cahoots with an employee.

According to Eric Fischer, a tour leader interviewed by Kress, these thefts have been going on for years at this and other hotels in Palma. He’s kept a log of them. He himself had â‚¬14,500 stolen from the safe in his room. When the Spanish police investigated the theft without much interest, Fischer suggested that they take fingerprints. “The police responded no,” he said, “you must be watching too much German TV—we don’t do that.”

What about those plastic key cards with a pattern of holes punched in them? They can be copied onto cardboard by anyone with a pencil and a hole punch. Safes that open with a keypad or your own magnetic card (credit card, grocery store card, or anything swipeable) often have a visible keyhole for a tool held by hotel management or security. Or, the safe may have an innocuous-looking panel that simply snaps off to reveal the keyhole. Whose got that key?

Bob and I have also come across safes screwed to loose shelves in closets.

In our book, we wrote:

Safe-cracks are extremely rare, although a man was recently arrested in Palma de Mallorca and charged with a spate of hotel safe robberies. Somehow, he had come into possession of a master tool which hotel security uses to open certain jammed electronic safes. (Other electronic safes can be opened by security using numerical bypass codes.) Presumably then, the man also had the tools to get into the hotel room itself. The burglar posted his female accessory at the elevator. They each had a cellphone and kept an open connection between them. When people came to the elevator, the woman would delay them for one minute. The burglar would hear the conversation, tidy up, and get out of the room.

Travel Advisory: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Scams While Traveling
Chapter Four, Hotels: Have a Nice Stay

The “international conman” captured last September social-engineered his way into guest rooms and tricked hotel staff into opening safes. Hotel management, meanwhile, walks a fine line, compromising somewhere between providing real security and reluctance to inconvenience guests.

So how does Mr. International Conman get into your safe? Or—maybe not your safe because, obviously, he’s going to target a “whale,” or some other affluent hotel guest. First, he needs to get into your room—when you’re not there. Like any good con artist, he knows that front desk staff at most hotels will ask for ID, so he’s prepared. Here’s how. First, he follows you to learn your room number. Later, he goes to the front desk and, giving your room number, asks for a printout of “his” charges to date. Bingo. He’s now got your name and address. Next job is to whip out a fake ID, right in his car in the parking lot. Sounds like a lot of trouble, doesn’t it? But look at the payout.

Halliburtons for luggage security; hotel safe theft — Our usual set of old, beat-up Halliburtons.

What should you do, then, with your million-dollar bauble? Carry the stuff and get pickpocketed or mugged? Leave it in the hotel safe for the safe-cracker to burgle? Put it in the front office safe? Often, Bob and I choose to lock our stuff into our largest hardsided (aluminum) luggage.

This is a good moment for intuition, or at least for some conscious reasoning. Bob and I stay some 200 or more nights a year in hotels and, though we don’t always use the safe, we’ve never had a problem with one. YMMV. The practical danger in using the hotel safe is remembering to empty it before you check out. When I expect a hurried or groggy, pre-dawn check-out, I scrawl a bedside note to myself.

What kind of joints do you stay in? What do you carry?

hotel safe Security social engineer spain Travel

Hotel safe theft

What would you do if you opened the safe behind the hotel manager’s desk and found your passports gone? One woman took creative action.

Mary from Michigan and her two adult children just quit their jobs and sold or stored everything. They’re taking a year to travel the world. Oh, what a plan!

After seeing our show, Mary told us about her recent visit to Laos. She and her son and daughter stored their stuff in Bangkok and took a boat down the Mekong to Laos. There, Mary put her few valuables into the hotel lobby safe: the family’s three passports bundled with $2,000 folded into an envelope, and some very large camera lenses.

When she went to retrieve her things, only the lenses remained. Mary quickly discovered that one key opened all twenty safe deposit boxes, and her interrogation of the hotel manager led her to suspect an employee (rather than a guest).

Mary channeled her fear and anger and made a plan. She and her kids fanned out among the alleys surrounding the hotel and shouted into the darkness with volume and authority. “I’ll pay $200 for the stolen passports!” Within half an hour, Mary was lightly tapped on her shoulder, the passports, still bundled, proffered.

And Mary paid up. She told me that people think she was crazy to pay, but she’d promised. The thieves hadn’t discovered the $2,000.