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Tales of Caution: Travellers' Stories of Pickpockets, Conmen and Scams
Other | Thursday 31st May 2012 | Osh
You're busy scuttling about a crowded train platform in Rome, hailing a taxi in Istanbul or just out on the town in Prague; when you next look at your valuables, your wallet's stolen. Money - gone. Passport - gone. We think you'll agree this is not an ideal situation to find yourself in while abroad, so take these cautionary tales from fellow travellers as lessons, so your own adventure isn't ruined.
(From Rick Steve's Europe)
Craftiness of Strangers
My husband and I arrived at Paris' Gare du Nord in the early evening and proceeded to read the map to find out how to get to our hotel via the Metro. One guy came up and advised us to buy tickets from the ticket machine. While we were at the machine trying to read the French, another guy came out and 'helped' us buy tickets. The 3-day tickets we thought we were buying were, in fact, 1-way single-use tickets. We paid him the 48 euros which was displayed on the ticket machine, but he must have cancelled that transaction and bought us the single trip ticket instead. My advice is to buy Metro tickets ONLY through the ticket counter at the Metro station (a 2-day ticket is only about 13 euros).
— Emmy Choi, Singapore
Pirates of the Tronchetto
Be careful if you are parking at the Tronchetto and want to ride the public vaporetto boat into Venice. Men surrounded us, told us where to walk and directed us to private taxi boats. They refused to allow us to go to the vaporetto dock. They raised their voices at us, insisted that we take their private taxis. I pulled out my Rick Steves book, showed them that I wanted the vaporetto, but they yelled "NO MA'AM" at me and made us walk to the taxi boats. When we got in the boat, the man asked for more money than we'd been told it would cost. When I questioned him, he yelled "GET OUT!" My husband and I and our two children (and luggage) got out of the boat.
As we walked back toward the parking garage, we found signs pointing to the vaporetto, and got there easily. We then realized that the men kept positioning us so that we could not see those signs earlier.
— Cathy, USA
Food Flight
I had just been served pizza with some friends in Paris when a women came up to our table and tried to take our food. Thinking she was a waitress, I said in French, "We are not finished, thank you." She ignored me and kept trying to take our food, when a real waitress appeared and shooed the woman out rather forcefully.
— Kat, Houston, Tex.
Shell Shocked
While visiting Sacre Coeur in Paris, a friend and I fell victim to the shell game in one of the alleys leading up to the church. Yeah, we were stupid, but our initial intention was only to watch. Of course, it all looked so easy. We lost about $70, no big deal. That $70 made me much more vigilant, so perhaps it was a cheap lesson. If you see someone playing the shell game or 3 card monty, be careful. No matter how easy it looks, only the "plants" in the crowd will win (if any native is playing then he/she is a plant).
If you want to pick out thieves in the Metro and elsewhere, simply observe who's looking at what (the thieves are the ones who are looking at what other people are carrying). On the Metro, thieves love to walk up and down the aisles until just before the doors close. They time their grab with the closing of the door, and quickly jump through as it shuts.
— Andy Ruzicho, Columbus, Ohio
I Scream, You Scram
On my last trip to Italy, two men claimed they were police and flashed IDs (quickly putting them away), then asked for my identification with the casual afterthought, 'Passport is okay.' Suspicious, I said, 'Hold up your ID so I can read it carefully'. The men looked shocked, then became abusive. I said, 'I am now going to scream at the top of my lungs for a real policeman. Would you like to wait and talk to him?' They ran away. This type of scam always takes place away from crowds and not within sight of a uniformed policeman.
Never be afraid to scream loudly for assistance. I did that once on a bus (yes, No. 64 in Roma). I scream, 'Auito, ladro!' (help, theif!) and the Italians on the bus almost killed the poor thief while shoving her off the bus.
- Charles M. Luther, Katy, Tex.
