How to avoid theft and pickpockets? Common pinch tricks

2023 Author: Katelyn Chandter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 13:08

Every day you go to school, work, business and entertainment. Every day, pickpockets also go out into the street to profit from other people's property, pulling it right from under your nose. How not to be left without money, phone, bank cards, jewelry and other valuable things? Common pinch tricks.

"Big thieves are always like honest people." Jules Verne

Street, transport, shops and other public places are the hunting ground for criminals. Valuables in pockets or bags can be easily stolen from a careless man in the street. The average pickpocket makes between 5 and 10 thefts per day, making money for himself. Every fourth inhabitant of the metropolis became their victim.

Pickpocketing is in third place in terms of profitability after drugs and burglaries. And pickpockets are considered the elite of the thieves' world. About 75% of pickpockets go unreported when people do not want to go to law enforcement. Often not only local tweezers are stolen, but also guest performers. They come from other areas and even countries.

How do they steal and what do crooks of all stripes come up with?

Common pickpockets or pinch tricks

• One thief pushes you to distract you while the other pulls out a wallet or phone.
• You are stained with ice cream, hot dog or coffee by a random passer-by. He apologizes, wipes you off and at the same time cleans his pockets.
• A tourist asks for help and slips a map under your nose, quietly pulling out valuables.
• A couple of seconds before the doors of the subway or bus close, the thieves grab things and run away.
• You are pushed in transport so that you turn your back or be distracted. At this moment something is stolen from you.
• A stranger tries to hug or greet you. Then he apologizes for making mistakes. But a second before that, he stole your watch, wallet and phone.
• Beggars, on the street or in a cafe, ask you for little things. While you were looking for her, they pulled your phone from the table or your wallet from your pocket.
• They give you flowers and offer you to buy. You refuse and do not notice that it was only a cover. And you've already been robbed.
• In the store, they ask you to get something from the shelf. On the street, you are asked to take a kitten from a tree or carry a bag. At this moment, you will be deprived of valuable things.
• An accidental passer-by falls or scatters his belongings. You squat, sticking out your pockets and getting distracted. Wanting to help him, you become a victim, helping to rob yourself.
• You are offered to help carry the bag. You agree, and they run away with her or pull something valuable out of her.
• After hanging your jacket on a common hanger in the cafe, another visitor searches your pockets while “looking for cigarettes” in his jacket.
• A jacket or a jacket on the back of a chair in a cafe? They will distract you with a loud phrase or a scandal, and then they will steal your things.
• Anything can be slipped under your nose to distract you. For example, a piece of cardboard with inscriptions. While you refuse, money is stolen from your pocket. They can hide behind a folder, notepad, bag and other things.
• In a cafe, you are asked to guess your weight by simply lifting you. They argue with you that they can hold out for a minute, but they lose. But at this moment you are deprived of money.
• Supporting charity on the street or collecting signatures? While you are reading or signing, your wallet is removed.
• Sticker on a post or vehicle: "Beware of pickpockets." All people instinctively touch their pockets and bags where they have valuables. Pickpockets remember, follow you and steal from there a little later.
• Is an unfamiliar beauty kissing you on the cheek or trying to hug you? At that moment, you relaxed and lost your wallet. Often this trick is used in cafes, clubs or when leaving them when you are safed.

How to avoid theft and pickpocketing?

What precautions to take to reduce the risks of being robbed? How to prevent pinchers, thieves, robbers and other criminals from profiting at your expense?

Keep your bag tight and under control

Bags, purses or backpacks are often the target of pickpockets. Hold the bag so that it is difficult to grab it from your hands and rush off in an unknown direction. Try to keep the bag close to you and keep it in sight. The bag behind the back can be easily unbuttoned or cut (with a blade, knife, sharpened coin), discreetly stealing valuables.

Be careful at the ATM

An ATM is a convenient place to rob reckless people. There you can immediately see who has withdrawn and how much money. Thieves can easily snatch money from their hands and run away. The robbers can threaten with a knife and a pistol, and then take the money. Tweezers can trace and steal money at a later date.

Be careful at the ATM, choose safe locations for withdrawing cash and avoid suspicious individuals. Do not withdraw money from untrustworthy ATMs and cover the panel with numbers with your hand when entering your PIN code. Choose ATMs in banks, not on the street, which may be equipped with readers.

Monitor your phone

An expensive phone can easily be snatched out of your hands while you carelessly stare at the screen. On the street, in dark alleys and other questionable places, keep it out of sight of strangers. The more expensive the model, the more the temptation for thieves, robbers and crooks of all stripes.

Don't shine with money

Money, especially big money, is of great interest to thieves. If they come into their field of vision, then they will try to steal them. Try to protect yourself from the scrutiny of thieves. Do not shine with big wads of money and a fat wallet in public places. Get only the right amount out of your pocket, not all the money at once.

Wear jewelry with awareness

Wearing jewelry in transport, in dark alleys and other questionable places? 99% of the time, this is a bad idea. The higher the price of the jewelry, the more likely it is to attract the attention of pickpockets. They masterly steal values from you that you won't even notice.

Avoid dubious personalities

Gypsies, persons of unknown nationality, people with criminal tattoos, dubious types and other personalities. Avoid them and be attentive to them, especially if they rub against you. Although it is almost impossible to distinguish a professional plucker or a pickpocket from an ordinary person.

Do not enter into conversations with gypsies and other similar types. Don't look them in the eye, don't settle for fortune-telling, don't listen to stories and other tricks. Gypsies and many crooks possess the technique of hypnosis. They will fool your head, and you yourself will give them all the money and jewelry.

High risks in public places

In shops, markets, cafes and transport. These places are always full of those who want to profit at someone else's expense. Pay attention to those who are pressing against you, pushing or fooling your head. Pickpockets know how to very carefully rummage through their pockets, which can easily be left without money. Be careful when exiting vehicles or other places. At such moments, a person is distracted, and pickpockets are active.

Dark time of day and hot spots

Walking late at night, you can become not only a victim of pickpockets, but also robbers and hooligans. Do not walk on deserted streets, unlit courtyards, unknown routes. Look back from time to time so as not to attack from behind. Do not react to shouts and different companies. Avoid suspicious people. Have a self-defense weapon with you.

General safety tips against tweezers and thieves

1. Close your pockets and bags, and keep your eye on it.
2. Don't put your wallet in your back pocket.
3. People with headphones and looking only at their phones are favorite victims.
4. Store your valuables in different pockets and bags.
5. Don't carry large amounts of cash.
6. Drunk people increase their chances of being robbed.
7. Do not talk about the availability of money to other people, because the closest ones often give a tip.
8. Do not trust the police, sometimes they get their share of thefts and cover the crime.

How to avoid theft and pickpockets? Be extremely vigilant and careful. This will reduce the risks of being robbed, but not to zero. Forewarned is forearmed.