This is a great article on the dangers of pickpockets. It gives good advice and has a series of photographs that shows just how quickly a pickpocket can strike. According to the Justice Department, in 2001, there were over 158,000 victims in the US that lost $45 million to pickpockets. Don’t let this ruin your vacation.
Many pickpockets are tied into Identity Theft scams, so not only do they take your cash and credit cards, they take your good name and your credit and take it for a ride. And if you are on vacation while this is happening, the damage may be far greater when you get back home. Go to the “More” section and check out how to protect yourself from pickpockets.
06/17/2003
USA TODAY
By Edward Iwata,
Pickpockets may have eye on you
Easy pickings
Detective Cedric Mitchell of the Metro Transit Police Department in Washington, D.C., demonstrates how easy it is to swipe the wallet from the purse of model Ester-Leigh Rawson on a Union Station platform.
Beware, all travelers and shoppers. If you're carrying cash or credit cards, roving bands of pickpockets may be casing you now — whether you realize it or not.
"Picking pockets is one of the oldest crimes in the books," says Detective Cedric Mitchell of the Metro Transit Police Department in Washington, D.C. "It goes on every day, everywhere."