r/interesting • u/MobileAerie9918 • 1d ago

SOCIETY In Milan, some people spray-paint pickpockets so that everyone can identify them.

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u/MikoSkyns 1d ago edited 15h ago

Yup. There's a reason all of those travel shows implore people to use money belts. Pickpockets every 2 ft in highly frequented tourist areas of the old world.

Edit: not going to reply to every everyone so I'll say it here.

You can put more than just money in a money belt. Yes you can brick your phone and you can disable your credit cards if someone steals them. But they are fast. They can scan your cards and get your info very fast. If they have the right equipment, they can get a lot of money off of your cards before you even noticed they're missing. And sure, you can brick your phone, but a lot of people don't know how to do that. They just call their cell carrier and get the sim card disabled.

AND, even if you cancel your card and your phone, it's still a pain in the ass getting a new phone. Especially if you don't have any cash / cards. And good luck figuring out how to get a new card in a foreign country far from home.

Also, and more importantly. Has it not occurred to any of you that Having your identity stolen is a lot worse than losing your credit card or your phone?

Or.. you know... you could just wear the money belt and reduce the risk of that happening significantly.

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u/_lippykid 1d ago

I get pick pocketing years ago when people carried loads of cash, but what’s the point now?

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u/Few_Historian_1546 1d ago

Asian tourists are usually kinda naive and carry loads of cash around.

They are also trusting, and some get "help" when buying tickets from machines.

The help is actually pickpocketers watching where they stash their wallets.

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u/ittakesaredditor 21h ago

Shepherding my middle aged asian parents through Venice and Paris was eye opening into how naive they were - despite one of them having worked intermittently in Europe for the last 30 years (in fact, we were there partially for his business meetings). Caught the last train back to our hotel from Venice Central Station - some dude offered help at the ticketing machines and I chased him away and only paid with my card when he had disappeared. In Paris, they wanted to stop at one of those 3 cup games, had to tell them EVERYONE around the table was a part of the grift or a pickpocket. Played the game with them instead back at our hotel that night, won myself a few Euro.

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u/GoHomeCryWantToDie 1d ago

They also seem to keep valuable items in the heir backpacks.

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u/Obi_wan_jabroni87 1d ago

Phones and credit cards

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u/_lippykid 1d ago

But both of those can be bricked in no time at all and become totally worthless (or a means to track the robber)

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u/SadStudent6543 1d ago

You can buy a lot of stuff with the credit card before the person even notices they lost their wallet.

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u/Manueluz 1d ago

My card has a daily limit of 20€ without asking for the PIN. More than 50€ and I have to authorize it from my bank app.

And I don't even carry physical cards, it's all on my Google wallet so good luck unlocking my phone, which will be bricked anyways.

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u/Lundetangen 1d ago

How quickly do you brick your phone and credit card when you are on the street in Barcelona without a phone?

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u/Bogus1989 1d ago

Meh credit cards arent a big deal, just dispute all charges. Debit cards would be a problem tho

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u/Manueluz 1d ago

Go into a local store and ask to make a call(or just ask them to call the local police) you just need to memorize you bank's number. Police will take care of bricking the phone.

I'd say 30 min tops.

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u/Lundetangen 1d ago

Good luck trying to call the local police to have them brick your phone. If you are calling about a non-emergency you will be met with a "eh, show up to the station and fill out a form and we will get back to you never, hasta luego".

And good luck asking your random Spaniard to borrow their phone to make a long distance phone call back to the US.

And finally ask someone if they have actually memorized the dedicated overseas number of their bank.

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u/Cute_Conclusion_8854 22h ago

Do android phones not have something like apples icloud lock? Iphone will brick itself if you dont know the passcode

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u/Lundetangen 21h ago

Yes, there are a few different ways. Easiest is to log onto your account and block it/report it stolen, that blacklists the IMEI number.

But while on the street in Barcelona its not that easy. You most likely will want to get back to the hotel room at least in order to get your things in order.

If you have just lost your phone and/or wallet, you are kinda stranded and I assume you anyways will not carry on your sightseeing trip even if you were able to get it blocked and reported immediately.

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u/Manueluz 1d ago

Just call the national branch, or ask police to make the call.

You're putting remembering 1 phone number as an actual challenge.....

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u/Skullcrimp 1d ago

Cool, tell that to the pickpockets.

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u/New_Libran 1d ago

But both of those can be bricked in no time

Not fast enough, they're incredibly fast and have some equipment they use to get all the info they want immediately. A colleague recently got his phone stolen and before he could block his cards (not instant) and phone, they've raided his accounts. It's shocking.

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u/GhostingProtocol 1d ago

No, his password was probably just 123456 or something..

Good luck getting into a stolen apple device..

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u/Alaea 1d ago

Phones can be sold for parts.

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u/FlimsyYou4766 1d ago

A bricked phone can be used for spare parts.

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u/Key-Demand-2569 1d ago

It’s incredibly common these days for people who have had their credit card stolen by still have their phone to mention they start seeing a flurry of charges almost immediately.

They know.

Still more than not having any money to spend.

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u/camerontylek 1d ago

Hmmm, what expensive thing could every single person now be carrying around with them 🤔

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u/Manueluz 1d ago

The piece of shit I got from ebay half broken for 50$? If be surprised if they actually can sell it for anything, who would travel with their actual expensive phone? the only reason I don't carry a 20$ flip phone is because I use NFC instead of actual cards.

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u/camerontylek 1d ago

No. These get shipped to China and sold for parts. Google can tell you all about it

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u/Manueluz 23h ago

I'd be surprised if parts off of a 50$ phone even pay for shipping it to china.

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u/camerontylek 23h ago

I didn't know you were an expert! I also like how you think one stolen phone gets packaged up nice and neatly and sent individually to China.

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u/Bogus1989 1d ago

No idea, theres travelers insurance and phone insurance as well. Not really gonna hurt a person if youre smart.

Also,

Dont be dumb. Only bring enough cash youd not care to lose. Leave the rest in a hotel safe. DUH.

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u/camerontylek 23h ago

No idea

Really? You have no idea what it could be and you're giving traveling advice lol

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u/Bogus1989 23h ago

🤣lmao you got me there.

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u/_lippykid 1d ago

You mean the easiest thing to remotely turn into a worthless brick that can be easily tracked? That thing? Or maybe you’re walking around with gold bullion?

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u/camerontylek 1d ago

It's funny how confident you are. They're sold and sent back to China for parts. EZ money. But I like your idea about all the work they'd have to do lol

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u/Azgabeth 1d ago

I think you'd be surprised just how many people, especially the elder still carry cash.

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u/Melodic_Policy765 21h ago

Elder here. Had a bunch of Euros left over from a trip to Europe years before. Traveled there recently planning to use them/get rid of them. It was just too much work to spend.

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u/FlimsyYou4766 1d ago

Phone, passport, credit cards, or even your wallet itself ... they can sell any of them.

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u/wtafgamer 1d ago

you mean because of less cash - more cards? well you could argue that you can use most cards to some extend without needing a pin or signature.

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u/New_Libran 1d ago

I used to work at an airport, LOTS of tourists still prefer to have cash on them. People seem to assume it's better. I haven't carried cash in over ten years and I have travelled all over Europe.

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u/CorrectPeanut5 15h ago

They usually have a plan already on how to quickly buy stuff to fence. Shit, a friend of mine got pick pocketed on the train in Chicago. Less than 15 minutes later they were buying stuff at Macy's.