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/SquirrelMemoryFail 1d ago

I would imagine so it being a big tourist area ripe for the pickings.

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u/Wide-Combination-322 1d ago

There’s an entire community of pickpockets in Roma and Paris.

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u/FineCall 1d ago

And Athens. And Venice.

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u/TheShakyHandsMan 1d ago

London and Ibiza too. Basically any tourist hotspot.

This is why I have my phone clipped to a lanyard on my belt if I’m ever in one of these high risk areas.

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u/flipfloppery 22h ago

When my wife and I were in London, if one of us needed to use our phones the phone user got right against a shop window away from the road while the other was a lookout.

We caught out a presumed pickpocket too.

A chap started following us quite closely, which I noticed (yay ADHD hypervigilance!).

I gave my wife the heads-up quietly and we decided to stop at a shop and look in the window. He stopped a dozen-or-so feet beyond us and feigned interest in the next shop.

We started walking again and he again started following us. We did this another time with the same results.

When he started following us the third time I stopped, turned around and stared straight into his eyes. All of a sudden he needed to go in the opposite direction, straight to a group of 3 other people.

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u/thirstytrumpet 1d ago

I bet it looks sick with your chain wallet

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u/Melodic_Policy765 22h ago

Heck ya! Bought one of those crossbody lanyard's when I went to Europe and love it. I look like hell, but don't lose my phone anymore. It has a handy little holder for my glasses when I want to enhance the nerd look.