I’ve been in Paris twice, and on the last visit, I almost had my pocket picked on the metro. Here’s what happened, what I could have done differently, and how you can protect yourself from pickpockets.
We were in Paris for a week during our family tour through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. I think it was our second or third day in Paris and we were traveling via the Metro (subway), as we often did.
The Event
We were boarding a subway car. My wife and kids had boarded first, and I got on last. There were three large men clustered around the pole, mostly blocking the way into the car.
As I got on, two of them formed a wall and prevented me from going past them to join my family. I was very confused about why they weren’t letting me pass. I tried to push between them but they weren’t letting me pass.
After about ten seconds of that, I stepped sideways and forced my way past them.
What I didn’t even notice at the time was that the third man was trying to yank my wallet out of a pocket of my cargo shorts.
![The target of the pickpockets](https://canadiantravelgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_3619-1024x768.jpg)
My son later told me they almost clotheslined him while trying to get to the pocket.
Fortunately, it’s not easy to get the wallet out of there. I often take a few seconds to get it out of there.
They could have grabbed my phone a lot easier – it was in the pocket above that – but they probably saw me put my wallet in there after putting my subway ticket in it, so they had a target.
I stood with my family, glaring at the three of them. They got off at the next stop and disappeared.
I was furious.
Later…
I made a point of keeping both buttons closed on that pocket to better secure my wallet. This made it really hard to get my wallet out; I had to unbutton it first and then take the wallet out, which was inconvenient but also made it considerably harder for my pocket to be picked.
I also started wearing my money belt. I kept about half my cash and one credit card in the money belt, tucked under my clothes, just in case.
I didn’t see any point in reporting the issue to the police. I couldn’t describe the men very well. They disappeared. And I didn’t lose anything. There was no benefit, in my opinion.
How to Protect Yourself From Pickpockets
Here are a few tips to protect yourself from being pickpocketed, along with some links for more tips.
- Don’t keep anything valuable in your back pockets. It’s too easy to slip a wallet out of a back pocket while you’re jammed in a crowd.
- Keep everything zipped up / buttoned up so a pickpocket can’t just slip their hand in and grab your valuables. Make them work for it.
- Keep the majority of your money in a money belt, and keep your belt out of sight under your clothes.
- Don’t carry all of your money and credit cards on you. Keep most of it in a safe in your hotel, so if you do get your money stolen, you haven’t lost everything.
- Be aware of your surroundings. When you’re looking at your phone, studying a map, or otherwise concentrating on something, keep your back against a wall, in a corner, out of crowds. Pickpockets want you to be distracted – like I was – so they can snatch your valuables while you aren’t looking.
- Keep an eye on your bags. I had a camera bag and I often wore it on my front instead of my back, so I could watch it and keep my arms nearby to limit access to it.
Here’s a few links with more details:
- Tips to avoid pickpockets (Rick Steves)
- Top 11 Tourist Mistakes in Paris (pickpockets are #10)
Txs Steve- I am not a world traveler like you, but reality is, this can happen anywhere, even in your own city.