pick pockets

I have heard a lot of people getting robbed in the metro in Rome. How is it in Paris?

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It happens, but not all that often. To be safe, don%26#39;t carry your money and credit cards in a wallet or purse; use a money belt or the equivalent.

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We go to Paris often, and it seems that most of the pickpockets are on/near the metro. Watch out for teams on the escalators in the metro. One person stands in front of you, the other is somewhere behind. The one in front creates some eort of blockage at the top of the escalator, eg pretends to drop his ticket and bends over to pick it up. While you%26#39;re distracted the one in front goes for your bag/pockets etc.

Pickpockets are mainly around when the weather%26#39;s good - it%26#39;s harder to steal your stuff when you%26#39;re all wrapped up in coats etc.

NEVER put anything in your pockets - it%26#39;s just asking for trouble. A money belt or shoulder bag worn diagonally across your front are the best options. Backpacks can get cut open.

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My wife and I have been to Paris many times. A few years ago due to carelessness on my part, I had my wallet stolen at the Luxembourg Metro station which I would avoid like the plague. It is written up in many guide books as being notorious for pick pockets.We had been to Paris earlier on the same trip and I always left my wallet in the room safe(reccommended). However we rented a car and drove to Switzerland and on our return I neglected to put my wallet in the room safe. We had gone to the Luxembourg area to dine at a Rifstaffel restaurant which turned out to be a joke as compared to those in Amsterdam. I reported the theft to a seragent at CDG the next morning and pointing to his side arm commented that in Texas we had a solution to such problems. He said he wished they had the same solution in Paris. Women can purchase a hand bag from Magellan in the US which has a stainless steel wire in the strap which will deter purse snatchers on a moped but not pick pockets. My wife had a leather note book solen while crowded in the elevator going up the Eiffel Tower.

Always carry your valuables in a money belt.

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It happens, but not if you are aware and vigilant.

My husband hates money belts, but he keeps his wallet in his front pocket. On the metro and in crowds he keeps his hand in that pocket. (Jeans pocket, not loose trousers pocket).

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Thank you for the advise,guys.

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The key thing is to be aware of your surroundings. I was almost a pickpocket victim on a metro car before I exited at the Cite stop due to my being ignorant. That experience taught me a very good lesson.

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YES...there are the occasional %26#39;thieves-of-opportunity%26#39; who prey on residents and tourists alike in Paris....just as there are in most large international cities. The key word here is %26#39;..opportunity..%26#39;. If you take common sense, reasonable precautions with your personal possessions...AND...you remain %26#39;..situationally aware..%26#39; (on crowded buses and Metro cars, around busy crowded places, etc---and keep an eye on any travelling with you, to remind when they%26#39;re doing something stupid and gently remind them to take care in likely situations) and don%26#39;t provide these thieves with the %26#39;opportunity%26#39; they require to do their %26#39;job%26#39;(its as much a job to them as driving a taxi, working in an office, engineeering bridges, etc..and many take the %26#39;work%26#39; seriously) they will look elsewhere for their %26#39;living%26#39;.

There are some fairly simple, basic precautions that you can take. Women tend to be more %26#39;ulnerable%26#39; than men, in that they tend to carry most of their important possessions (and often most of a male traveling companion%26#39;s as well) in their bags. With this in mind, ALWAYA keep zippers zipped, snaps snapped, flaps flapped. Carry the bag close to your body and whenever possible, keep one hand restion atop the bag. In crowded situations, pull the bag around to the front and keep a hand on top of it. One simple but effective %26#39;trick%26#39;, that provide a great deal of security relative to the inconvenience is to carry wallets, loose cash, documents, etcin an inner zippered pocket within the bag, securing the zipped zipper-pull to the inside lining of the bag with a simple large safety pin.

For both men and women, it%26#39;s best to thin out wallets. You won%26#39;t need your Blockbuster membership, and most of the usual cards that accummulate. For men it%26#39;s best NOT to carry a wallet in a hip pocket. The best place to carry a thinned-out wallet in in the breast, flapped pocket of a shirt, under a sweater or in a front pants pocket...with a thick, twisted rubber band wrapped around it. When men carry back-packs or totes, like women, they should carry then close to their bodies and swing them around to their front, with one hand on top when in a busy, crowded situations...and NEVER carry a wallet or passport in a back-pack or tote.

It%26#39;s worth noting that a petty-thief-of-opportunity%26#39;s BEST and most effective %26#39;..accomplice..%26#39; woill almost always be their %26#39;victim%26#39;. People will do the DUMBEST things. Women will walk down bust streets or around busy markets with their purses wide open and wallets on top %26#39;..for convenience..%26#39;. guys will walk around with bulging great wallets in hip pockets. People will set down carry-bags and then walk away from them to get %26#39;better camera angles%26#39; or leave them unattended on chairs at sidewalk cafés and get up and go to the bathroom. People will ride crowded Metro and buses with bags slung around to their backs so that they can stand closer to hand-holds. Truth is we ALL do something DUMB far more often than we think. 99 times out of 100 nothing untoward happens....but you can reduce eevn those odds to a great deal less simply by becoming more %26#39;..situationally aware..%26#39;. Pay attention. There%26#39;s also the %26#39;..one glove syndrome..%26#39; Many times people assume that roving bands of diabolically clever glove theives, must have stolen that missing glove. It never occurs to them that they left it on a table or a counter, or weren%26#39;t paying attention when they went to put it into a pocket and dropped it somewhere along the way....had to be those dam glove bandits. Pay attention.

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I have mentioned before on this forum that I have lived in New York for over 40 years and not only have I not been pickpocketed, but I don%26#39;t know of anyone who has. I have actually SEEN people pickpocketed in Paris. There are also some other creeps that will try to pull scams and switches on you.

Besides protecting your valuables, DO NOT take offers of %26#39;free%26#39; merchandise, or offers of %26#39;great deals%26#39;.