RICO’s Q — Pickpockets often work in groups of three or more, especially around metro platforms, bus stops and crowded stations.
While you are waiting, they are watching.
They look at what you are doing, what you are carrying and where you keep your phone or wallet. When tourists check tickets, take out their phone, open a bag, pay for something or keep touching the same pocket, they are showing exactly where their valuables are.
At bus stations, the moment you arrive, do not only look for your train or bus. Scan the people around you, too.
Be careful when you see a small group standing close together but not really talking, often positioned in a loose circle, with large bags, jackets over their arms or hands kept close to other people’s bags. They may be watching passengers more than they are waiting for transport.
Do not panic, but do not ignore it either.
Make eye contact. Move your bag to the front. Put your phone away. Keep your wallet inside a closed bag or secure front pocket, and do not keep checking where it is.
The moment people see that you are alert and that you have noticed what is happening around you, you become a much harder target.
My experience
It’s been almost ten years, but I can still see the moment clearly in my mind. I keep replaying it, wondering how I ended up as a victim, and how I might have stopped it from happening.
Unfortunately, I haven’t changed my habits much — except that I stopped taking public transportation.
The whole thing took just seconds. I remember the noise in the aisle as I stood up to let someone off at Multiplaza. I also recall a woman who had been standing near me suddenly moving toward the front of the bus, glancing back.
When I sat down again, I realized something was gone—my wallet, taken from my front pocket.
I’ve tried to remember if I felt anything when it happened, but even now, since that day in 2019, I can’t say that I did.
My advice
They are looking for a distraction. Do not give it to them.