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Mike_2007 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Bucharest, Romania

Come to Bucharest, you won't find many pickpockets here...they all flew off to Spain and Italy the moment Romania joined the EU!

mishmumkin · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 929

I did my cert TESOL in Barcelona years ago. A member of my cohort was on the metro trying to disembark when the man in front of her stopped. A woman was screaming at her in an attempt to warn, but being newly arrived she couldn't make out a word. It ended up that the man in front of her and the man behind her were in cahoots. A male passenger witnessing this intervenes, and my peer managed to get off w/ bag in tow.

As the train pulls away this passenger, clearly angered by the constant crime, then starts a fight w/ the remaining pickpocket beating him up as the train left the station.

I spent over a year in Spain watching my bag like a hawk while all my friends were picked off. I moved to Cairo, Egypt after that (very low petty crime rate), and my purse was stolen in an upscale shopping mall by 3 teenage girls. I had finally let my guard down, and there went the purse w/ a good lipstick, approx $20 USD, and my passport.

mishmumkin · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 929

mishmumkin · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 929

mdk · Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 425

Say, I forgot to mention that the IRS let�s you write off your losses to theft on your income tax. You just have to show them the police report.

Come to think of it when they stole my manpurse with the ipod and the $200 euros they also got my laptop and granny�s diamond earings. That�s my story and I�m sticking to it.

Haft · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 23

So, really, what are the options in supplying a response to a mugger? I am really not a big guy, and would definitely have to use force to dissuade them. Being all too willing to do that, I just have to wonder whether you'd ever really have a problem, at least legally, with "thumping" them? What on earth are the options of personal defense on the continent? Forgive my American-ness if you would, but why isn't it as simple as "buy mace, carry mace, use mace liberally"?

Moore · Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Posts: 730 Location: Madrid

A marine once told taught me self defence: it consisted of punching the attacker once as hard as you can and owning a good pair of running shoes.

I wouldn't risk using mace if you don't have a EU working visa as you might end up getting into more trouble than the mugger which really would be unfair.

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booty · Joined: 22 Aug 2004 Posts: 94

[quote="mishmumkin"]

mise_me_fein · Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Posts: 24

[quote="booty"]

mishmumkin · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 929

travellingscot · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 64 Location: UK/Eastern Europe

I think mike..2007 has a very good point regarding the origins of many of these thieves. East European gypsy females are all over Europe now plying their trade-I have seen them in Skopje [Held on to one until police arrived], Valencia [At the bus station mingling with people unloading luggage from newly arrived buses], Murcia [Shopping street following targets into a shop where they can get closer less obviously] . My wife has seen some in Vienna and other cities.
They are usually lighter skinned gypsies chosen for that reason so they can blend in with westerners, and they are good -- my wife watched one stand beside a lady in a shop, undo her purse, remove some documents then refasten the zip all whilst the victim was looking at a display.Before you ask why my wife did not intervene, she was at her then place of work and so her future safety would have been at risk as these thieves work in all female groups but with help available if needed, and police who can do nothing due to corruption.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

And North America wonders why Europe treats their gypsy populations so 'badly.'

mise_me_fein · Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Posts: 24

well, still haven't been pickpocketed and no sign of it coming,

All the scum on the streets of Ireland has made me streetwise I guess and I've a 6th sense that Americans probably don't have due to the secure upbringing they receive.

This is the only problem I believe..........the "petty crime" is worse in Britian and Ireland I think. I was confronted by two romanians near Sol a few months back and they wanted to compliment me on my belt......When they saw that myself and my friend weren't into their line of bullsh!t they gave up and moved on...........I think I heard an American accent down the street Laughing

Just be streetwise people and you'll be ok.