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Comment by tlear | Hacker News Reader

I am curious if the pickpockets still run rampant all over the tourist areas and subway. Few years back in 3 days:

1. Dad ran into undercover cop who on subway who told him to watch his stuff better :o

2. Got his phone stolen next day on subway, I guess cop was right

3. I witnessed the typical distract, grab and run.. good thing someone threw trip and got the runner to drop his prize

4. Had to deal with 3-4 typical: “please sign this petition while my partner tries to come up from behind and snatch your crap thing”. The East European scowl and choice mat solved it

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Americans must be deluxe targets, never had any of this happen to me in the times I had been to Paris (am from Austria).

Yeah if you speak English with an American or Canadian accent you are a prime target for sure. The ppl giving fake surveys were picking us out from SO far away (I was purposely watching for it after our first trip there).

Yeah if you have a tee shirt 'I love Paris' you will have a bad time

Put the valuable stuff into your trousers front pockets. I'm doing this for years, it works better than having anything in my back pockets. Though being 193cm tall might deter perps from trying something funny.

100% with front trouser pockets. there’s no way someone can snatch it out of there since you probably barely can snatch it too

Petition to make women's pants with actual front pockets that fit more than 3 coins.

Perhaps insist on better law enforcement than blaming the victim. Pick-pocketing, by many accounts, is rampant in Paris and is just a sign of how lax policing is. Its not something to be even modestly indifferent about.

Giving hints is hardly victim blaming.

Yup, family member's passport was stolen last year. Every time I visit Paris some attempt of some kind occurs. Fake "survey", someone "bumps into me by accident" (nice try, scumbag), guy very avidly eyeing my wife's purse, etc. etc.. It's super frustrating.

Sadly this is my experience too. traveled many places throughout the world and Paris is the only place I've had things stolen twice.

Yes it's still rampant if you ever venture into one of the touristy areas or look a bit naive on the metro. I think it's one of the reasons Parisians are seen as rude, since I've lived here I now assume anyone approaching me in the street who I don't know is trying to scam me.

I’ve been to Paris a lot and wear my wallet in my back pocket and have been fine. Just need to be aware when going through crowded areas. They know how to pick off the naive ones who aren’t used to real cities.

Hearing about this makes me want to go to Europe just to walk around with pockets full of rusty nails.

it used to be on TV every year but recently it's less the case. It may just be a media coverage shift since world events are "spectacular" these days.

It's still the case. Saw it happen last year.

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