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Dodging the artful moves of city thieves

By Renee Haines (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-06 11:55

It's summer, when tourists are out and about, and so are the pickpockets. Pickpockets are around throughout the year, and in every country, but this is their busy season because so many more of us have become ripe for the picking. I know. I've already been picked twice.

The first time I was on a subway headed to a Beijing eatery, surrounded by friends, my purse safely clutched to my side. But when we arrived, I discovered my wallet was missing. The pickpockets of Beijing had deftly unzipped my purse, removed my wallet and even re-zipped my purse.

The second time was in Shanxi province and it was in Taiyuan that I also won a front-row seat to a performance by a group of young pickpockets in action. After that show, I will never be complacent again.

On the streets of Taiyuan, a gang of young boys were playing the real-life equivalents of the literary characters Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger from the classic tale by Charles Dickens, but oh so much more artfully.

A day earlier, I was picked in broad daylight crossing a busy street. I didn't know I had been picked until later in the day, when I reached into my zipped purse for a few yuan to make a purchase.

I discovered how it might have happened on the following morning, when I was standing in front of our hotel. Look, a hotel staff worker motioned to me, pointing at a group of young boys gathered on the curb.

Within a few minutes, one of them began walking behind two young women talking as they strolled by. Suddenly, one of the young boys reached into the woman's purse. "No, no, no," I shouted, pointing. Startled, the boy pulled his hand out of the purse without having grabbed the wallet. The boys ran away.

But within minutes, the young boys were back, laughing. "No, no, no," they mimicked. One of them, grinning, motioned in the air with his hand as if he were unzipping and zipping something.

Had he been the one who picked my pocket a day earlier? But his performance wasn't about me. When my friend turned around, I discovered his backpack was unzipped. How had they done that?

Upon my return to Beijing, I consulted friends and fellow victims, local Internet reports and neighbors. Here's what I learned.

In a cash-based economy like Beijing's, where so many restaurants and stores do not take credit cards, foreigners like me are particularly, well, dumb. Not used to having to carry cash around, we're sloppy about it. When we reach into our wallets or purses for money, wading through unfamiliar currency, it's like we're holding up a big neon sign that reads: Pick me! Pick me!

The advice I was given is to leave credit cards at home, and don't carry around so much cash. Divide it up, too. Tuck some in your front pocket, some in your wallet and even some in your socks or shoes. They have money pouches you can wear under your clothes.

If you're using a backpack, take it off and re-position it against your chest where you can see it when you're on a crowded bus or subway. One popular scam I learned about involves someone purposely blocking a line. Riders push forward, while the pickpockets behind you go to work. If you find yourself in that situation, step away and take the next bus or subway.

Another scam involves someone pointing to a map to ask you for directions. While you're being helpful or shrugging that you can't help, an accomplice bumps into you and helps himself to your wallet.

Many friendly foreigners also are eager to reach for a few yuan for a street beggar. Reach for your money, and the pickpockets learn where to reach for your money. If you are in the habit of donating to the street-needy, get into the habit of keeping a few yuan in your front pocket.

Another scam I learned about involves someone shouting a fake warning in a crowd, usually at a popular tourist attraction. "Hey, there are thieves here. I just got my pocket picked," someone will shout out. The first impulse is to quickly check your wallet or pocket or purse or backpack to make sure you haven't been a victim. You've just shown them where to reach for your money.

Hanging a shoulder bag on a chair at a restaurant makes pickpockets very happy. While you're eating or checking your email on your laptop, it's so easy to slip that bag off the chair.

In this era of cell phones, MP3 players and iPods, pickpockets can easily relieve you of your shiny new toys, too. When you chat on your cell phone, you're distracted while they pick your pockets. When you finish chatting on your mobile phone and tuck it into your pocket or purse, you've just shown them where to find it.

Those wires leading from your MP3 or iPod that dangle around your neck, even when you're not listening to music, will lead them directly to that music player in your pocket.

Instead of becoming the victims of modern Oliver Twists and Artful Dodgers, let's artfully dodge those pickpockets.