Public transport pickpockets in Italy

Pickpockets in Pisa

Some years ago, a friend and I both had our wallets stolen in Pisa on the same day. We were traveling separately before meeting up in Florence. Pisa… a hotspot for tourists and pickpockets!

In my case, I was traveling with a baby buggy and trying to board a train. A “nice Roma couple” offered to “help” – one got on the train while the other one and I hoisted the buggy up from the ground. I felt someone tugging on my bag but was focused on not dropping my buggy (with my son inside). It was only after I got onto the train that I noticed that my wallet was missing. These people have no shame.

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No 5 bus

Just arrived at 4pm today we were robbed on bus from airport. We were targeted on the No5 bus from airport to the water taxis. Another lady on our bus also got her wallet stolen. We were left for nearly 2 days without anything as our cash and credit cards were all taken

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This guy was so slick

I was robbed (pick pocketed) at the Ponte Vecchio in Florence…I’ve always been a careful traveler, but this guy was so slick, just unzipped my bag and was gone…all my money, everything…I still had another week in Rome but was ready to go home.

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My sister did have someone try to pickpocket her backpack

We wore money bags on our waist because my sister did have someone try to pickpocket her backpack and while in Rome we heard some horror stories from other visitors we met. One said he wore casual pants with zippers on the calf and his passport, money, and wallet was stolen reportedly by a group of gypsies on the public transportation system.

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Cut into her bag with a knife

The PacSafe bags are the best. My mother was robbed on a bus in Rome. It happened on one of the really small neighborhood buses that mostly residents of Rome use. They actually cut into her bag with a knife which also slashed her coat too. She was lucky that she didn’t get hurt.

When we went to police station they told us that is something that Brazilians do not your regular Roman thief.

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He didn’t even feel it

Me and my husband had this exact same set up with our stuff in Rome. My stuff was ok but I do exactly what you do and have an anti-theft bag. He was keeping his wallet and passport in his front pocket and keeping his hand there. But on the subway leaving the Vatican, we got separated in the crowd and he was surrounded by a woman. We went 2 stops, got off, and his wallet and passport were gone. He didn’t even feel it. When we made the police report, another guy was there making a report because his phone was stolen from his front pocket. He also thought he could manage it there.

My ex husband also carried an anti-theft backpack on one shoulder and on the subway in Barcelona, someone tried to unzip it. When my husband caught him. he pretended like he was tripping on the stairs and using the backpack to catch his fall. We saw him and a girl he was with later, just wandering the subway.

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Be very wary at the train station

Honestly, be very wary at the train station. I felt very safe in the city but as I was boarding my train this young woman, her baby, and her mom approached me, offering to help me put my suitcase in the overhead compartment. As the young woman was helping me, her mom took the baby so I didn’t even think to worry about her, but I noticed as soon as my suitcase was out of my hands that my purse felt lighter and the mom had grabbed my wallet, and she grabbed my cousin’s as well, and then jumped off the train and ran away. Luckily, my cousin caught her and got our stuff back. But I never traveled without one of those under-the-shirt thingies again and I’ve never been pickpocketed since.

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I thought I had taken necessary precautions

I was pickpocketed on a bus to the Coliseum once I thought I had taken necessary precautions Be aware of people trying to distract you, like pointing at something outside.

It was a painful lesson after the bus incident but I did learn my lesson. Someone tried the same thing to me in Naples in a train station. He came up to me and pointed at the train schedule. I didn’t look up but right after he pointed his hand was moving slowly towards my pocket. I am sure he thought I would look up. But I learned my lesson ?

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Happened so quickly

I saw someone get pickpocketed in Italy. It happened so quickly and the person hopped off the
subway as the doors closed. I didn’t even register what happened until the victim was yelling and trying to open the door.

The girl in was pickpocketed out of a purse with no zipper or clip. That made it easy for someone to grab and item and jump off the subway as the doors closed.

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Pickpockets are quite crafty there

Rome and Italy in general too has its own share of cheats. A gypsy woman would open an oversized map in front of you. pretending to ask directions cutting off your vision from your handbag or luggage bag or just trouser pockets, you know what happens next.

Pickpockets are quite crafty there, relying on real sleight of hand and not brute force. I once thought a guy was pressing unusually close to me on a crowded Rome metro, I instinctively grabbed at my mobile as he had it half out of my pocket. We stared each other down, him half scared half defiant and I contemplating what to do. Not wanting to deal with cops in a foreign land. I let him go quietly as he released the phone back in my pocket.

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