Top 10 types of travel theft (and how to be safe)

by Justin Delaney on

In many large cities of the world, thieves hunt travelers from the shadows. They watch you take pictures at monuments, eat tapas at an outdoor cafe, and if you are unlucky, they will follow your steps with excited eyes as you fall into one of their traps. A few weeks ago while visiting Quito, thieves dumped a bucket of crap on me from a rooftop and then jumped me for my camera. It was horrible.

Fear-mongering aside, travelers are chosen as targets because they are not completely in tune to their surroundings. Maybe you are jet lagged, or you just ate a dangerous meal that has left you weak with intestinal anxiety, or you are lost in an uncomfortable part of Paris – these are all circumstances where you are in a vulnerable state and therefore a target of thieves. Like hyenas hunting for weakened game, thieves seek out confused tourists and map clenchers with wayward eyes.

These crooked opportunists have many breeds: child gangs in Italy looking for sincere mid-westerners, Vietnamese on scooters scoping for a wallet in an extended hand, and fake European police officers searching for rubes to shake down. While your trip will likely pass without incident, it is ideal to be prepared. If you know what to look for, then you can watch for danger signs and situations to avoid. Being a safe traveler is being a smart traveler. Here are ten common hustles to watch out for.

10. Monkey thieves in Bali
If you have ever been to Bali, then you have no doubt seen the clans of macaques congregating in various locales. Inventive locals have trained the monkeys to steal from travelers, and the macaques exchange the loot for monkey rewards. For example, they will snatch a pair of sunglasses off your head and only return them for some Indonesian Rupiah. Presumably, the monkeys later exchange the cash for snacks with their monkey trader. The thought of a monkey exchanging money for food is no doubt hilariously endearing, but no one wants to get their sunglasses nicked on holiday. This heist typically takes place around the cliffs of Ulu Watu and in the Monkey Forest of Ubud, both items on my list of things to do in Bali.

To prevent being robbed by monkey thieves, keep a safe distance, and be careful with your sunglasses.

9. Fake Police officers
This is a horrible scam that preys on your inability to distinguish the appropriate regional police uniform or badge. There are many deviations of this type of scam, but essentially, a faux copper approaches you demanding some sort of assistance. Either the officer is looking for counterfeit money, or needs to check your ID, or something that involves handing your wallet to him. He may just thumb through your wallet and sneakily take a few bills off the top. In some cases though, the fake officer will take off at full gait with your entire wallet.

Another form of fake police extortion happens frequently at train stations. They approach you and ask for your train pass. Nodding their fake cop heads in a discouraged manner they explain that you purchased the wrong pass for the route that you just completed. They give you an impromptu fine, and you hand them a fistful of euros, dong, or rupiahs, because you know no better. While now you do, never hand over your wallet and do not hand over money to police officers. If cops could collect their own fines, then the world would be too crooked to be spin.

8. Bus robberies

One of the most simple heists plays to our sense of humanity and ideological view that we will travel to foreign lands and strangers will be caring and helpful. Sometimes, this is undoubtedly the case, but be wary of helpful men with crooked smiles on public buses. This scam is a classic, happening everywhere from Boston to Bogota to Berlin. One person will assist you with stowing your bag above your seat while another pickpockets you or slashes your backpack. In another variation to this theft, the good Samaritan helping you stow your luggage takes off with your bag or hands it off to a runner near the front of the bus. One of the most notorious buses in the world for thieves is Bus 64 in Rome.

Another variation of the bus robbery involves a small child and a sharp object. While you sit on the bus, reflecting on your spiritual journey or perhaps gazing out the window at the splendid countryside, a small child with a knife or razor sneaks under your seat and slashes the bag at your feet, quietly emptying its contents.

These bus robberies can be completely avoided by never letting strangers handle your bags and keeping close watch of your belongings, especially on public transportation. Since buses are generally very low cost, the barriers to entry are low enough for thieves to thrive. When traveling in big cities on travel days, it is wise to avoid public buses. Nothing signals theft opportunity like a wheeled bag or a massive Osprey pack.

7. Train station distraction
You board a train and the day is young with possibilities. Maybe you are traveling from Prague to Berlin, or Rome to Florence. You are in full observer mode, sensitive to all types of stimuli. You put up your bags and sit in the train on the departure platform. Someone official looking taps on the window and motions for you. As you approach the window, or worse, de-board the train, his or her partner in crime quietly makes off with your stowed luggage. Both take off at a full sprint.

The best way to avoid this distraction heist is to never let your bags out of your sight on trains, and keep your most valuable possessions as close to you as possible. Ignore those outside of the train as well. If a conductor needs to communicate with you, then he/she will most certainly come to your seat.

6. Counterfeit money given at restaurant
This scam is very common in Europe, typically within the countries located on the Iberian peninsula. After you eat a delicious meal of fresh paella at a whimsical restaurant along the Costa del Sol, the restaurateur returns with your bill and bad news. The 50 Euro note that you tendered is a fake. With apologetic sympathy, the man will tenderly ask for a different type of payment. The problem? You gave him a real 50 Euro note and he returned with a counterfeit one.

This is easy to avoid. Minimize your risk by only breaking large bills at banks or other reputable establishments. However, if you find yourself mid scam, call the police and hope for the best. For the meticulous, you can write down the serial numbers of your big notes for insurance.

5. Stop and slash (or pickpocket)
This is a derivation on the classic pickpocket, except it is designed to make you a stationary target. You are walking along and someone stops in front of you. A lady maybe drops her bag, or a couple gets in an argument, or maybe someone just stops abruptly, directly in front of you. While you stop for the distraction, a pick pocket or slasher will come up behind you and relieve you of some of your belongings. It is perhaps the most common type of travel theft.

Slashers are very common and they use a sharp razor blade or knife to cut open a bag, empty a pocket, or slice a strap of a bag or camera. This is an increasingly popular method for the steady handed thieves. Defenses include using slash proof bag straps with reinforced metal wiring as well as stowing money and other valuables in a fashionably null money belt. Hiding your valuables creatively also inhibits the possibility of theft. Personally, I wear a slightly dorky but effective wrist wallet to hold my credit cards and walking around cash.

4. Luggage scanner heist
After you hear about this sneaky maneuver, you will loathe tossing your valuables through a x-ray scanner machine. The process goes like this: two thieves get in front of you in line at a scanning device and metal detector. Keep in mind it need not be an airport, many hotels and sporting arenas have x-ray scanners as well. (In fact, I think this sort of operation would be almost impossible at most airports in developed countries.) The first guy goes through slowly and waits on the other side of the metal detector. The second guy, the one you are directly behind, causes all sorts of problems with the metal detector. He forgets to take out his keys, belt, and whatever else causes the machine to beep. By this point, your bag has traveled to the other side of the x-ray scanner and the first guy has made off with it.

Prevention for this heist is fairly simple – just hold on to your bag until you are ready to pass through the metal detector.

3. The mustard/vinegar/pigeon poop/human feces heist
This is the product of years of thievery evolution. Since you are at your worst when you are shocked or short-sighted, thieves have taken this in mind and formulated a way to really get you to focus in on the moment at hand by blurring the big picture. The scam goes like this: you are walking along, and someone sprinkles bird poop on the back of your backpack, squeezes a mustard packet on your shirt pocket, or maybe, in an extreme case, dumps approximately ten ounces of shit from several floors above. Regardless of travel IQ, you are shocked by this disgusting invasion of space.

In many instances, a stranger will approach with tissues, attempting to assist you with the mess. Ignore this person. He will get you to focus on the situation while his partners steal from you. Also, do not take your backpack or camera off of your body. When I was robbed, I removed my camera strap to inspect my diarrhea flecked DSLR, and it was manhandled away from me by two Ecuadorians with wild eyes and stained pants.

To avoid being suckered into this scam, always be aware of your surroundings. If a foreign substance somehow makes it onto your shirt or bag, chances are someone is about to rob you. Keep walking and look for a police officer. Do not stop and chat, and especially, do not de-strap any of your bags.

2. The nail trick
This is perhaps the most damning heist of all. It is simple, effective, and almost impossible to defend against. It goes like this: you park your car, and while you sight-see or have lunch, an enterprising thief hammers a nail into your tire. Hours later, while driving down a quiet road, you get a flat tire. You pull over and a group of “good Samaritans” also pull over to assist you with your unfortunate situation. Except they don’t help you. They steal all your stuff, and in some cases, your car.

1. ATM scams
It is no shocker that thieves like to convene around automatic teller machines. It is a watering hole for wayward opportunists and droopy eyed bandits with swift hands. There are really two main scams that take place around money machines. The first involves a sticky or plastic slip being stuck in the card reader before your arrival. This will ensure that your card gets stuck in the slot. In many cases, a local will assist you in your troubles, attempting to witness your fingers glide across your pin number. If he finds you especially gullible, the thief may also casually ask you for your pin. Obviously, do not ever tell anyone your pin.

A variation on this scheme involves a fake customer service number being stuck on the ATM. After your card gets stuck, you phone the fake number for assistance, and they ask for your pin. Later, they take all of your money and you feel especially stupid and vulnerable while you wait for a money transfer in a depressing office.

The best way to avoid ATM scams is to only patronize machines inside banks or other structures. Also, if you see a little plastic sleeve hanging out of the card slot, pull that sleeve out of there and stamp it on the ground while glancing menacingly at the environs around you. The sticky fingered peasants will know to leave you alone.

Prologue
Always carry insurance during your travels, especially internationally. I routinely carry a vanilla World Nomads policy for international health insurance that comes with decent theft coverage as well. I also carry a personal property policy with USAA for my more expensive photography equipment.

Photo of the Day – Chairman Mao Portrait

by Jeremy Kressmann on

History is all around us, particularly in a country like China. Whether you’re walking along the magnificent Great Wall or gazing in awe at the Forbidden City in Beijing. Today’s photo, taken by Flickr user Trent Strohm, offers us yet another unique glimpse of China’s remarkable history: Chairman Mao, leader of the Chinese Revolution. Trent’s inclusion of the soldier in front of Mao’s portrait adds an interesting visual story to the photograph. It seems to be telling us the ghosts of China’s past are ever-present, asserting their watchful gaze over the present day.

Have any great photos from your own travels? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Post-quake life in Tokyo

by Matthew Firestone on

As a Tokyo-based writer, I’ve written no less than four books on Japan in addition to countless blogs, newspaper articles, magazine features and reference texts. While I hesitate to use the word expert, I consider myself to be profoundly knowledgeable about the country that I’ve lived in for the last five years.

Yet despite these credentials, I have struggled for weeks to summarize any clear thoughts about the recent Great Tohoku Earthquake. Even as I finally sit down now and haphazardly hack away at my keyboard, what follows is little more than a scattered and solitary perspective on post-quake life in Tokyo…

With that said, I do hope that my brief narrative offers some perspective on the present mood here, albeit through the eyes of a resident foreigner. I’ve also made a conscientious effort to remain objective in the hopes of cutting through all the fears, paranoia and criticisms that reside in the media as of late.I guess I should start by saying that Tokyo is quite literally running at half-power.

Rolling blackouts have been implemented in order to conserve power for the whole of eastern Japan. In a city defined by its 24/7 lights, the lack of flashing billboards and neon signs has left the streets feeling rather gloomy. Stores are also powering down, with high-consumption devices such as freezers and display cases left unplugged.

In terms of food, Tokyoites are most definitely not starving. But we’re not exactly living the culinary high-life either. In my neighborhood, about half the restaurants and bars are still shuttered. Milk and frozen products are absent, and toilet paper and bottled water are very limited, but most everything else is still available in one place or another.

A brief note on contamination: We have been advised to steer clear of any produce, dairy and seafood from Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures. Supplies from western Japan are in fact reaching Tokyo, but shortages of specific items vary from day to day. Again however, contrary to some news reports, there is still abundant food in Tokyo.

Moving on, transportation remains severely impacted by the quake.

Inside the Yamanote line, which circles central Tokyo, the situation is surprisingly normal. Most subway and elevated lines are running without interruption. As you move into the suburbs however, the situation becomes much more complicated. Periphery lines are subject to delays and even closures depending on the time of day.

The country’s famed shinkansen or bullet trains are also rather uncharacteristically off-schedule. Aftershocks are still rattling the northeast, keeping the Akita, Aomori and Tohoku lines at a standstill. On the contrary, eastward lines to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe are all on schedule, which has fueled a mass exodus to western Honshu and Kyushu.

The subject of whether or not one should leave Tokyo – or Japan entirely – is probably the most frequent subject brought up within the resident ex-pat community. Much printed and online debate has centered around this issue, but I personally do not feel that there is a definitive right or wrong answer.

For those with young children, the decision to leave is an easy one. The same goes for high-ranking business executives and government personnel that can quickly uproot and recommence their work elsewhere. Everybody else – including myself – are monitoring the news daily and assessing any and all viable options.

For contracted English teachers who may have only planned to stay in Japan for the short-term, the decision to leave is again an easy one. But for other foreigners with more permanent jobs and/or Japanese spouses, leaving everything behind presents a far more difficult challenge.

(For the record, I count myself to be in the latter group).

Media coverage of the event has been extensive, but there remain marked differences between the stories told by domestic and foreign news organizations. I’d argue that the truth lies somewhere between both extremes, though it is probably impossible for the general public to really know what’s going on right now.

The Japanese coverage has sought to minimize fear, albeit at the expense of complete transparency. Foreign coverage has at times been sensationalist, but solid investigative reporting has uncovered some surprising kernels of truth. Criticism of the TEPCO power company and the Japanese government has been widespread here and abroad.

At this point, reconstruction efforts are already underway, even though it will still be many more months before the situation at Fukushima stabilizes. And there is much truth to the oft-cited ‘Japanese spirit’ that has united a nation in the face of horrific tragedy. The economy will also rebound, but lost lives and property can never be replaced.

To end on a personal note, I will be indefinitely suspending my ‘Big in Japan’ column here at Gadling. Although I have immensely enjoyed covering weird and wonderful Japan, at this time I don’t feel that it’s all-together appropriate. In the future, when wounds inevitably heal, I look forward to again writing about the country I love.

However, I still remain committed to covering the wider world of travel, so please do continue to stop by Gadling and check out my articles. I have just returned from a trip through Chiapas and Oaxaca, and will soon be kicking off a mini-series on the *other* Mexico. Stay tuned.

And finally, thanks for reading my thoughts on a deeply sensitive issue, and I do hope that I have been able to present an accurate assessment of post-quake life in Tokyo. For those of you presently residing in Tokyo, please feel free to chime in and share your experiences and thoughts in a constructive manner.

Proposed China hotel shaped like ping pong paddle

by Melanie Nayer on

File this under: Weird ideas that surprisingly make sense.

Only in China would a hotel designed in the shape of a ping pong paddle be been proposed as part of a sports complex. The new China hotel, located in the eastern city of Huainan, would cost approximately $46 million, the China Daily reports.

Located in $276 million sports complex, the hotel will feature three main sections:

The “handle” will be an observation deck and viewing platform. The “paddle” will include the guestrooms The “base” will include conference facilities.

The main sports complex will also include other sports-shaped buildings. An open-air stadium will be in the form of a football (no team affiliation denoted) and three other facilities inside the complex will represent soccer, basketball and volleyball. The newspaper says the timeline for completion of the sports complex is still five years away.

No word on whether or not restaurants and bars will be included in the hotel design, but we predict a great game of beer pong when the doors open.

New website helps travelers find their next adventure

by Kraig Becker on

A new website promises to help adventure travelers find their next getaway, as well as discover new destinations they weren’t even aware of. The goal is to connect consumers with tour operators and guide services from around the globe, in an effort to make booking an adventurous holiday all the easier.

The recently launched Kumutu is the brainchild of CEO Ryan Off, who came up with the idea of an adventure travel aggregator after growing frustrated with other online options. The site already has more than 900 adventure travel companies already signed up, and they’re targeting to build that number to 20,000 by the year’s end. That means that consumers will have a wealth of options at their fingertips when it comes to booking their next trip, and online ratings and reviews will help us to decide if the option we are interested in is right for us.

As you would expect with similar websites, Kumutu offers you the option to search by activity, such as cycling, kayaking, mountaineering or by country, with nearly 60 destinations, including Antarctica, currently available. The approach is very straight forward, and easy to understand, with your options being presented in a quick, clean manner.

Perhaps the best way to search is by using the Kumutu map however. When this option is selected, you’re presented with a Google powered view of the world, with specific operators represented with a push-pin on the map. Clicking on a pin in the location of interest gives you a pop-up with a very brief description of the tours on offer. Clicking on the tour operators name will take you to a page that is specific to that company, with far more information about what they do and exactly what kinds of adventures they offer.

Kumutu is a nicely laid out and very easy to use travel aggregator, but we have seen a number of these types of sites pop up over the past year or two, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to stand out in the crowd. If they hit their goal of 20,000 tour operators by the end of the year however, Kumutu could become your one-stop shop for booking all of your future adventures.