10 Sneaky Tactics Used By Pickpockets

A walk along a busy high street can be stressful enough before you have the prospect of thieves to worry about.

Pickpockets are a unfortunate feature of city centres across Britain - in fact there are around 600,000 cases of pickpocketing in the UK every year, according to the Office of National Statistics.

Many of these involve theft of wallets, purses, mobile phones or cash straight out of bags, tables and clothing.

But these crimes are opportunistic - and can be preventable if you know what to look out for, and how to protect yourself.

So what are some of the tactics used by pickpockets that you should be aware of?

Holding you up

A pair of pickpockets working together can make for an effective and speedy theft. One may start to walk in front of you and suddenly stop in their tracks - like making sure they are in front of you on the way onto a bus or through ticket barriers. The accomplice would make sure they are behind you and once you are stopped by the person in front, they can make a quick grab of something in your back pocket before heading off with your property.

Props

You may be standing still on the side of a road with your bag over your shoulder. But a pickpocket can use a newspaper or magazine to hide their hands as they approach, ensuring no one else catches them in the act. Before you know it, they have cleverly walked off with your purse or wallet and no one saw a thing.

Creating a diversion

If you are walking along the street and someone drops things all over the pavement, you may want to guard your belongings before going in to help. A common technique is to once again use accomplices - one person to drop things in front of you before asking for your help, another to walk up behind you and pickpocket you while you are bent down on the floor, off your guard and distracted.

Trying to be your friend

According to the British Transport Police, an easy win for pickpockets is to act as if they are doing you a favour. Someone may come over to you and say you have something on your coat and start to brush it off. While you are taken in by the random act of kindness for a stranger, an accomplice simply walks over and lifts something out of your bag or pocket.

Street performances

The vast majority of street performances will of course be legitimate entertainment but pickpocket gangs have been known to set up their own show which invariably draws a crowd. And while people are being entertained, other members of the gang casually walk around to take what they want from an unsuspecting public.

Making the most of people being drunk

According to stage pickpocket James Brown, some thieves will try to take advantage of people being drunk and not at their most perceptive. He said he has watched girls talk to worse-for-wear clubbers and start to rock in front of them. The victim then starts to rock too and ends up falling over before helpfully being picked up by the girl - who then manages to make off with a watch or a wallet in the resulting confusion.

Hanging out in plain sight

In areas where there have been a number of cases of pocket theft, signs have been placed up by authorities warning people to be aware that pickpockets are active. And these signs are actually used to the advantage of pickpockets. Someone seeing the sign may check over themselves to make sure they have everything - helpfully giving away the exact location of their valuables to the waiting pickpocket.

Sexuality

An attractive woman may be used to flirt with men in the middle of the street. A casual arm touch or flick of the hair can be enough to keep a victim focused on that person - meaning they are less aware of the accomplice taking what they can in a matter of seconds.

Blatant ‘bullying’

Rather than be subtle about it, some pickpockets may be quite obvious in their attempts to distract you - a deliberate knocking off someone’s glasses or hat. The victim will either be confused or angry at what has just happened - but making friends is not what the pickpocket wants to do and while apologising profusely, their victim has already lost their belongings to a passing accomplice.

Pretending they know you

Another more blatant method of theft is for someone to approach you - possibly from behind - and placing their hands over your eyes and yelling ‘guess who!’ It will of course turn out to be a case of mistaken identity but covering your eyes for a split second was all that was needed for a quick pickpocket without you having a clue what just happened.

Image credit : Rex Features