Community Chat

[Pink123]

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@millieshops wrote:

@Pink123   The thieves everywhere can be so sly we can't possibly know they are nearby.  The suggestions you made make excellent sense. 

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@millieshops  yes I agree.  Who knows..... I'm kind of like a mark there.  Very blonde, tall and stick out. He left me for 5 minutes.  Maybe I was being watched.  My brother says they are very sophisticated and it's usually more than one person involved in their capers.

[Lucky Dog]

So sorry this happened to you.

I don't understand how your boyfriend texted the thief.  

[LizzieInSRQ]

@Pink123 i am glad you are safe and home. Its so generous of you to tell your cautionary tale.  Crossbody bag or better yet travel money belt, fanny pack turned to the front of you etc.  are the way to go 

Im so sorry for the extreme stress youve been under. Your beau will be home soon. Be well

[kaydee50]

Sorry to hear that this happened.  Just makes me very happy once again that DH and I traveled when it was a much safer world.  Have no desire to leave North America ever again!

[patbz]

@Pink123 : So sorry for your traumatic experience; glad you are OK.  I've been a world traveler for more than 50 years and have been robbed twice; both times in Italy, once in my 20s when stupidly left cameras in my locked ragtop convertible and about 6 years ago at Rome's train station when DH took out his money for the day, counted it, and put it back in his back pants pocket ( I guess we never learn).  When we took a cruise up coast of Brazil 12 years ago, we stayed safe by wearing no jewelry ( including wedding rings and even a cheap watch) but many on our cruise flashed their goodies and got mugged or had pockets picked.  Will we stop travelling outside of USA?No, but we will follow your suggestions, which are common sense.

[IMW]

Very sorry.

[Pink123]

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@patbz wrote:

@Pink123 : So sorry for your traumatic experience; glad you are OK.  I've been a world traveler for more than 50 years and have been robbed twice; both times in Italy, once in my 20s when stupidly left cameras in my locked ragtop convertible and about 6 years ago at Rome's train station when DH took out his money for the day, counted it, and put it back in his back pants pocket ( I guess we never learn).  When we took a cruise up coast of Brazil 12 years ago, we stayed safe by wearing no jewelry ( including wedding rings and even a cheap watch) but many on our cruise flashed their goodies and got mugged or had pockets picked.  Will we stop travelling outside of USA?No, but we will follow your suggestions, which are common sense.

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Hi @patbz  I know you are a world traveler as I've seen so many posts about your travels in the past years here.

Is the thievery going on the cruise ships or ports of call?  I would be really surprised if it was on the ships themselves.

I always have had this sixth sense or gut feeling if you will. I feel like I was set up somehow. Could it have been housekeeping or an employee at the hotel? I think it was something like that.  2 housekeeping ladies interracted with me as well and cleaned the room seeing my belongings.  I do speak a bit of spanish living in South Florida.

I do not think it was the LV bag at that moment.  There was a horrible heat wave in madrid last week and I did have a cotton linen like jacket  on top in between the jacket covering it.  

When we were walking around Madrid after dinner I saw so many vendors selling fake bags.  They put strings under the bags and net them up real quick when the police come by.  I couldn't believe how many women were perusing these things.

[Seannie]

So sorry, Pink.  This is the reason I won't go back to Spain.  My husband was set upon by four youths when he was carrying our shopping bags in Madrid.  They grabbed his front pockets to see if his wallet was in them (it wasn't), then threw a set of keys on the ground (they know we Americans are so helpful).  

The thieves wanted him to bend over so they could get in his back pockets.  He was too heavily laden so he couldn't bend down.  

I was 10 feet ahead and started screaming and they cursed and left.

I wear a waist pack or crossbody under my jacket just to make it harder for them but my husband STILL carries his wallet in his rear pocket.

It is tiring to have to be defensive at all times.  We had another incident in Spain that same trip.

Seannie

[KingstonsMom]

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@Lucky Dog wrote:

So sorry this happened to you.

I don't understand how your boyfriend texted the thief.  

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@Lucky Dog 

I know, right???

I feel that tug on my chain......

[shoesnbags]

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@kaydee50 wrote:

Sorry to hear that this happened.  Just makes me very happy once again that DH and I traveled when it was a much safer world.  Have no desire to leave North America ever again!

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@kaydee50 

Uh, not really.  My husband was the mark when we were traveling in Italy in the 1980s.  We stopped at a gelati stand that opened onto the sidewalk.  (Thieves could watch from a distance which pocket you put your wallet back into after you paid.)

About a block away DH was approached by a gypsy woman with a small child, begging.  Several blocks later hubby went for his wallet and it was gone, gone, gone.  We spent many hours in a Rome police station and then at an American Express office.  I was furious with him because we were wearing vests with zipped safety pockets, but he was too lazy to put his wallet back in that pocket.

We traveled throughout Europe many times with two small children and were never successfully targeted again because we learned to always take precautions and never take our eyes off of our belongings. 

@Pink123I am so very sorry for your lost trip.