I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I’m sending out this information anyway. Short version: Cover your hand whenever you enter your PIN number at the ATM here.
A good friend has told me of her experiences tracking pickpockets who are tracking you. She’s one of many who’ve taken an interest in nabbing them, and I applaud her wholeheartedly. Seeing that she lives on the doorstep of the Piazza San Marco, she’s perfectly situated for maximum sightings. If she can’t intervene in time by shouting, she takes a photo and sends it to the Carabinieri. That’s the drill.
Back to you.
Everybody knows that they have to be super-careful of their wallets when out and about. I always advise visitors to not carry too much cash, and to separate their credit/bank cards from their wallet.
You still have to be super-careful, but the reason for it has accelerated. Because the thieves operate in teams, she told me. Their “work,” if we want to put it that way, goes like this:
One person — whom you will never see, just assume that person is there — watches you enter your PIN number at the cash machine. If you haven’t covered your hand, he or she will immediately memorize that number.
The next person in the team of thieves follows you and he/she, or whoever is next in line in the light-fingered relay, steals your wallet the old-fashioned way. They take your bank/credit card to an ATM, enter your PIN number, and withdraw as much as they can. Many banks here have limits on how much can be withdrawn in a day, but the limit is sometimes rather high. My friend told me of someone who discovered that 1000 dollars had been removed from his account in the time it took to report the theft and block the card.
So much about Venice seems designed to give thieves the advantage: Crammed spaces, lots to look at, and you not paying attention. You can’t do anything about the first two, but it’s up to you to handle the third. Pay attention to your wallet, and your PIN number. No need to be unduly alarmed. Venice is not unlike Antarctica or the Naruto Whirlpools: Things go better if you’re prepared.
11 Comments
thank you Erla! Great advice. I tell ppl in Brussels to be careful as it is SUCH a theivery place! Sitting in cages is a national pasttime and thieves love to nab your suitcase/briefcase/handbag while you are enjoying a beer/coffee with friends. Venice is not so hot for cafes that welcome you to sit for a coffee for hours, so I guess thieves have adapted.
Sitting in cages? I was in Brussels two weeks ago and while I saw plenty of people (and presumably plenty of thieves), I don’t remember cages. Explain?
Oh oh another word magically corrected by my linguistically confused keyboard. Should read ‘sitting in cafes’.
I’ll be sure to remember that until next time.
A few years ago I did loose my bank card in Venice, on the Giudecca. When I got back from an evening walk I simply couldn’t find it in my wallet. A slight rush of panic occurred but after some thinking I remembered where I last used it so I assumed it must be there. I prepared myself to explain my predicament in my non exisistent Italian to the lady in the little supermarket. “Mi dispiace, forse ho lasciato una carta di banca gialla. Gli ultimi numer sono XXXX. Ecco mi passaporte” or something to that effect. In the morning I walked back to the little shop and no sooner had I walked in befor the lady greets me most heartily, hands me my card and, I think, gives me a mild scolding for my carelessness to leave it in her shop. Next time I might not be as lucky.
I’m glad to know there was a happy ending to the tale. You were very clever to leave it in a small shop with an attentive owner who still had a few vestigial scruples. One can’t count on such a turn of fortune, though, of course you know that. I lost my Italian ID card a few years ago and replacing it was tiresome. Not long after I had obtained the new one, I was in the supermarket and the cashier said “Oh, is this yours?” It was. It had fallen from my jacket and the staff had helpfully put it aside. They could also have helpfully walked it over to my front door, which is approximately 45 seconds from the store. Naturally I didn’t need the old one anymore.
I deeply appreciate the photo today…I’ll take a photo of it so I will always have it. Some years back I made a video (Vimeo) of the sights of Venice….first the delicious part and then The Other Venice. I loved finding the other Venice. I loved finding the music to go with it.
I’ve been to Venice may times trying to stay for at least two weeks at at time….or longer. I don’t know if I’ll ever get back so I welcome your commentaries.
As far as pickpockets go…this happened to me in London years ago. And just happened to someone in my neighborhood…..which is NYC on Broadway. And so it goes.
Thank you for the GREAT info and reminders!!! We are about to embark on a journey that includes Venice – not that Venice is unique in the pickpocket department!!
Solid advice. Additional note: pairs of pickpockets often work right at the door to public transportation (buses, metros, trains… perhaps vaporetti. By the time the victim notices something is missing, either victim or the pickpockets are in motion.
Be extra alert at the doors of public transport.
Gorgeous photographs. They make be yearn to return to Venice!
You make an excellent point; perhaps I should scribble another little post saying, first, that often the traditional wallet-snatchers looking for mere cash are young Balkan women (usually Bosnian) who are pregnant (hence innocuous) who mingle with the masses of people at the vaporetto ticket booths, scenes of concentrated confusion. Second, that if you should discover you have been pickpocketed while on the vaporetto, and you believe it happened mere seconds ago, immediately tell the captain or the person who ties up the boat. They will stop the boat and float around till the Carabinieri arrive. Sometimes the desperate thief will jump in the water, but that is obviously a losing proposition.
This is something I never want to experience, but good to know. Last I was pickpocket in Dar Es Salam, no chance to see police but the people around hate the thieves so much, wen you shout “thieves” the try to catch them and they are not politically correct, nor physically squeamish…
Ahhh. to be caged in Venice….divine….