The Clever Travel Companion Updates

How to avoid a pickpocket November 17 2017, 0 Comments

The below video comes from a Chinese public service announcement to help members of the public identify and avoid pickpockets. As China has grown and more and more of the population join the ranks of the middle class, cities become more cramped, valuables become more available and more popular, as a result a number of cities have suffered from increased numbers of pickpockets and related crimes. 

The video is a great resource for any safety conscious travelers, especially those who might be considering China as a destination! It also demonstrates the number of ingenious and well developed methods pickpockets will use not only to get their hands on your valuables but to do so without ever being seen. That said, none of the victims in the below vid had access to Clever Travel Companion clothing, so they're already at a disadvantage! 

 


Hero Coffee Shop Owner Tackles Pickpocket! August 23 2017, 0 Comments

This story originally appeared in WRIC Virginia local news and is an inspirational example of an everyday hero. The owner of a coffee shop acted without thought for himself when a customer screamed that her purse had just been stolen. He charged after the assailants, eventually catching up to them and retrieving the customers valuables - I think we can all agree, every coffee shop needs an owner like this! It's worth remembering though, not all victims of theft are lucky enough to have a hero on hand to help out, so take care to ensure you don't put yourself in a position of danger.

 

 

Co-owner Walter Bordeaux said it was a good day at The Coffee Tree on Colonial Avenue: “Everything was going great. We had plenty of customers,” he said.
A customer was seated outside, not far from where Bordeaux stood, when there was a commotion: “The customer runs around the corner here and screams, ‘They stole my purse!’ As soon as they said that, without any hesitation, I just took off running.”

Surveillance video shows several young people running down the street. Bordeaux eventually caught up with some of the group and asked a question, he said. “‘Why are you doing this to your community? You know? Because I want to be a part of this community. Why are you doing this?’” At that point, someone dropped the purse and Bordeaux returned it to the customer, he said.
“I’m glad nothing escalated. I’m glad they were just kids. I’m glad they didn’t put up a fight and I hope they see the error of their ways,” Bordeaux said.

He and co-owner Dee Stewart took over the shop two months ago. It was a dream for them. Bordeaux said wants the community to know he supports them — and needs their support, too. “They were good kids. They just made a mistake, and I hope that they learn from that mistake, but I just want to let everybody know, we do support our community.” Police said detectives are investigating.

For information and tips on how to stay safe and out of harms way, check out our travel safety tips guide or better yet, pick up some pickpocket proof travel gear and keep your valuables to yourself at all times.

 

The Eiffel Tower... Pickpocket heaven? July 13 2017, 0 Comments

Eiffel Tower Police 

The Eiffel Tower in Paris is one of the sites that is probably on every single person's bucket list, at least every single avid traveler's. It's an engineering marvel and an iconic tower, representing France and known by all around the world. Something people perhaps don't quite know however is the plague of pickpockets that have used The Eiffel Tower as their area of operations for years now. They're very aware of the amount of valuable tourists that flock to the modern marvel at all times of the year, they're aware of their valuables and they're aware of how to dispossess them of such valuables, in fact they have made a very wealthy living out of it, with some reports suggesting they earn around $4000 USD per DAY off of stolen goods.

Security forces have had exceptional difficulty in trying to control the situation and even CLOSED the tourist attraction to the public back in 2015 as the situation spiraled out of control and staff staged a walkout due to abuse from the pickpocket gangs. These organized gangs use sophisticated techniques to ensure their bounty continues, like dressing up as tourists themselves and buying tickets to enter the attraction, rather than waiting on the outside. They also employ tactics like taking selfies or asking tourists to take part in fake petitions and ever targeting the public transport routes on the way to the attraction. It's not just pickpocketing that is the problem too, violent crime has become a worrying symptom of these gangs having been able to operate for so long. After all, their thievery is worth hundreds of thousands of Euros per year, which is then sent out of the country, often to the gangs home countries of Romania or Bulgaria.

75% of visitors to the Eiffel Tower are foreign tourists, that's a staggering 7 million people per year, which makes it the most visited, paid monument in the world and its growing year on year. This recent TripAdvisor review comes from someone who suggests the problem of pickpockets is not abating, despite additional security measures and several big arrests. 

Naturally we would never suggest that you don't visit one of the worlds most famous monuments due to some silly thieves, you absolutely must include it in your bucket list of things to do. But be wary of course, try to outsmart the pickpockets rather than the other way around. Be on your guard, if you're approached by someone you don't know, keep your hands on your valuables - or even better, pick up some Clever Travel Companion gear. Outsmarting the rabble of pickpockets was precisely what it was designed for!

 

 

 

Recent Articles

How to avoid a pickpocket Posted on November 17, 2017

Hero Coffee Shop Owner Tackles Pickpocket! Posted on August 23, 2017

The Eiffel Tower... Pickpocket heaven? Posted on July 09, 2017

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