theft

Latin American ATM Scams/Thefts
Latin American ATM Scams/Thefts 1920 2560 Greg Ellifritz

In my book Choose Adventure: Safe Travels in Dangerous Places, I cautioned tourists to avoid “helpful” locals at the ATM machine and to shield the keypad from view while you are entering your PIN number.  Watch this short video to see real-life examples of ATM scams and thefts.  It’s very well done and you can see how smooth many of these criminals are.

 

Watch Out for Scammers at the ATMs in Mexico

 

Travel Theft
Travel Theft 880 643 Greg Ellifritz

A fairly in-depth article about the way that thieves operate in foreign countries.

 

Read it thoroughly.

 

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

Pickpockets
Pickpockets 600 150 Greg Ellifritz

Pickpocketing is incredibly common in Europe as well as in the developing world.  It’s likely the single most common crime committed against tourists.

 

Check out the link below.  It contains a comprehensive guide to pickpocketing tactics.  Pay extra attention to all of the distractions listed in the article.  Those are the ones that tend to be very successful against most people.

How to Avoid Getting Pickpocketed

 

How Thieves Operate
How Thieves Operate 875 603 Greg Ellifritz

This is a fairly in-depth article about the way that thieves operate in foreign countries.  It’s well worth the few minutes it takes to read it.  Almost all the thefts I’ve seen in my foreign travels has fit into one of the author’s categories.  Highly recommended.

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