How to avoid falling prey to pickpockets

Pickpockets are found in almost every nook and cranny of our society, and it’s always saddening when unsuspecting citizens fall into their hands.   

Despite the efforts of the security agencies in eradicating these criminal elements from society, the latter have continuously found ways to carry out their evil on innocent citizens.  

There are diverse ways in which pickpockets carry out their evil agenda, and most individuals fall prey to them because they are either not vigilant or easily distracted.   

Discussed in this article are ways of avoiding losing your money or other belongings such as smartphones, wrist watches, wallets, and so on, to pickpockets.   

  

2. Avoid body contact   

Whenever you are in a public place or a crowded area, such as markets, filling stations during fuel scarcity, malls, bus stops, garages, and so on, avoid body contact with anyone you don’t know.   

If you take public transport and it’s rush hour where the number of vehicles available is low when compared to the number of passengers available, you need to be more conscious of your pockets or bags and avoid body contact. This is because pickpockets always love to take advantage of these scenarios to rob people of their possessions.   

  

2. Make use of bags  

It is advisable that you don’t keep important items such as smartphones, wallets, AirPods, and so on in your pockets. Rather keep them in your bags.   

Make use of a bag and ensure that you hold onto the bag firmly, such that it will be difficult to snatch from you.   

If you’re making use of a school bag, you can put it on your chest rather than at the back. If it’s a laptop bag, you can slide it across your shoulder to the front. if it is a female bag, ensure that one of your arms is across it.  

  

3. Avoid watching people making a scene in public places  

When you are in a public place, always resist the urge to watch people arguing, fighting or making a scene.   

Some individuals only need to hear a sound in a public place, and they will want to watch the scene from the beginning to the end. They are always the peacemakers or the person through which other passengers will get the full gist of what ensued.  

Doing this is an evidence of your lack of self-control and it will only make you a soft target to pickpockets and petty thieves.   

  

4. Never get too engrossed when conversing with strangers   

By all means, avoid conversing with strangers in a public place and if you must, do not get too engrossed in your conversation.   

The way some individuals converse with a person they are just meeting for the first time on public transport or in a public place makes you want to ask if they’ve known each other for years.  

While you’re engrossed in your conversation, pickpockets can easily steal from you because they know you are distracted. In order for you not to fall prey to pickpockets, avoid conversing or getting engrossed in conversations with strangers.   

  

5. Do not keep your stuff in a single location   

Another way of avoiding falling prey to pickpockets is to avoid keeping all your stuff in a single location.   

Endeavour to always split your stuff evenly in your bags and pockets.  For instance, you can keep some cash in your pockets and another in your bag, while your smartphone can be in another location.   

This is to avoid getting stranded in case you lose one of your possessions to pickpockets.   

  

6. Check your pockets or bags regularly   

Whenever you are in a public place such as the market, ensure you check your pockets and bags from time to time. This will help avoid an embarrassing situation in a public place if you have been robbed by a pickpocket unknowingly.   

  

7. Always wind up   

If you’re in traffic, for instance, it is always advisable that you wind up the windows of your car. Avoid a case where you want to buy a  snack from those who sell in the traffic and you have forgotten that your phone is on one of the seats of the car. On sighting your phone, these pickpockets may plan with the person you are buying from in order to distract you from the phone so they can steal it without you being aware.  

  

6. Avoid having too much cash on you  

When you are going to a public place without your car, it is best you carry a little cash. Some of these pickpockets sometimes use black magic or juju to know if a person has a huge amount of money on them, and if this is affirmative, they try all their possible best to get such an amount from you.  

  

You can avoid falling prey to pickpockets if only you become more vigilant and conscious while in public places. 

 

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