Becoming a victim of pickpockets and being left without money and documents abroad is a nightmare for thousands of travelers. In busy areas and near popular attractions, tourists have to be especially vigilant.
Risk zone
Experts from a travel insurance aggregator have ranked European countries by the degree of risk associated with street thefts.
The company used reviews from holidaymakers to count the number of mentions of pickpockets near the top five tourist attractions in each country.
According to the results of the study, Italy turned out to be a popular country among foreigners, where you are most likely to be robbed if you are careless.
Those who came to admire the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Roman Pantheon, as well as the Milan Cathedral and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, left 1,906 online reviews of street thefts in 2022.
This equates to 463 mentions of pickpockets for every million visitors to the Apennines’ main attractions, the highest of any European country.
France has the second-highest number of mentions of pickpockets, with 283 per million visitors. All five attractions observed by Quotezone experts are located in the country’s capital, Paris.
The Netherlands ranked third on the pickpocket index.
Despite Barcelona’s poor reputation, Spain only came sixth on the list. There were five times fewer references to theft in reviews than in Italy.
The countries with the fewest reports of pickpockets were Ireland (30 mentions per million visitors) and Poland (18).
How to protect yourself from pickpockets?
An emergency can happen anywhere, and popular attractions are convenient places where criminals can take possession of the wallets and bags of tourists while they are impressed by the beauty they see.
Iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Trevi Fountain in Rome are especially popular among pickpockets because they can move around unnoticed among large crowds.
The expert recommends that tourists leave valuables, such as expensive jewelry, in a hotel safe.
Try to never leave personal items unattended, as insurance companies require travelers to take “reasonable care” and may deny theft claims if items are left unattended.
It is also important to write a statement to the police if you become a victim of a pickpocket, as this will confirm the insured event.
It is also useful to have digital and paper copies of important documents. Download the Find My Phone app and make sure all your data is backed up and your photos are automatically uploaded to one of the cloud services.