![]() In this scenario, pickpockets pounce with a newspaper or a magazine that they pretend to read, while the victim is looking away, perhaps at the times on the board. To prevent this kind of theft you must always cover your pin, advisably by the use of your wallet to shield your fingers. But really anyone is a target,' said Windsor. They might be distracted more easily or not very good at hiding their pin number. ![]() 'I believe the elderly are a particular target for criminals who use this method. While the target is distracted, the picker dives in to take the card out the machine, leaving them thinking the card had been swallowed when they look back round. The prevention in this case is to always place an arm or a leg through the bag handle.įor this distraction technique, one thief watches their unsuspecting victim entering their pin number, while a co-conspirator drops money on the floor and interrupts the victim to deviously ask if they had dropped the note. 'The person who distracted the victim often stays to pretend to help them find the missing item - when they were the one who helped take it. 'This also happens on busy beaches in holiday resorts, for example by selling someone something and getting them to look away for a moment,' said Windsor. When distracted by one member of the pickpocket team asking for directions, the woman is an easy target for his accomplice, who strolls past and picks up her unwatched handbag In this case the staller drops a bag on the escalator, forcing the victim to help prevent a human traffic jam building up.īut this leaves the picker behind ample opportunity to swipe the victim's valuables from their pocket. Often used on the busy Underground, in this tactic the picker stands behind the victim while the staller creates a distraction in front. So here are the common situations, and how just a small change can make enough of a deterrent: ![]() In these seven everyday scenarios the 45-year-old performer from Cheadle Hulme in Cheshire acts out how pickpockets deftly dive in to take your precious valuables, before slipping away unnoticed. It took a couple of years to learn,' said Windsor who has now turned the skill into a full-time job. 'I learnt from books written by guys who did it as a stage act in the music hall days back in the 1940s. He's been working as a magician and pickpocket for 20 years, having taught himself how to steal people's belongings unsuspected. Windsor – whose sleight-of-hand victims include Prince Edward - plays either the role of the pocket 'picker' or the 'staller', alongside a 'co-thief', to rob an unsuspecting blonde-haired passer-by in London. He has some useful crime prevention advice to offer Matt Windsor (right) works as a professional magician, specialising in picking pockets and stealing watches at dinners like this one.
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