I learned the hard way in a crowded scene (a holy festival) that anything you carry that’s accessible and unprotected can and will be taken from you.
A long-time gringa ex-pat in Central America taught me the survival trick. Carry a tear-drop Ameribag with your valuables in its inner pockets, not loose in the main section. Do not sling it over your back if anybody is anywhere near; cradle it in your arms for maximum protection. Run a steel cable through the shoulder strap and around the body to deter slash-and-grab thieves.
In Paris a few months ago, an unrealistically angry man suddenly started remonstrating my wife for carrying her phone (actually a cheapo Android no-brander she uses specifically for quick’n’dirty snaps, value maybe €50 tops) in the back pocket of her jeans. That is, he was pretending to be a concerned do-gooder giving her the “Jesus, take better care of your stuff” spiel. She’d only just put it there for a moment to unscrew the top of a water bottle, as it happened.
This was at the Trocadero, with that famous view across the Seine of the Eiffel Tower (think, sadly, of that Hitler pic), on a sunny afternoon, and I emphasise the place was crawling with mobile phones in various states of easy snatchability. It IS a known pickpocketing hotspot (what tourist site isn’t? ) but it still seemed strange to me.
He moved away when I got involved, with one last angry patronising reminder that “It’s Paris, you know???” but I’m 99% sure he was an active pickpocket who either got interrupted mid-move (or believed he did) and reacted with a prepared play-act.
Anyone every seen that “But I’m the gatekeeper, not the poacher” defence from such scumbags before?
The way that the camera shakes in sync with here walk seems to indicate that she was filming it with a selfie stick. Also, her filming probably made the thieves target them (because they were distracted).
The only thing that made me initially wonder if it could be staged was that the woman coincidentally noticed that her wallet was stolen only shortly after it happened. What made her check just then? You’d think that she wouldn’t notice until much later. I guess it is a little weird to be self filming a casual conversation with another while walking down a street too… but maybe the selfie culture has gone that far.
I was stonedly wavering homeward one 1972 night near San Francisco’s Painted Ladies when a guy stopped me, waved a significant knife, and demanded my money. I emptied my wallet: a Spiro Agnew dollar and a Confederate $5 note. No credit cards. Too bad. He muttered “Oh shit,” folded the switchblade, and left. Good thing he didn’t find the quarter in my back pocket.
Disagree, it’s actually harder for a third party to stay so close without them running into the camera person. I’ve recorded video similar to this, switching hands. Pretty easy stuff.