What To Do If You Are Robbed Abroad

Chancery of the Manila American Embassy. Offic...

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Whether you are traveling abroad to do volunteer work or to take the leisurely vacation of your dreams, the possibility of being robbed is unfortunately always present. Thieves watch for particular traits in people and single them out; try not to dress to flashy, to wear expensive jewelry, or to flash fancy cell phones or large amounts of money around during your trip abroad. Sometimes the thing that singles you out is something you can’t help, such as your ethnicity.

If you do end up being robbed despite your best efforts not to look like a target, always have a backup plan for what to do. Here are the steps that you should take after a robbery:

  1. Get out of the area. This is especially important if you were robbed somewhere isolated or during the night — get out of danger before you do anything else.
  2. Go to the local police station and report your stolen items in detail. If you can’t speak the local language, skip to step 3 instead.
  3. Go to the local embassy or consulate. Both are havens for travelers in a foreign country; United States embassies are run by United States government officials who can help you replace stolen passports and deactivate stolen credit cards. Embassies will often even give you travel money to get home if your money was all stolen by the thieves.
  4. If you didn’t visit the police station before, do so now. The embassy or consulate should help you with language barriers that might get in the way of reporting the theft to the local authorities.

Having a plan is always an asset, especially when traveling abroad.

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Common Pickpocket and Thief Tactics

Purse-Snatchers

Image by Matthew McVickar via Flickr

If you’re traveling abroad, you should be aware that thieving is very much alive all over the world. Thieves target tourists in particular because they tend to have more money on them than the average person, and because any foreign items on them such as cell phones can sell for a high price.

Here are some common pickpocketing and thieving tactics to watch out for.

  1. Distraction tactics. This often involves two or more thieves. One will distract you by bumping into you, striking up a conversation, or asking you for the time, and the others rob you while your attention is directed at the first person.
  2. Hit (or drive by) and run tactics. Drive-by purse snatchings aren’t as uncommon as you might believe in foreign countries, particularly Europe. Even more unbelievable is the opposite — thieves snatch your purse out of your open car window as you drive by!
  3. Fool you into stopping tactics. These thieves are more dangerous, because they confront you head-on. They will typically block the road, put down things in the road to pop your car tires then pretend to help you with them, or pretend they have a broken down car and that they need your help. When you stop to help, they rob you.
  4. Inside vehicle tactics. Some thieves will rob everyone inside a subway or train car, or pretend to be a taxi and then drive you elsewhere so that they can rob you.

These are some common tactics used by thieves and pickpockets you might encounter while traveling abroad. Be wary even of children and people claiming to be from an official organization. Better safe than sorry.

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