Pickpockets Nice St Augustin (Airport)

[peteb]

Advice to anyone travelling to Nice and taking the train from the local station (St Augustin): to access the station with baggage there's one glass elevator from the street. Two women hang around this and enter with you. One then "attempts" to press platform level whilst actually holding the doors open with another button. This distracts those in the lift whilst her friend unzips bags, money belts etc. We were wise to this, and when my wife challenged her in fluent French the two fled empty handed. Needless to say the station staff couldn't give a monkey's and we just got a Gallic shrug when we reported the incident!

 

[WolvertonWorks]

We were on the train from Osnabruk to Amsterdam on Monday and they made announcements a number of times, in multiple languages including English, to keep a close eye on one's baggage as pickpockets were about.

We didn't witness the theft but just after the station prior to Amsterdam a young man who had been sitting a few rows in front of us started walking along the carriage looking for something. Then it transpired that his backpack, which had been on the seat beside him, on the aisle side, had disappeared.

Some passengers who were sitting nearby then told him they'd noticed a man who walked along the aisle just as the train was pulling into the station casually pick up the backpack and continue walking to leave the train, cross the platform and board the awaiting train opposite. The thief appeared to be very practised at this method.

I can only assume the owner of the backpack was dozing and hadn't thought that by leaving it in the seat on the aisle side he was leaving it an easy target for a thief.