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The Kings of Thieves: Gypsies
A traveler's guide to spotting and foiling gypsies and their pickpocketing children in Europe
A gypsy woman begging—with an infant for bonus sympathy points—outside a market in Bologna, Italy.
First off, I've got nothing against the Rom people. Most are decent, hard-working folks. Thing is, it's unlikely you'll meet any of this kind of gypsy—which is what the Romany are usually called.
(Actually, most Italians refer to them as zingari, which means "mosquitoes" and is really a rather impolite racial epithet.)
No, most of the gypsies a traveler will come into contact with show up in tourist-heavy spots like major sights and transportation hubs for one reason: to squeeze money out of you.
Since they are so easy to spot, and their techniques so easy to avoid or foil, here's a quick rundown of common gypsy schemes.
Gypsy techniques and how to foil them
The Anthropological Explanation Behind Gypsy Thievery
The Rom or Romany—as gypsies prefer to be called—consider themselves to be descended from Lilith, Adam's first wife in the Garden of Eden, according to some versions of the Old Testament.
Adam apparently found Lilith to be a bit too uppity—she was an early women's libber—and asked God for a more pliant wife. After another false start (Adam watched God make another woman from dust, as he had done with Adam, was mightily disgusted, refused this nameless Second Woman, and she faded away), God put Adam to sleep, plucked one of his ribs, and spun it into Eve.
The serpent, forbidden fruit, and expulsion from the garden ensued...but Lilith wasn't part of this whole flaming sword drama.
Since Lilith never committed original sin, and hence never fell from God's grace, her descendents are free to do whatever they like to us sinners.
Hey, I didn't say it made sense; it's just anthropology.
Though many gypsies go either traditional route to separate you from your money (begging or surreptitious pickpocketing), some take a different approach.
For
some of these semi-nomadic peoples, thievery is a way of life, and they’re
masterful at it. Gypsies are often easy to spot for their colorful but
dirty and ragged clothes, often (with the women) in layers of thin scarves
and shawls.
Gypsies are most prevalent here in Southern Europe, but you’ll find them everywhere. They tend to congregate where the easiest marks are (that means you, tourist), especially around major tourist attractions like the Colosseum and St. Peter's in Rome, and on tourist-heavy trains like the Circumvesuviana that runs from Naples to Pompeii and Sorrento.
The adults mainly beg—and are very pushy about it. It's the kids you have to look out for. They’ll swarm you, babbling and sometimes holding up bits of cardboard with messages scrawled on them in English to distract you.
Then, faster than you can say “Hey!...”, they'll rifle your pockets while the cardboard shields their hands from view.
Near walls and in subway tunnels, they’ll even be so bold as to pin you against the wall with the cardboard so as to fleece you more easily.
They aren’t really physically dangerous, but they are very adept at taking your stuff—and they’re damn tough to catch.
The best defense is to be on the lookout. If a group of scruffy children approaches, jabbering, yell “No!” forcefully, glare, and keep walking. If they persist, yell “Polizia!” as loudly as you can. Most will back off.
If they get near enough to touch you, push them violently away—don’t hold back just because they’re kids.
A gypsy begging outside the baptistery in Florence. Take a page from my dad's
book, a technique he invented on the fly while strolling
through a Rome Metro tunnel with two month's rent (in cash) in his pocket
when, suddenly, we were beset
by gypsies:
Act
just a
wee bit crazy.
Jump up, do a full spin, and come down in a karate stance with a primal scream.
Dad sure didn't win awards for his Bruce Lee impression (and I doubt the gypsies seriously thought he knew karate), but those kids bugged their eyes and scattered but fast.
All thieves, whether gypsy or not, prefer befuddled, clueless-looking targets and would rather steer clear of the wackos.
(For more of my dad's patented traveler crime-fighting techniques, see the page on losing things.)
Related pages
- Pickpockets
- Moneybelts (so you can't be easily pickpocketed)
- Packing list (includes many thief-foiling items)
- The art of losing things
- Rip-offs & scams
- Train safety
- Finding your consulate / embassy
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This material was last updated February 2010. All information was accurate at the time.
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