What to Do If You Are Pickpocketed While Travelling

You can be as careful as you like with your belongings and still be pickpocketed. It happens in every part of the world, to people who thought they were paying attention. What follows is based on personal experience: what to do when the wallet, the cards or the passport are gone.

Before you go: know the risk

Read up on your destination before you arrive and find out whether the city or region reports a lot of theft each year. If it does, other travellers and locals will usually have posted advice online. Some popular destinations, among them Barcelona, Paris and Rome, are said to be risky. During Carnival you should also be careful in Cologne. Wherever you are, crowded places are the danger points — metro trains and stations especially, because people in a crowd are easy targets.

The first hour

1. Get to a police station. If you cannot find one, ask officials at the nearest station for directions to the right post.
2. Block your credit and debit cards immediately. The police station will have emergency numbers for the major card companies. If you have internet access, look up your bank's 24-hour hotline and call them directly.
3. File an FIR. You will be given a form to list everything you lost: a description of the bag or wallet, the amount of cash, cards, keys, anything else. State all of it. You will also need to write down where and when it happened and any details you can remember.

The days that follow

Once the form is submitted, ask for a copy and keep it safe. It is the document that lets you follow the case, and you will need it again later.

If your passport is gone, call or visit your country's embassy where you are. Take the FIR with you and ask for a temporary travel document so that you can fly home without trouble.

If you are leaving the city shortly, you can email the police station a few days later to follow up, quoting your reference number.

You may be asked to submit copies of the lost documents if you live nearby. This is much easier if you already keep scanned copies of the important ones — visa, passport, insurance card — somewhere you can reach from your phone.

If you are left with no money

Without a wallet or cards, call someone you know in the city, or ask a friend to send money through Western Union or Moneygram, whichever transfer method works best where you are.

When you get home

Contact your insurance company and claim what you can if you have travel cover. The copy of the FIR is the proof they will ask for, and it is also needed if you have to apply for a re-issue of essential documents such as a residence permit or a passport.

If you are travelling from India

For a Schengen visa, check the list of companies officially recognised for the Schengen Visa before you buy insurance or book through an agent.

Prevention, for next time

Theft-proof bags and accessories exist for a reason: they make it harder to slash a bag or lift a wallet, and some protect the information on your cards as well. They are not a guarantee, but they raise the effort required. The other habits are free: keep cards and cash in different places, do not keep everything in one bag, and pay attention at the moment you step onto a crowded train.

None of this makes a theft pleasant. But knowing the sequence in advance turns a very bad day into a set of tasks you can work through.