Horse thieves hit town
AS FEATURED ON ABC STATEWIDE DRIVE WITH KATHY BEDFORD
The big Aussie scam story this week is reports coming in of con artists flying in from Eastern Europe to skim credit cards, pick pockets and generally cause trouble at the spring racing carnival.
As an Australian con artist I’m not sure how I feel about these Romanian and Bulgarian swindlers coming in, stealing jobs away from hard working local.
But it could be far worse. The current cost of an airfare to Australia is around $2000AUD. So only the most dedicated swindlers are making the trip down under. However, in Europe, thanks to low budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet, you can fly almost anywhere for under $50.
Now, all of the major European cities are hit by con artists who fly into town, make as much money as they can and then move on to the next city. In June, I bumped into the same con artist in Barcelona and Stockholm in the same month.
If you do go the races and you find yourself up against these Eastern European hucksters, here are a few tips:-
1) Always keep your wallet in your inside jacket pocket. Better still, keep it in my inside jacket pocket.
2) Don’t make a big deal if you win. Your “Watch-Me-Rub-My-Thousands-Of-Dollars-Cash-All-Over-My-Body” dance may draw unwanted attention.
3) Avoid women in head scarves and peasant dresses or men with a single gold hoop earrings and a puffy piratesque shirt. This is how all Eastern Europeans dress.
4) Avoid situations where people rub up against you. This includes lines for the toilet, public transport and the Lambada – the forbidden dance.
5) Be aware if someone offers to help clean a mark of some kind off your coat. This is a classic ploy of pickpockets. They secretly spill ice-cream on your jacket then offer to clean it off, stealing your wallet. This is a criminal waste of ice cream.
You might also enjoy this video I put together from earlier this year. It’s from the 1959 film The Pickpocket and features annotation by me…
One Comment to
You crack me up Mr Johnson.