巴黎窃贼瞄准中国游客 反扒指南为你支招

It's known as the City of Light, but it risks becoming known as the city of the light-fingered.

Paris, the most visited city in the world by many counts, has been suffering a spate of pickpocketing -- and one of its main targets appears to be that relatively new group of tourists, the Chinese.

Petty crimes against Chinese nationals have jumped 22% in the city this year, according to Paris police.

Chinese visitors are thought to be particularly tempting because of a cultural preference for carrying cash over credit cards, the South China Morning Post reported.

They could also often be distracted more easily than some more experienced tourists.

Twitter warnings

Outraged visitors to Paris -- as well as Parisians themselves -- have posted warnings against the pickpocketing epidemic on Twitter.

"The annual August exodus from Paris has begun, the 7th arrondissement is deserted, only beggars, pickpockets ... and tourists [remain]," reads one post.

Another tweet warns, in French, of the latest pickpocketing technique: a thief pretends to be disabled and asks for your seat on the metro, only to relieve you of your possessions as you clumsily swap places.

A further post succinctly sums up the pickpockets' recent nationality bias: "Chinese tourists hate credit cards; French pickpockets love their cash."

Chinese tourism: The good, the bad and the backlash

Cash preference

Tourists from China not only often trust cash over cards but also, along with Russians, are among the biggest spenders in Paris -- and they often spend indiscreetly.

"I, and many people I know, have often been approached by the Asian tourists thronging outside the Louis Vuitton store on the Champs-Elysées, who approach you with cash to buy bags for them, as the store limits each customer to two," Paul Roll, director of the Office du Tourisme de Paris, told the Telegraph.

Parisian businesses are worried the risk of theft might drive Chinese travelers elsewhere.

The number of visitors from China to Paris last year, 1.4 million, was 23% up from 2011, the SCMP reports.

The city is a favorite destination among wealthy Chinese.

But a group of luxury retailers, including Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes, recently warned that top spenders would visit London or Milan instead, if Paris came to seem too risky.

Paris tries to befriend tourists... by stereotyping them

Extra police

French officials have acknowledged the pickpocketing surge, putting 200 extra police on patrol around top tourist attractions and publishing a "Guide to Staying Safe in Paris" in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish -- one of several such guides acknowledging the extent of the problem.

The Paris police advice goes little beyond the need to be vigilant, but it does warn against carrying a backpack -- which can easily be pilfered because it's usually out of direct view.

It also says some thieves in Paris are impersonating police and asking for ID and proof that tourists are carrying money, which they then try to snatch.

Perhaps the most widely noted pickpocketing technique is for thieves to approach marks at cash registers, asking if they can help with a "petition."

As they loiter, they note the customers' PINs, then follow them and pickpocket their cards to withdraw money themselves later.

Copy your passport

The U.S. embassy in Paris also publishes an anti-pickpocketing guide.

"Make a copy of your passport, and front and back of everything that you have in your wallet," is some of its less obvious advice.

"Ladies," it says, "only carry purses that zip."

The guide also warns against another pickpocketing technique -- the metro "crush and grab," whereby a bunch of fellow "passengers" jostle you and pick your pocket as you get on or off a train.

Spilling water or ice cream on a potential victim is yet another method. Profusely apologizing, one of a pickpocketing pair will vigorously dust you down after the fake accident, while a collaborator steals your wallet or camera.

Don't wear shorts

So recognized is the Paris pickpocketing problem, that even TripAdvisor has a dedicated page of advice. It recommends the BeSafe smartphone app, created by a pair of French students, which collates data from police reports to display the most crime-prone areas in Paris in real time.

It also suggests how not to look like an obvious tourist.

Use the small "Paris Pratique" guide, it says, favored by French visitors to the city, rather than a large foldout map.

And, finally, don't wear shorts: Parisians consider them only vacation attire.

据美国有线电视资讯网8月7日报道，巴黎被称为灯火之城，如今却有可能沦为惯偷之城。世界旅游胜地巴黎吸引各国游客的同时也引来了窃贼的光临，喜欢携带现金的中国游客成为他们的主要目标。

***推特警告

据巴黎警方透露，巴黎今年发生的针对中国游客的轻微犯罪增长了22%。中国游客备受小偷的特别是因为他们偏爱携带现金而不是信用卡。另外，与更有经验的游客相比，他们往往更容易分心。

愤怒的游客以及巴黎人纷纷在推特上发布警告。有人写道“每年八月巴黎人外出度假已经开始，第七区空了，只剩下乞丐、扒手……和游客。”

有的提请注意法国最新的扒窃技术：小偷假扮残疾，请你在地铁上让座，就在你忙不迭地让座时，迅速偷走你的财物。

还有人简洁地总结了扒手的喜好：“中国游客讨厌信用卡，法国扒手喜欢他们的现金。”

中国游客不仅更信任现金而不是信用卡，而且和俄罗斯游客一起成为巴黎最大的消费者——他们往往不假思索地花钱。

“我和我认识的许多人经常碰到挤在香榭丽舍大街路易威登（LV）商店外面的亚洲游客。他们常常拿着现金找我们，让我们帮他们买包，因为该店限制每位顾客只能买两个包。”巴黎旅游局局长保罗·罗尔对英国《每日电讯报》说。

据媒体报道，去年前往巴黎观光的中国游客多达140万人，比2011年增长了23%。

但是，巴黎企业担心失窃风险可能会促使中国游客移师他处。包括香奈尔、路易威登和爱马仕在内的奢侈品零售商最近警告说，如果巴黎变得太危险，这些顶级消费者将转而游览伦敦或米兰。

***不要背包

法国官员承认扒窃案件激增，增派200名警察在热门景点周围巡逻，推出中文、日语、韩语和西班牙语的《巴黎旅游安全指南》。

巴黎警方建议游客保持必要的警惕，警告游客不要背着包，因为背包通常不在视野范围之内，更容易为窃贼光顾。

指南还指出，巴黎的一些小偷甚至冒充警察，要求拿着现金的游客出示身份证件和证明材料，然后伺机抢劫。

小偷还往往接近收银机旁的偷窃对象，一边磨蹭一边记下顾客的身份证号码，然后尾随顾客，偷取他们的信用卡，随后自己去取钱。

***复印护照

美国驻巴黎大使馆也发布了一个反扒指南，建议游客“复印你的护照以及钱包一切物品的正反面”，并要求“女士们，只携带有拉链的钱包。”

指南还提醒游客防范另一种扒窃技术——在你上下地铁时，一群“乘客”在你身边挤来挤去，顺势掏你身上的口袋。

还有一招是向人身上溅水或冰淇淋，然后不停地道歉，拼命拂去你身上的污迹，另一名合作者则趁机偷走你的钱包或相机。

***不穿短裤

巴黎扒窃问题严重，甚至著名旅游网站TripAdvisor专门建立了一个反扒建议网页，推荐使用由法国两名学生设计的手机应用程序BeSafe——它收集了来自警方报告的数据，能够实时显示巴黎最易发犯罪地区；还向游客说明如何让自己看起来不那么像游客：不要使用折页的大地图，不要穿短裤，因为巴黎人认为短裤只是度假服装。