Security experts have explained a ‘simple yet effective’ way to protect your bags from thieves while travelling. Paul Evans fromI-Spy Detectivessays the best way to put thieves off when you are abroad is to ‘make your bag look worthless’.
He said pickpockets don’t steal at random, but choose their targets carefully and often look for easy opportunities. Paul said: “If you are walking around with a designer bag, you may as well be holding up a sign that says ‘Rob Me’.
“A branded bag or sparkly clean suitcase is a magnet for thieves and suggests that you could be hiding something expensive inside. If criminals see a branded bag or something that looks new they’ll assume that it contains valuables like a phone, camera, passport and money.
“An old tattered and scruffy bag on the other hand subconsciously suggests that you don’t care about the bag or its contents, it suggests that there’s nothing inside worth stealing.”
Making your bag look worn out, dirty or even slightly damaged, significantly lowers the chance of you being targeted when travelling.
Criminals want the easiest and most profitable opportunity, so they are more likely to go after travellers with expensive-looking luggage rather than someone carrying a bag that appears old or unremarkable. By deliberately making your backpack look less desirable, you effectively shift their attention elsewhere, reducing your chances of falling victim to theft.
Paul said before you travel, rub dirt on your backpack and scuff it up a bit, the goal is to make the bag look like you have had it for years. You shouldn’t do this to your favourite bag warns the expert.
“Buy an old unbranded bag online, look for one that has been worn out and has seen better days. Places like eBay, Facebook marketplace, charity shops and even websites like Vinted are brilliant places to find worn backpacks, ” said Paul.
Once you have your worn backpack you can make it look more worn out with some sandpaper, dirt and dust.Just because you have lowered your chances of being pickpocketed it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to be vigilant.
“Avoid obvious tourist behaviour such as checking your phone for directions every 10 seconds, if you need to follow a map put a set of airpods in and listen to the directions through your map app, this way you aren’t looking at the screen and don’t look like you are distracted.
“If you do have to carry expensive items on you when travelling, never keep them in outer pockets, these are the easiest to reach by would-be thieves,” warns Paul.