The Travel Hack That Pickpockets Hate

Pickpocketing is a serious concern in certain travel destinations where petty thieves are known to prey on people in crowded, touristy areas. Unfortunately, it’s often the case that by the time you realize you’ve been robbed, the pickpocket is long gone, and you have no way of recovering your valuables. To avoid this dreaded scenario, travelers should stay aware of their surroundings and take precautions to protect themselves. One way to do that is with this clever hack that keeps pickpockets at bay. Here’s how to easily secure your belongings and stymie thieves from ruining your vacation.

A Simple and Stylish Solution

Whether you wear a scarf for style, warmth, or in support of your favorite soccer club, the fashion accessory can double as a makeshift lock to protect your valuables against pickpockets. This helpful hack — which we discovered from TikTok user @giiinnnaaa_ — works well with any standard zippered travel bag. However, it’s best to use a scarf thin enough to be threaded through a narrow opening.

Take the scarf and feed it through the opening of the bag’s zipper pull, much like how you’d thread a needle. Then, zip the bag shut and tie the scarf around the adjacent shoulder or wrist strap — you can tie it two or even three times for added security. The knotted scarf essentially creates a makeshift lock to keep the zipper closed, making it more difficult for a pickpocket to surreptitiously unzip your bag and grab your phone or credit card without drawing attention.

While the knotted scarf makes it tougher for thieves to gain access to your bag under the radar, it’s easy enough to untie if you need to gain access. Once you’re in a secure location, untie the scarf, unzip the bag, take out what you need, and then rezip and retie the scarf. For a visual explainer of how this works, check out the TikTok video.

Other Useful Products and Tips

Using this scarf hack isn’t the only way to deter pickpockets — there are plenty of additional products and solutions that can keep your valuables safe. First, consider investing in an anti-theft bag, which includes features such as lockable exterior zippers, RFID-blocking materials, internal zippered pockets, and slash-proof straps. Another product worth considering is a travel lanyard, which connects your phone to your wrist so a pickpocket can’t snatch the phone and run off with it.

In the unfortunate event that your phone is stolen, there’s another simple hack for recovering it. Many pickpockets turn on airplane mode the moment they snatch a phone, which cuts the signal and makes it impossible for the rightful owner to track it down. Thieves can access the control center on an iPhone by swiping down from the upper right portion of the screen, since iPhones allow anyone to do this on any phone without entering a password. However, there’s an easy way to change this setting to keep potential thieves out, which you can read about here. 

Staying Aware and Vigilant

Hacks and useful products only go so far — it’s also useful to educate yourself about situations where pickpocketing is more likely to happen, so you don’t subject yourself to danger. For instance, always remain vigilant in crowded tourist locations or on public transportation where you may be looking up at the sights instead of down at your bag or pockets. Pickpockets usually prey on distracted tourists, so try to keep your hands on your valuables in such situations.

It’s also worth noting that pickpockets often work in pairs or groups, and one may try to distract you while their cohort robs you blind. Always be cautious if a stranger approaches you, and try to protect yourself and your valuables in such situations.

Lastly, consider traveling light. In many ways, it’s better to leave things in your hotel room. Instead of taking both your phone and credit card out on the town, try uploading the card to your phone’s digital wallet. That way, if your phone gets snatched, you still have your physical credit cards back in the hotel room. The same goes for your passport — leave the passport in the hotel safe unless you absolutely need it, and explore your destination with a less critical form of identification such as your driver’s license instead.