I went to Amsterdam with my now-wife. A lady followed us from the train station all the way to our hotel, about 1 mile. All along the way she was attempting to unzip our rolling suitcase that we were pulling behind us.
I noticed her "all up in our grill" along the way but just assumed that the Europeans had a smaller personal space bubble than Americans. When we got to our hotel we had to be beeped in. The lady was right there behind us STILL. I thought "Wow, what a coincidence, this lady who has been walking with us the whole way is also staying at our hotel!" Yes, I was naive.
Even in the tiny foyer of the hotel, she was trying to steal from our bag. I and the now-wife were completely oblivious to what was happening. Then, a minute later, a plaincothes policeman appeared and told me to go to my room and inspect the bags immediately. I asked why and he said he had been following us the whole way and had seen what the lady was doing. He said she was a gypsy and part of an organized crime gang that did this all the time. Although the officer was very professional and businesslike, when he said the word "gypsy" I could detect disgust in his voice, as if he did not approve of an alien, criminal culture infesting his country.
So anyway, that filthy damn dirty gypsy stole some of our postcards, and was not apprehended that day.
That is quite a story. We have been to Europe many times, mostly on business. We have lost 2 cameras to thieves. The first one was while we were checking in to the hotel. I put the camera on the counter and while we were both standing right there someone slipped up and took it. The other time was when I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe with the camera on the chair next to me. Finished my coffee and the camera was gone. I can’t say they were gypsies or just regular old pick pockets. I have a friend who was pick pocketed while she was in a bank in Europe. She changed some money and put money and her passport in her (big open) purse. When she got out on the sidewalk she checked and both were gone.
I saw some pick pockets at work in New Orleans but I have never been victimized here in the US. Just lucky I guess!