6 ms·

I had my backpack - with (work) laptop, both passports, wallet, house keys, etc. - stolen from a pub in Euston a couple of years ago. All that remained in my po

by NamTaf 1y ago

I had my backpack - with (work) laptop, both passports, wallet, house keys, etc. - stolen from a pub in Euston a couple of years ago. All that remained in my pockets was my phone & power bank, and airpods. It was stolen by a guy who went into the pub we were at, sat at an adjacent table, pretended to study the menu, deposited a dummy backpack to the communal pile under our table when we were standing to greet people, then picked up the heaviest one (mine) and walked out. Unlike the author, I wasn't black-out drunk, we were just distracted and someone was able to do a sleight of hand when we weren't paying attention. The author is very lucky to get theirs back. I had to replace it all. As they say, replacing the UK one wasn't too bad - though I hadn't been in the UK for 2 years by that point so I had to get extra guarantors to sign photos and write a declaration. The other one was a nightmare, and by pure luck the embassy could look up my last application and pull the birth certificate reference number for me. Again, 2 guarantors and I was very lucky to have a friend from that country visiting. I reported it as stolen, hoping that they'd steal the laptop and wallet and then ditch the rest. Unfortunately, either nobody found it or nobody turned it in. Of course, the CCTV that was in the pub was 'too blurry' to be of any use. CCTV has a funny tendency of being useless in that regard. In my case, I crashed at a friend's place that evening, and then went down to my local makerspace for lack of wanting to pay a locksmith £fuckloads to unlock my door on a Sunday. By pure luck, there was a lockpicking nerd there and they came and slipped my door for me. Thankfully, that was enough to help offset a lot of the negativity of the whole affair. I felt like I got off lucky a bit, and didn't dwell so much on it as a result.

robaato 1y ago
20 years ago I had a somewhat similar experience - a pub off The Strand in central London. My bag/briefcase was under a (high) table, and in that case the pub was able to view CCTV and work out the guy who sat nearby and hooked his leg to grab my bag - while I was distracted. Luckily for me, while it contained laptop and passport, I got a call 20 mins later from my wife, who had been contacted by someone 100m away in a different pub. The thief had taken my bag with laptop, not realised there was also a passport in there, gone to another pub, stolen another bag, switched my laptop into said bag, and gone off. The owner of other lost laptop had found my (empty) bag/passport, rang my wife, and we met and at least I got bag (and passport) back... Net result, lost laptop, but not lost passport. Much less hassle, although still a wake up call...
- robaato 1y ago
  As an aside, a friend in Tokyo only a couple of years ago suddenly realised he had lost his passport. A couple of hours of searching bags later, panic when he realised it was mid afternoon Friday, consulate was going to close soon, and not reopen until Monday - with his flight scheduled Monday early! Rang the consulate to ask advice: "oh yes, police station XXX rang us to report they had had your passport handed in - please go and pick it up!". So we did! Lovely country Japan in many ways! It had just dropped out of his bag onto pavement, been found and handed in...
  - thevillagechief 1y ago
    A smallish city in Pennsylvania. Dropped my wallet/id and work badge rushing to catch the bus to work. Someone picked it up, googled me, found an article from the local newspaper announcing my wedding, all with my home address, dropped the items in my mailbox and called my office to let me know. That was when I knew that my local paper still publishes marriages, divorces and bankruptcies, complete with all personal details. That was scary.
    - chasd00 1y ago
      Names, addresses, and phone numbers use to be published and distributed for free. It was called a "phone book".
- ryandrake 1y ago
  Wasn't the whole point of blanketing the country with CCTV to catch criminals? If it's too low res to even work out someone's face to the point where you can identify him, then what are all those cameras achieving?
  - ajb 1y ago
    For the pub, probably a discount on insurance.
    - 1y ago
baxtr 1y ago
> had my backpack - with (work) laptop, both passports, wallet, house keys, etc. - stolen I’ve made a similar experience a while back. Since then I’ve completely reduced the number of important items I carry around simultaneously in the same bag/location.
crinkly 1y ago
Lived in London for over 40 years. Never let your stuff out of sight for a minute. My foot always goes through a loop on my bag. Had at least two attempts to grab it which was stopped dead by this. I use a knackered looking Osprey daylite plus bag which has straps around the zips that stops people casually having a go at it as well. Mostly no issues in the last 10 years but I know people who are careless and have been done a few times. My general travel experience, outside the UK, is that if you dress down, use a knackered looking bag and a shitty no brand knackered phone case and people will leave you alone. Passport goes on you in a zipped inner pocket anywhere on the planet. Same with wallet, keys, anything. Never wear anything that indicates you have an iPhone worth nicking. Apple Watch / Airpods make you a target. Many people aren't travel savvy. It scares me.
- olalonde 1y ago
  One thing that really struck me in Dubai: I watched a group of girls leave their designer purses and phones unattended on a table. They just left the coffee shop and came back over 10 minutes later.
  - dr_dshiv 1y ago
    I was encouraged to leave my wallet and phone on the table of time out, while we went and got food. My friends rationale was: there are CCTVs everywhere and thieves are dealt with very harshly. So eff it
    - ghaff 1y ago
      Even in Singapore, I recall the protocol being to leave a napkin or whatever at a Hawker Center to indicate the chair/table was taken. Been a few years though.
  - firtoz 1y ago
    In Dubai the punishment I'd expect to be much worse if you do end up getting caught stealing.
nickjj 1y ago
> CCTV has a funny tendency of being useless in that regard I don't think it's safe to depend on this by default. I know a few business owners who have video (and audio) recording set ups in their business where 100+ customers come and go daily. There might be 6 motion activated cameras saving everything to a local box in the store. That box might have let's say 1TB of disk space. Even with motion activated cameras it could fill up in ~3 weeks to where it's no longer recording. Once it gets filled up, it gets permanently deleted with no backups. This could be a manual and adhoc process, it depends on the owner. I never had any say in how they operate, just repeating what I've heard and seen. This idea of trusting that companies record and save all interactions and calls indefinitely is no way something I'd trust for anything important.
- Someone 1y ago
  > This idea of trusting that companies record and save all interactions and calls indefinitely is no way something I'd trust for anything important. In many jurisdictions, it is against the law to record and save all interactions and calls indefinitely. Often, law says you can only make video recordings for a given, legal, purpose. If the goal is to deter crime and help solve crimes, keeping recordings around for a few weeks is allowed, but keeping them forever typically isn’t.
- chrisandchris 1y ago
  > Even with motion activated cameras it could fill up in ~3 weeks to where it's no longer recording. What are the legal aspects to it? In Switzerland e.g. the recommended duration to store recordings are "up to 72h, or as long as required to fulfil their job" (afaik, the law isn't very exactly defined) . I could see it difficult to argue "as long as the disk is not fill" as a valid duration.
  - nickjj 1y ago
    I'm not sure, they are in NY. I did a quick Googling and it says there's no specific legal mandate on the storage period for a restaurant. For any recording in NY, there is a legal requirement to post a sign that there's a camera recording both video and audio (which they have). I do see that all over the place in general. The sign needs to be in clear view.
cjrp 1y ago
I witnessed almost the exact same thing on an adjacent table; someone crouching down pretending to do their shoelaces for a suspiciously long time. Unfortunately I didn’t click what was going on until after they’d left.
TacticalCoder 1y ago
[dead]
chasd00 1y ago
heh someone broke into a house i was staying at in Costa Rica and stole my backpack while i was working in the next room! I go back to get something and there's footprints in/out of a sliding glass door and no backpack. Fortunately, the only thing they got was my ADHD medicine. Sorta sucked for my employer for those 3 weeks I was without but it could have been much worse. Interestingly, i did my best to follow the footsteps which led to a trail that went up through the jungle. Maybe 100 yards up a hill there was a little spot that definitely looked well used by humans overlooking the house and straight through a large window. I suspect whoever it was had been watching us for a while and when my wife/kids left, leaving me alone, just walked in, grabbed the backpack and left. (wife was not pleased as you could imagine)
- brailsafe 1y ago
  > Fortunately, the only thing they got was my ADHD medicine Good time to start binging Costa Rican specialty coffee. A liter a day keeps the ADHD at bay ;) (somewhat joking, milage may vary, real meds help, but coffee's good in high quantities in a pinch)
- catlikesshrimp 1y ago
  Why did you miss your meds? It would have been trivial to consult any generalist / psychiatrist and walk out with your prescription. Doctors charge $50 - $100 People in Costa Rica tend to be nice and helpful, and smart.
  - fn-mote 1y ago
    Once the meds are gone, things don't get done. Like solving the problem and doing the intended work.

by NamTaf 1y ago

robaato 1y ago

20 years ago I had a somewhat similar experience - a pub off The Strand in central London. My bag/briefcase was under a (high) table, and in that case the pub was able to view CCTV and work out the guy who sat nearby and hooked his leg to grab my bag - while I was distracted. Luckily for me, while it contained laptop and passport, I got a call 20 mins later from my wife, who had been contacted by someone 100m away in a different pub. The thief had taken my bag with laptop, not realised there was also a passport in there, gone to another pub, stolen another bag, switched my laptop into said bag, and gone off. The owner of other lost laptop had found my (empty) bag/passport, rang my wife, and we met and at least I got bag (and passport) back... Net result, lost laptop, but not lost passport. Much less hassle, although still a wake up call...

robaato 1y ago
As an aside, a friend in Tokyo only a couple of years ago suddenly realised he had lost his passport. A couple of hours of searching bags later, panic when he realised it was mid afternoon Friday, consulate was going to close soon, and not reopen until Monday - with his flight scheduled Monday early! Rang the consulate to ask advice: "oh yes, police station XXX rang us to report they had had your passport handed in - please go and pick it up!". So we did! Lovely country Japan in many ways! It had just dropped out of his bag onto pavement, been found and handed in...
- thevillagechief 1y ago
  A smallish city in Pennsylvania. Dropped my wallet/id and work badge rushing to catch the bus to work. Someone picked it up, googled me, found an article from the local newspaper announcing my wedding, all with my home address, dropped the items in my mailbox and called my office to let me know. That was when I knew that my local paper still publishes marriages, divorces and bankruptcies, complete with all personal details. That was scary.
  - chasd00 1y ago
    Names, addresses, and phone numbers use to be published and distributed for free. It was called a "phone book".
ryandrake 1y ago
Wasn't the whole point of blanketing the country with CCTV to catch criminals? If it's too low res to even work out someone's face to the point where you can identify him, then what are all those cameras achieving?
- ajb 1y ago
  For the pub, probably a discount on insurance.
  - 1y ago

baxtr 1y ago

> had my backpack - with (work) laptop, both passports, wallet, house keys, etc. - stolen I’ve made a similar experience a while back. Since then I’ve completely reduced the number of important items I carry around simultaneously in the same bag/location.

crinkly 1y ago

Lived in London for over 40 years. Never let your stuff out of sight for a minute. My foot always goes through a loop on my bag. Had at least two attempts to grab it which was stopped dead by this. I use a knackered looking Osprey daylite plus bag which has straps around the zips that stops people casually having a go at it as well. Mostly no issues in the last 10 years but I know people who are careless and have been done a few times. My general travel experience, outside the UK, is that if you dress down, use a knackered looking bag and a shitty no brand knackered phone case and people will leave you alone. Passport goes on you in a zipped inner pocket anywhere on the planet. Same with wallet, keys, anything. Never wear anything that indicates you have an iPhone worth nicking. Apple Watch / Airpods make you a target. Many people aren't travel savvy. It scares me.

olalonde 1y ago
One thing that really struck me in Dubai: I watched a group of girls leave their designer purses and phones unattended on a table. They just left the coffee shop and came back over 10 minutes later.
- dr_dshiv 1y ago
  I was encouraged to leave my wallet and phone on the table of time out, while we went and got food. My friends rationale was: there are CCTVs everywhere and thieves are dealt with very harshly. So eff it
  - ghaff 1y ago
    Even in Singapore, I recall the protocol being to leave a napkin or whatever at a Hawker Center to indicate the chair/table was taken. Been a few years though.
- firtoz 1y ago
  In Dubai the punishment I'd expect to be much worse if you do end up getting caught stealing.

nickjj 1y ago

> CCTV has a funny tendency of being useless in that regard I don't think it's safe to depend on this by default. I know a few business owners who have video (and audio) recording set ups in their business where 100+ customers come and go daily. There might be 6 motion activated cameras saving everything to a local box in the store. That box might have let's say 1TB of disk space. Even with motion activated cameras it could fill up in ~3 weeks to where it's no longer recording. Once it gets filled up, it gets permanently deleted with no backups. This could be a manual and adhoc process, it depends on the owner. I never had any say in how they operate, just repeating what I've heard and seen. This idea of trusting that companies record and save all interactions and calls indefinitely is no way something I'd trust for anything important.

Someone 1y ago
> This idea of trusting that companies record and save all interactions and calls indefinitely is no way something I'd trust for anything important. In many jurisdictions, it is against the law to record and save all interactions and calls indefinitely. Often, law says you can only make video recordings for a given, legal, purpose. If the goal is to deter crime and help solve crimes, keeping recordings around for a few weeks is allowed, but keeping them forever typically isn’t.
chrisandchris 1y ago
> Even with motion activated cameras it could fill up in ~3 weeks to where it's no longer recording. What are the legal aspects to it? In Switzerland e.g. the recommended duration to store recordings are "up to 72h, or as long as required to fulfil their job" (afaik, the law isn't very exactly defined) . I could see it difficult to argue "as long as the disk is not fill" as a valid duration.
- nickjj 1y ago
  I'm not sure, they are in NY. I did a quick Googling and it says there's no specific legal mandate on the storage period for a restaurant. For any recording in NY, there is a legal requirement to post a sign that there's a camera recording both video and audio (which they have). I do see that all over the place in general. The sign needs to be in clear view.

cjrp 1y ago

I witnessed almost the exact same thing on an adjacent table; someone crouching down pretending to do their shoelaces for a suspiciously long time. Unfortunately I didn’t click what was going on until after they’d left.

TacticalCoder 1y ago

[dead]

chasd00 1y ago

heh someone broke into a house i was staying at in Costa Rica and stole my backpack while i was working in the next room! I go back to get something and there's footprints in/out of a sliding glass door and no backpack. Fortunately, the only thing they got was my ADHD medicine. Sorta sucked for my employer for those 3 weeks I was without but it could have been much worse. Interestingly, i did my best to follow the footsteps which led to a trail that went up through the jungle. Maybe 100 yards up a hill there was a little spot that definitely looked well used by humans overlooking the house and straight through a large window. I suspect whoever it was had been watching us for a while and when my wife/kids left, leaving me alone, just walked in, grabbed the backpack and left. (wife was not pleased as you could imagine)

brailsafe 1y ago
> Fortunately, the only thing they got was my ADHD medicine Good time to start binging Costa Rican specialty coffee. A liter a day keeps the ADHD at bay ;) (somewhat joking, milage may vary, real meds help, but coffee's good in high quantities in a pinch)
catlikesshrimp 1y ago
Why did you miss your meds? It would have been trivial to consult any generalist / psychiatrist and walk out with your prescription. Doctors charge $50 - $100 People in Costa Rica tend to be nice and helpful, and smart.
- fn-mote 1y ago
  Once the meds are gone, things don't get done. Like solving the problem and doing the intended work.