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Toronto woman loses $4,000 to pickpocket on visit to France

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A Toronto teacher said she was looking forward to visiting a friend in France this past July until she became the victim of a pickpocket on the Paris subway system.

"Once I got back to my friend’s place I looked in my backpack and my wallet was gone. It contained about 200 euros and my debit and credit card," said Robyn Selvam.

Selvam said she had used her credit card to buy train tickets and had to enter her PIN into the payment terminal.

“I think someone must have seen me put in my PIN and then stole my wallet and credit card," said Selvam.

Selvam said she called her bank, Scotiabank, but was placed on hold for three hours trying to get through. In that time, thieves were able to rack up $3,932 in purchases and cash advances before the credit card was cancelled.

When Selvam contacted Scotiabank, there was an investigation and she was told in a letter from the claims department that, "we have determined you (or another cardholder on the account) have demonstrated gross negligence in failing to fulfill your obligations in safeguarding your card, account, pin or password.”

Selvam was told she was responsible for the losses.

"It's a huge amount to pay back, especially since I didn't spend any of this," said Selvam.

Travel expert Loren Christine said that when travelling, especially in Europe, you have to be on the lookout for pickpockets who try to spot tourists in popular crowded areas.

“I think you have to be aware of it, hopefully it doesn't darken your vacation too much, but it's something you always have to be aware of to make sure it doesn’t happen to you,” said Christie.

Christie said pickpockets often use distractions to try and steal from people by creating a diversion or working with another person.

“If some stranger is coming up to you and getting close too you that shouldn't be happening, and there is no reason for it to happen. That should be a red flag and you want to keep an eye on your valuables," said Christie.

Christie recommends that when sight seeing in a city, take only what you need for the day, putting your wallet and phone in your front pocket and leaving valuables and your passport in a hotel safe or other safe place.

The 10 worst places for pickpockets in the world according to the website Money.co.uk are the following.

1. Las Ramblas, Barcelona Spain

2. Eiffel Tour, Paris, France

3. Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy

4. Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic

5. Sacré-Cœur, Paris, France

6. Colosseum, Rome, Italy

7. Old Town Square, Prague, Czech Republic

8. Louvre, Paris, France

9. Notre-Dame de Paris, Paris, France

10. Sagrada Família, Barcelona, Spain

CTV News reached out to Scotiabank on Selvam’s behalf and Manager of Canadian Banking Communications for Scotiabank, Elizabeth McFadden said “Scotiabank cannot comment on specific customer matters for privacy reasons but we take cases of any allegations of fraud very seriously and will continue to work directly with this customer.”

"At Scotiabank, we have strong measures in place to help ensure the security of our customers’ financial transactions and the confidentiality of their information. We also encourage customers to help us prevent fraud on their accounts which includes measures such as setting strong, hard-to-guess passwords, not shoring their passwords with others or writing them down in easy-to-find places, and shielding the keypad, ATM or other devices when entering their PIN or other access information.”

Selvam told CTV News she was contacted yesterday and told the charges run up by the pickpockets would be reimbursed back to her credit card.

 

“I am so grateful. Almost $4,000 is a lot of money for me so this was a huge relief” said Selvam.

 

Before taking a trip make a list of everything that's in your wallet and take photos of your credit cards and passport and consider using a money belt or having secret pockets with zippers that aren't easily accessible.

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