Jim Clarke: Blog

Although it hasn’t happened to me, I have heard of a fairly frequent scam going on in Brussels where bags, especially briefcases and laptop, are being stolen from overhead racks on trains just before the trains depart from the platforms. I heard that Brussels National airport and Midi, central and Nord stations are the worst places for this crime to happen. What they do is moments before the doors close, the thief takes a bag from the overhead rack and goes straight to the door and the door closes behind them as they jump off. They have it timed perfectly evidently so that the person they are stealing from either a. doesn’t notice them or b. cannot do anything anyway as they have already exited the train with the stolen bag. I have also heard that it happened two weeks ago on the Thalys TGV train bound for Köln while it was sitting in Brussels Midi station before departure. Another frequent crime is pickpocketing on the crowded metros, the bump and run variety where there are two people involved. One person bumps to distract you while the other person reaches in and takes your wallet.