How to avoid pickpockets and street scams

Staying aware, keeping your valuables close and employing 'layers of security' are among the ways to improve your street savvy

- ELAINE GLUSAC

tends to cover a couple of meals and a taxi ride in emergencies," French said. When paying with cards that have a microchip, use the tap feature rather than swiping, if you can. Card readers are vulnerable to skimming, a scam in which your card's financial details can be read and stolen by a payment system that has been tampered with.

Keep cash and cards close In public, carry money, credit cards and passports where you can see or feel them. That may mean putting a wallet in a front rather than a rear pocket, or wearing a backpack in the front rather than on your back. Clothing with pockets that zip is another option.

Lloyd Figgins, the chief executive of the TRIP Group, a security firm, and the author of The Travel Survival Guide, recommends a money belt worn under your clothing. "My rule with money and cards is to get them as close to your skin as you possibly can," Figgins said.