I am posting this for a friend who was a victim of theft Saturday. She is along time resident off Kunming.

"Yes, for the first time, I was a victim of someone who slit my purse to get my wallet or phone.

The good news is that I lost neither my phone, wallet w 200 RMB & credit card, or my passport with airline ticket....but they did get my fake Gucci name card holder with business cards that identify who I am, where I live, phone, etc....so needless to say with a pending trip out of town for the next 3-4 weeks, that leaves me uneasy....

Moreover—what is annoying is that feeling that I should have been more aware of the scam....

Actually, I am writing to ask if you might post this on Go Kunming or other bulletin anonymously—to let people be on the watch for a similar game....

The young woman, slightly plump, in a nice off-white winter coat, with a black belt around the middle, started up a conversation at the bus stop with seemingly innocuous questions in English, like "where are you from?"....OK, so I thought, here is another young Chinese girl trying to practice her English....

Followed onto the bus, and not noticing that she might be "working" with others, she makes her way to my side, with my purse between us. While I thought I had my purse clutched tightly to me, I neglected to make sure my upper arm covered the whole of the back side of the purse....as she proceeded to further engage me in conversation asking me if I was a "Catholic"—in a peculiar accent—and what surprised me, but, again, I didn't fathom that this was a set up at the time, was how persistent she was to continue asking me if I was a "Catholic"—it seemed especially strange since most people who ask will ask if a foreigner is a "Christian"—this was the first time, someone asked pointedly if I was a "Catholic." To summarize, the conversation was not brief—looking back, there was a deliberate attempt at extending the conversation and distracting me from noticing anything going on to my back...where her partner slit my purse and reached inside to take what they found on the bottom of it. She was vague about where she worked and what she did when asked, other than to say she worked 10 hours a day, she was not paid overtime, and that she was doing this job for a year, and didn't like it very much but could not explain why, when asked.....yes, all this seems normal. but, it wasn't normal.

Bus 161—and the station, was a crowded one. My guess is that she is working this line at this time. No, I do not think she was a random young girl trying to practice her English—in retrospect, I think this was her job to target an obvious foreigner and use this "Are you a Catholic" as an attempt to engage in conversation long enough for her partner to do his "job."

One one hand, I really do feel lucky that I didn't' lose more—especially as it would have been more than a slight disaster had they taken my passport and wallet this time....given that my visa expires tomorrow, while holding a non-refundable mileage air ticket.....

But, I feel irked at being singled out for this ploy."

Regretfully - this is an old ploy/tactic. It's been around as long as China has had sharp knives. The best solution is to move around a LOT - change your body direction (aka move your gates). Face in different compass directions or relative to the bus alignment. Thieves will need to scurry around to catch up. Also move your purse from arm to arm and observe any shuffling around you. The most difficult target is a moving target.

Here's a tip. Just respond to anybody like this trying to speak English with you by telling them you can't speak it. In Chinese: "wo bu neng hui shuo Yingwen". For me, apart from when I first arrived when I couldn't speak any Chinese, I always respond to someone trying to speak to me in English with Chinese, as I didn't come to China to speak English, I came here to learn Chinese (even if I'm not that good yet, but still).

Alternatively, just say you are Russian or speak to them in Russian and they won't bother you...few Russians can speak English, so that'll probably make these people lose their enthusiasm quite soon.

Basically, it's the equivalent of someone in Saigon or Bangkok coming up to you to "practice" their English or to ask you something about where you come from etc. It's an obvious scam, I never talk to these kinds of people that just come up to you and speak to you randomly. Clearly they must have an ulterior motive so just smile and move on.

Anyway, I feel sorry for you, but what I find strange is that no one saw anything happen or made any attempt to help you or anything like that. In general, starting a conversation in a foreign language on a Kunming bus is enough to get people to start looking in your direction, so I'm surprised that nobody noticed anything unless of course the persons in question were very skilled at what they were doing.

Quote: "...but what I find strange is that no one saw anything happen or made any attempt to help you..."

Unfortunately, this is not so strange. Bystanders don't usually intervene in matters of this kind.

I get the English learners trying to chat at bus stops all the time. Usually, I nod, smile and move away. If pressed, I talk a little Polish or Vietnamese, then move again.

A times the guy, chicks, don't bother me too much, gets really demanding. I use laotou's method and also stand apart from the crowd.

At the north bus station last year, it was very crowded so I was standing 5-6 meters off the platform when a guy asked me if I needed help. I held up my 爱心卡, ride the bus free card, and said no. He came over to me and insisted on helping me get home. Now, my feelings are hurt as I don't think I look that old.

Question, is it normal for Chinese to walk up to strangers and start asking questions? I have called "rude" and worse for not by complete strangers when I just nod and move away. After ten years in China the novelty telling people where I am from has worn off.

You can buy slash proof bags. They are like a very HD nylon.

Same happened to my husband, except his jacket was slashed with a sharp knife on a crowded bus while he was listening to his Chinese Pod and practicing writing while on the way to university.

All cards etc. stolen, had to fly back to the bank where he opened his account to get a new card etc. (even though they have branches in Kunming) just a hassle really, and money on plane trips.

Moral of the story, don't open a bank account in China :) seriously though, we need to be very careful, as we are targets. For some reason, they all think we are full of cash!

Laotou, what you say is below correct but using English practice to steal is a new one on me. Cut purse thieves go back thousands of years. Using English practice as a tool to steal is despicable. My friend just wanted to help a Chinese practice her spoken English. All ladies will now be much more careful. The nice Chinese who really want and need spoken English will get a lot less.

I think anyone with a bulge in the pocket is a target. Anyone with laptop, or who looks like they have something.

If I was going to specifically target expats, I would not be on a bus. Buses are easy as people are crowded, get bumped and push into each other. You wouldn't notice someone cutting into your pocket. And if someone else did see anything, they would not usually get involved, especially if the thief had a blade.

This reminds me of something. A couple weeks back, I saw a pickpocket near Green Lake. He was walking behind a woman with a jacket that had open pockets. He pulled out these really long tweezer-like things and stuck it in her pocket. He put the tweezers away so super fast that I barely noticed it.

So carrying valuables in jackets with open pockets will leave you vulnerable to these rather skilled tweezer-people.