Photoshop Insider

Confiscating My Brother’s Memory Card in Italy

By Scott on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 3:20 am | updates.

I wanted to share an interesting story with you that happened to my brother Jeff while we were in Italy. We were in Genoa one day, and he and his girlfriend had been out doing the tourist thing, and at the end of the day they stopped into a large grocery store to get some Diet Cokes (called “Coke Light” in Italy) to take back to the hotel room.

As they were walking around, Jeff saw some interesting looking produce and pulled out his Canon G-9 Point-and-Shoot and took a few pictures. Within a few minutes a man came up dressed in plain clothes, flashed a badge, and told him he couldn’t take photos in the store. My brother said “no problem” (after all, it’s a private store, right?), but then the guy demanded my brother’s memory card.

My brother gave him that “Are you outta your mind” look and said, “No way!” Can you guess what happened next? The guy simply shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

My brother saw him in the store a little later, and the guy had a bag and was shopping. My brother made eye contact with him, and the guy turned away as though he didn’t want Jeff looking at him. Jeff feels like this wasn’t “official store security,” but instead some guy collecting (and then reselling) memory cards from unsuspecting tourists (many of whom might have just surrendered that card immediately).

Anyway, he kept his card, and the shots, and luckily that was the end of it. Have any of you heard of anything along these lines? I’d just be interested to know.

Comment form for this post

^#1

Unbeliveable … but nice of him he didnt ask for the G-9

When I traveld back from my first South Africa Trip I was so afraid of loosing my (not backed up) memory Card I would have killed anybody who demanded my card

Kevin on July 7th, 2008 at 3:43 am

^#2

Yes, not the first time I heard about that. Remember Blues Brothers flashing Lucky Strike as a badge?….. Fantasy have no limits!

Sergio on July 7th, 2008 at 4:43 am

^#3

Here in Italy is full of thieves who try to take advantage of poor tourist.
A friend of mine was asked to show his credit card by a fake policeman when he was in Rome. This poor guy show it to him and the fake policeman run away with the credit card. Now, It is certainly kinda strange that a policeman demand your credit card, but still it’s better to be careful when you are in Italy

Alessandro on July 7th, 2008 at 4:55 am

^#4

I suppose it’s possible that he was a plain clothes security guard that tries to blend in with the shoppers. I know retail stores here in America do this all the time, although, I’ve never heard of it in a grocery store before.

Taylor Smith on July 7th, 2008 at 6:08 am

^#5

Wow, just wow! Glad you posted this. I haven’t been overseas in three years, but now I know what to look out for.

Jermaine Beckley on July 7th, 2008 at 6:45 am

^#6

I haven’t heard of this, but your wallet looks suspicious.

Please hand it over.

Scott Sherman on July 7th, 2008 at 7:03 am

^#7

Hello,

I have been to Italy and this country is notorious for this kind of activity. One of the hot spots for this kind of deception is at “road stops” what we might call high end truck stops.

I almost got caught up in such scheme. Like this; 6 guys in front of entrance, one guy a look out on highway. It’s a shell game where one is winning, You join in for “fun” and lets say 5 bucks, OH you win, you win again, then the twist, see my video blog ( a humorous video) about this http://kblawson.wordpress.com/ . Then they say “bet more and bigger,” then before you know it, you place down you winning and the greed is at work, boom you bet 100 bucks, well you know, you lose…..and everyone is in on it except me, the sucker. Pickpockets I think is a national pastime for many in Italy, with no disrepect to this wonderful and beautiful country.

Ken

Ken on July 7th, 2008 at 9:50 am

^#8

I lived in Italy for 3 years - I have seen this firsthand too many times. Your brother was approached by a thief looking for a memory card. All the rest of you reading Scott’s blog, take heed….

Thanks for the story, Scott.

mannya on July 7th, 2008 at 10:12 am

^#9

This is very rare post. Appreciated.

According to my knowledge of travel in europe, this is one kind of robbery. There are 1000s of thiefs are hannging around in the most of european cities. They always attract tourists.

Be careful when you travel in thr europe and deal with strangers, people who offer some services or help. Some people act like tourists and trying to share some of their experiences as a fellow photographer and request to go some place, then steal all of your stuffs. Some people offer some drinks or foods or invite to go their apartments etc. Thereare lots of female thiefs in train station and travel with next to you by train. They come as a small group.

I have seen things happening in Paris, Brussels, London, Milan, Madrid few times and some times I helped tourists to protect their stuffs. Keep your eyes with your cameras, hand bags, luggages, wallets etc every time.

Be suspect always in all ways.

Oscar Nonis on July 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am

^#10

Italy, Spain & France there is a lot of petty crime that occurs and is well documented. If you visit Rick Steve’s or Frommers Blogs you will see that this is common:

Of particular note are the following common scams:

1) Person walks up to you says they will take a picture of you and your wife, only to hand off the camera to someone on a bike who bolts off with your equipment

2) If you are in a car driving, a group of people drives up to you shouting that you have a flat tire, only for them to stop on the side of the road with you to rob you.

3) Pick pockets work in groups sometimes on elevators, subways and rail stations where they group up and push you while someone snags your goods including unzipping shoulder bags and camera bags.

4) Camera equipment will magically disappear from hotel rooms even if all you did was go downstairs for lunch — althought this is less common.

5) Smash and grabs are common if you leave anything in plain view

6) Some theives pose as valets in front of hotels/restuarants that do not have valets and often open the door to grab purses or just long enough to get your keys to get what is in the trunk

7) Kids or gangs of kids are often employed to help pick pockets

When all this happens, plan to get no sympathy from the police — it simply is not a priority for them. if you are lucky, they will write up a report you can give to your insurance company.

If there is a plus side, usually they just want your stuff, and are not out to cause bodily harm — if you are vigilent or a difficult mark, they will move on.

From a camera perspective, blacking out the brand name and not wearing branded neck straps helps because they may pass you over for a more clear mark.

All-in-all, you are more likely to be in a car accident in the US than for something to happen in Europe, but one should always plan to be safe.

This is a great site that describes many of things one should consider http://www.eurfirst.com/europe/protect.htm

Enzo on July 7th, 2008 at 10:37 am

^#11

Your brother should have taken his picture and followed him around to piss him off!

Wilbur on July 7th, 2008 at 11:44 am

^#12

I was recently in Italy and France and although most people were very nice, we did run into a few scammers. In Paris, my partner was carrying a camera bag over her shoulder that had a zipper across the front of it. As a woman was walking by us, she bent down like she was picking up a ring and asked my partner if she had lost the ring.

She kept asking questions and talking about the ring, getting really close and trying to get her to look at the inscription or take the ring. Sutree kept telling her no. All the while she was pushing up against her and blocking her from getting by.

The woman was trying to get into Sutree’s camera bag. Sutree didn’t really get what was happening and was trying to be nice but I could see she was getting pretty uncomfortable. This woman had her pinned against a railing.

I finally yelled NO!, snapped my finger and pointed to go away. I think I was having a flashback to old puppy training days! It worked though - she looked at me kind of stunned and took off. I watched her from a distance and even took her picture when she approached someone else.

That day 2 other people tried the exact same scam on Sutree. It was like that camera bag was a homing beacon for them!

Barrie Brewer on July 7th, 2008 at 12:25 pm

^#13

I’ve read too many stories about authorities (legitimate or otherwise) confiscating memory cards and cameras this year. One suggestion is to carry a spare, low-capacity (cheap) memory card and simply pull a “sleight of hand” move when handing over your card.

Christopher Vigliotti on July 7th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

^#14

That is freaky… Thanks Scott for posting and to the other commenters for posting other scam tactics.

It would be nice to know what the actual Police in other countries would normally do, as I think there are lots of people that know that American police would rarely confiscate a memory card, but not many of us know what the custom or regulations are for any other country.

We’ve done that over here already, since most stories about photography problems have stemmed from dealing with “Rent-A-Pigs”, not actual police officers. Googling “photographer’s rights” yields a fairly good array of info for the US, but not as much (if anything) for the rest of the world.

/Andrew

Andrew on July 7th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

^#15

Just a Cultural note.
It is also called Coke Light in Mexico… it’s marketting psycology, while people don’t want to be on a Diet and admit they need to lose weight. They’ll sure consume something “light” to keep with their figure…

Carlo M on July 7th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

^#16

That’s unbelievable Scott!

Like I mentioned in one of your earlier posts. I too toured Europe earlier this year. Thieves and scammers are indeed becoming more and more clever and imaginative but I had not heard about that memory card scam. Thanks for spreading the news.

No wonder memory cards in European camera shops were selling at 3 times their going price over here!

kal cole on July 8th, 2008 at 9:08 am

^#17

This has happened to me once. We (a group of DJ’s) were checking out the Germany based Mediamarkt (big store in Europe) for the latest releases of German trance. I had a Fuji Finepix 1300 with me, making snapshots in the store. We even had our groupphoto taken by an employee.

All of a sudden this security guard walks up to me, demanding the camera. We’re not allowed to take pictures here he told us. I refused to hand it over so he threatened to call the German police.

Only problem for him is there was no sign at the entrance prohibiting people to make pictures. I also told him they [the cops] couldn’t do anything. Next time around there was a sign at the door: photographs prohibited due to security measures.

Dennis on July 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

^#18

I need some new memory cards. I’ll have to try that.

John Kantor on July 9th, 2008 at 2:35 am

^#19

I have been accosted by young children in Rome. It was about seven of them and it was quite a spectacle as they surrounded me and grabbed at my pockets and tried to unzip my backpack. I didn’t have any valuables on at the time and I had a money belt, but it still took pushing one of them into the street before they left me alone.

I am absolutely terrified of the idea of going back with actual equipment. At the time I wasn’t so equipped and had just a simple film camera with me. The thought of lens changing on the streets of Rome makes me worry.

Eric on July 9th, 2008 at 10:35 am

^#20

My recent experience in Egypt comes to mind when I read your brother’s story. In Egypt, at literally all of the sites where tourists go, there are guys waiting around for you to wander by with your camera, who will entice you to “come over here.” If you follow, they will lead you over to show you something, anything, then hold out their hand asking you for a tip.

It even happened to me in the Cairo Museum by a guy who was an actual security guard working for the museum. I had just arrived in Cairo, hadn’t even had a chance to change my Israeli shekels (which are no good in Egypt) for Egyptian pounds. So I literally had no money. This security guard, in broken English, beckons me and my wife to “come with me to see some of the Pharaoh’s animals.” He leads us down the hall, points to some artifact or other, and holds his hand out. When I told him I had no money, he looked at me like I had just insulted him tremendously.

I quickly learned to avoid these people, and when they approached me, I’d say “I don’t need directions, thank you.”

Larry on July 9th, 2008 at 6:24 pm

^#21

Tourists make easy marks, anywhere. Especially if they very obviously look like tourists.

I was in Milan 2 weeks ago, and since I do not go there that often, I did bring my equipment bag and held my camera in my right hand (with the strap wrapped around my wrist) almost all the time. The camera, btw, is an old Yashica 108, 35mm SLR, not God knows what, but with its 28-80 fitted it certainly looks impressive.

Apart from a few dodgy guys asking for a cigarette, I didn’t get hassled. Obviously, in the very crowded metro carriages I had to keep alert but more in order to avoid inadvertently shoving the heavy lens up someone’s nose rather than for fear of someone lifting my stuff.

And btw, photography apparently is not allowed on the Milan metro - which is a pity really. No grief with badge-flashing security guards though, just an employee politely pointing at the camera and wagging her finger.

the flying dutchman on July 10th, 2008 at 10:07 am

^#22

@Ken on July 7th, 2008 at 9:50 am

it’s not so fun, i remember in the 1980s in times square manhattan, on 42nd st and 6th ave. there was a japanese businessman/tourist and his wife playing this con game on the corner. the guy had a large roll of hundred dollar bills in his hand, his wife next to him had a pissed look on his face because he was playing this game.

all of a sudden this 6 foot tall black man jumped from the crowd (he was probably one of the lookout for the con game), picked up this small japanese guy, lifted him high into the air, then violently slammed him down onto the sidewalk, i hrd his head crack.

all the bystanders just ran for their lives.

Robert on July 10th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

^#23

alright, so if you take out a camera somewhere in an european store you have to watch out for a cheap con.

try taking a couple of pics of an US Airport Security Guard and see what happens to your camera then..

gox on July 11th, 2008 at 8:04 am

^#24

I grew up in Europe, and you could always spot the American Tourist with big fat wallets in their back pockets, and cameras about the neck. Wallet goes in front pocket followed by your hand. Camera, and purses go over one should and under your arm. Women do not carry big purses. Wear basic colours, and nothing flashy. Do not carry cash, but purchase an American Express gift card. Purchase a phrase book, and learn a couple of phrases. I have found if you at least attempt to speak the language people will leave you alone. Eyes up, and make eye contact, and notice people around you. Walk like you have a purpose in life. Why do the police not get involved, because you are though of by many as the rich, stupid American, and the thief is Robin Hood. Insure your valuables for foreign travel before you leave. Before you go to any European Country, spend a week day or two walking around NyC. Basically stay alert stay alive!

cashaw on July 12th, 2008 at 5:05 am

^#25

I wouldn’t assume it was a scam, maybe the guy really was in charge, but was too lazy to actually enforce anything if someone refuses to do what he’s told. Or maybe he was a police officer / carabiniere, and is used to certain “publicly seize and privately resell” schemes that are fairly common among the Forces.
Mind, in Italy the Police and Carabinieri do have some sweeping powers, including the right to drag you to a Police Station and spend a few hours “confirming your identity” if you don’t carry the national ID (which is why countries without an ID scheme shouldn’t introduce it: it’s a trojan horse to then define the right for the police to arbitrarily seize you). However, they can also be a lazy bunch, as it’s in our national spirit and they earn little enough to be easily corruptible.

Giacomo on July 14th, 2008 at 6:11 am

^#26

Just got back from trip around Egypt. Oh man, the scammers at every tourist stop is unreal.. hundreds of them. Best ones are the free camel rides, free to get on, $50 pounds to get of the stinking thing haha..

in Egypt $50 pounds lets you shoot anything and everything you want from anywhere.. just carry a ton of them and never bring your wallet out into view as the price seems to go up when they see your cash haha.. learned that one with the camel guy who i got scammed $250 pounds to get off the stinky camel .. sister only paid $50 pounds but they separated up by a long distance so we couldn’t bargin together haah

2nd best scammers are the guys inside the tombs, no photos signs are everywhere, if you get spotted taking a snap inside they grab your camera from your hands and turn and walk off to a hidden area and saying no photos here. Then if you really want your camera back you have to bargain for it, a $50 pound note will get it back after a lot of arguments… ( they really put on a good show about being serious about no photos haha)

My little sister got done with her tiny sony w300, i was like, oh crap.. watched her put on her sad face ( we were told by our guild this would happen ) and then trying to put on tears, funny as.. still cost her $50 though..
meanwhile i had a nikon d3 on my neck making a bracket racket in the tombs while little sister kept him busy haha. as we were walking out i spotted a asian girl running after a guard crying for her camera back also..

and sometimes just offering a packet of smokes ( $2pounds ) can get you out of a spot of nagging for notes too.

Tony Anastasi on August 20th, 2008 at 9:42 pm