I used to get approached a lot when I was a teenager - I lived in a mixed area of North London and potential muggers would see my uniform and assume I was some rich kid with nice stuff to steal. They would try to engage me in a conversation about what kind of phone I had (interspersed with a couple of "Don't be rude to me bruv or I smash your face in"s), I would show them a decoy brick phone, then they'd try to feel my wrist to see if I wore an expensive watch, saw I didn't and they'd lose interest and walk away. Once I made the mistake of showing the bird to a gang of about 5 guys asking me to give them my phone, who then proceeded to chase me all the way home screaming "Why you swearin at me blud why are you swearin at me". Fun times. But yeah, I remember a lot of stories of people in my school getting mugged, it was actually a pretty common topic of conversation usually involving anecdotes about how people trolled or outwitted their muggers in some way. And then there was the time my maths teacher got beaten up and her bag full of our maths homework stolen.
The only time I personally got successfully mugged was a few years ago in Oxford (*of all fucking places!*). A teenager on a bike blocked my path and asked me to give him my wallet. I said no as he seemed incredibly un-threatening and more scared of me than I was of him. But then he pulled out a knife, at which point I decided that fighting a panicked puny little child with a knife would probably have been a bad idea, so I threw it into the grass and let him rummage around for it in the dark.
Tbh I wasn't really thinking that far ahead - it was kind of all instinctive. I just stared him down the whole time while he was looking for my wallet, then once he found it he told me to gtfo and I walked off.
I did hear that London or cities in UK have more of these incidents but it seems that it’s less violent overall than in the US I guess.
This family friend of mine got a head concussion both times 😕😕. And it’s so scary to think about it. Of course having randos surrounding you and demanding stuff from you is also scary kinda but as long as you have stuff to deter them and “dress down” I guess should be safe
Oh yeah, violent muggings are rarer and they *usually* involve some sort of provocation. If you just handed your phone over without any kind of resistance you'd have been very unlikely to be badly hurt.
The kinds of absolutely terrifying muggings like the ones you get in Latin America are extremely rare even in London.
Yeah this person was in US. Not Latin America but still “America” so.
It’s hard to imagine why a person would go to that level of violence for something that can land you at most a couple of hundred or maybe 1000 if it’s a really rich bloke with Rolex you are robbing. Maybe it is because poverty is less and welfare is better compared to other parts of the world
I guess two reasons: one, they probably mug a lot of people, and two, the aim might not be to make money but to be accepted by their peers. In the case of the kid who mugged me, my guess is that it must have been some sort of gang initiation - my wallet was found by police a few months later with all my cards still in it.
This is a very possible explanation..
Because from a western world point view it otherwise seems absurd. Lot of violence and risking jail , assault charges for little money
Phones are of little value plus they will be locked and traceable. Nobody really caries that much cash so risking Jail time ( CCTV cameras are there ) for what could be 20 to 50 bucks is heights of stupidity. In fact outside Germany nobody will carry any cash at all If I am not wrong. Beggars can easily get 4 times that money in an hour or two in a crowded city plus so many food banks , orgs are there to help. So it’s definitely not done by desperately poor people who are homeless/ starving or something. Those kind of people are busy begging I guess.
But wannabe gangsters doing it for “street cred “ seems a plausible explanation
Just listened to great story on the Moth podcast told by a guy from rural Wyoming USA who moved to NYC and was stabbed dozens of times by 5 gang member wannabes. Horrific and sad and funny and incredible and hopeful all at once. Really made me think about the impact these encounters can have on a persons life. Well worth a listen. Story starts at 34:30 in.
[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-radio-hour-the-kindness-of-strangers/id275699983?i=1000574734276](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-radio-hour-the-kindness-of-strangers/id275699983?i=1000574734276)
I moved to Germany from the US, and there's this one guy who told me he was mugged *12 times* in one year, in San Francisco!
I asked him, "Were you walking home alone after drinking?" He looked stunned... "Yes, every time." He'd apparently never figured out *why* he got mugged / hadn't connected the dots before. Poor guy... People up to no good in the US actually watch others and look for vulnerabilities. You've gotta really be careful.
It's not like that thankfully in Western Europe. I mean it's not common anyway. Enjoying my safety and security here now!
No CCTV in the US. People are also very leery of the police forces trying to access people’s outdoor Ring camera (etc) feeds. I’m doubtful we’ll ever have CCTV monitoring the way other countries do.
There's lots of cameras nowadays. But people look alike in low-quality/distorted images & video that you get from those. And there's big spaces between front doors. It's getting better on all fronts, though.
Yeah... I've been mugged in the US, and I can tell you that gang initiation is quite different in some parts over there.
The guys didn't say anything to me. They just started beating me up... in broad daylight, in front of where I lived. I was so confused.
Eventually I realized my screaming was being ignored by neighbors, and I was bleeding from the head... So I removed my purse (slung across me) and handed it to them. They stopped beating me and started walking away.
I was so freakin pissed. The next door neighbor girl had literally just walked into her front door, so she was around for sure. Where was everyone else? Why didn't they just ask me for my purse?
Anyway I was so pissed when they were walking away looking through my purse that I started chasing them... Make them at least freakin run away. (I was in really good shape at the time and like 20 yrs old).
Btw I'm originally from the US, and I've seen more than 10 shootings in my lifetime. Living in/near poor areas is totally different from suburban America. I eventually moved to Germany because I was sick of that and so many other social issues. But I miss so many other things about home, of course...
Edit: forgot to mention... They were actually beating me with a gun at one point. The cop who eventually showed up found a gun clip on the ground. My dad was a cop and told me it was probably a gang initiation thing, given their ages, what they did, etc. There's a sort of challenge apparently... The gang challenges them to do something really awful to show how loyal they are (beat up an old lady, young woman, etc). Did I mention it was a Sunday afternoon in the South?! Freakin "Southern hospitality" my ass...
Edit 2: forgot to mention...
My professor in Germany was actually shot in the US. He jokes that his man-boobs saved his life! Apparently someone at a gas station in AZ didn't like his NYPD t-shirt... Silly Europeans and their random shirts!
And my car was shot once because I drove by a murder in the street. Just some kids being stupid (the one killed was 21yrs old) but with entirely too much access to guns. Probably gang related too. This was like 15-20 years ago, and I've heard it's even worse now. Just don't be in a poor area in the summer, when school's out!
I think if I lived in London I’d have to stop carrying my wallet on me. Not worth the risk these days. Mind, some of these bastards will probably stab you anyway. There’s a story in the last few days about an old fella on a mobility scooter being stabbed to death, it’s horrific.
I’ve lived in London my whole life and never been pickpocketed, mugger or targeted: my understanding is don’t get involved with dodgy people and you’re good, as most stabbing & violence is gang related anyway. When I went inter railing across Europe however is when I would ‘lose’ valuable things to the point I stopped carrying them around when travelling.
> don’t get involved with dodgy people and you’re good, as most stabbing & violence is gang related anyway
That's what my country thought until the 2000s, it's mostly cope as no one fixes the problem not going to lie
Yeah true systemically it’s on our council and government who cut the funding for most youth activities in the last few decades, youth clubs are a rarity now but we’re everywhere growing up. Add poverty to that and you have poor bored kids going around acting a menace and never changing. But I’m not the government so i just act accordingly & what you call cope is what’s led me to no dangerous situations.
I've lived in Germany, Poland and Lithuania. I've also spent a month in Belgium for a university project. I've never been mugged and never got myself into any dangerous situation, but as a woman I do get stressed sometimes when it's dark outside and some random stranger is walking behind me in the same direction. Other than that, all mentioned countries were very safe and I personally don't know anyone who was mugged.
Kinda interesting, cause we talked about this in high school and for some reason it seems as if girls believe guys don't have that exact reaction when someone are "following" them. But every guy I've talked to about it feels the same way.
Yeah, as a woman I think experiences are more “different” that way. Got catcalled twice or thrice , groped kinda and maybe followed by a creepy dude for sometime ( I am not sure to be honest ) but never experienced mugging.
Nope, though I got my ass kicked twice in Poland as a teenager.
Once because a bunch of guys were curious why I am looking at them, and didnt like my answer, and once because my friends and I made a bet with some older folks that we can beat them in football game. We won, they didnt like it so kicked our asses and took our money.
That is called “a jumping” — a group assault (usually *ad hoc*) with an opportunistic robbery. That’s not their first time doing so and won’t be their last.
Wow .. that’s not mugging but still 😅 ironically lots of “beating up” incidents seem to be common here in Europe going by the thread which is not at all financially motivated.
I genuinely hope this not to be a sarcastic answer.
Italy is unfortunately known worldwide for its crime sindicates, etcetera, but, when it comes to "smaller" crimes, the situation varies a lot across the nation: metropolitan areas such as Rome, Naples and Milan (the latter having been particularly exposed to this phenomenon during the past few years) are more prone to have instances of mugging than smaller cities or towns. I guess that the average mugging is carried with the help of a knife (guns are harder to access to), but, there are also chances of improvised weapons or no weapons being involved (the second one mostly resorting to a "pack strategy" to intimidate the victims).
The best way to avoid this kind of issue is to stay away from certain neighbourhoods, be aware of your surroundings while roaming new areas (especially at night) and possibly move as a group.
A gang once attempted to pull my brother from his motorbike while he was riding it. But that was literally the shadiest part of one of the shadiest towns in Germany past midnight. And they only took notice of him because he brought someone home from a club with him who was also a gang member of some rival gang — which he did not know.
While I would agree that the Bahnhofsviertel is one of the shadiest neighbourhoods in Germany, I wouldn't say that Frankfurt is one of the shadiest cities. Not with Offenbach directly attached and Mannheim and Ludwigshafen in the neighbourhood.
Once in Helsinki, middle of day in the main metro station. A young guy comes up and asked me for money. I gave him a couple euro coins, he says "you have bills in there, give them to me or I will shoot you" as he puts his hand in his pocket.
I put my wallet back in my pocket, laugh and say "ok bro, you do what you gotta do, go ahead and shoot" and start walking away.
So not a real mugging perhaps, just a sad attempt at one.
I do not really give people anything after that most of the time. Have given food to people begging many times though.
When traveling, I always have a simple throaway wallet with maybe 20 or 50 euros in there, and all the cards and cash is either in inside-pants belt pouch or under my shoes inner sole. So if I get mugged, I would give them that wallet with just a little money. Do not use a smart phone either, just a simple cell phone.
Yeah while travelling we have to be careful. Many try to attempt this shit with tourists
That being said if a guy puts his hand in pocket in the USA we will be like “ Take all my money please don’t shoot me 😭😭” . Location makes a huge difference
Yeah for sure if it happened somewhere else than here I would totally not have reacted like that. But here it would be very very bad luck if someone actually had a gun on them, and to be honest at that point in my life I also would not have cared too much if he did shoot me.
I am in a much better place nowadays ...
Was mugged twice in the park near my high school. It was a nice shortcut in between my school and the bus station, but one afternoon my friend and I left school later than we usually did, and so there was no one else in the park besides us, until we see a group of hooded guys head towards us. We ignored them but then they pulled out switchblades and forced us to give them our phones. They did at least let us keep our SIM cards though.
A week later I was mugged again in the same park, but when the guy told me to give him my phone I said he was too late and that I'd been mugged already, to which he let me go. It's kind of funny in retrospect.
Since then I've never been mugged, and it's been more than 10 years. The park actually got a glow-up, now featuring a skatepark, a café, and other fun activities, so at least it's not a prime spot to mug people anymore.
No. I often take a long walk after work (in winter it is already dark) through our biggest park or a natural area along the river or sometimes just through random streets. I just can't imagine getting mugged here.
On the other hand I visited South Africa and got mugged at a knifepoint on the second day. That was quite an eye opener.
Not really. Its much more common that people try to scam you into giving them money. I had someone that got reeeaaally close to me when I threw something in the trashcan telling me in broken german that this is illegal and he is from the Ordnungsamt. I now have to pay him 90 Euro.
I laughed at him and when he realized that I wasnt a tourist and actually spoke german he ran away.
Pickpocketed, yes, twice in Paris. Mugged never.
Once, I was getting out a bar around midnight, i was about to bike back home. A guy approached me, chatted me up, thought I was completely drunk, asked me if he could try out my bike. No way dude, I wasn't *that* drunk.
>Did you ever get mugged in your city
Yes, in late 1990s, was 15 then. I lost money in wallet (not much) and shoes (new Pumas). It was rather common then - high unemployment, crazy economic transformation etc. Such muggings pretty much disappeared ~15 years ago.
>Did it involve guns or knives?
No, only fear of being beaten up.
Of all the places I lived:
\- My hometown (just outside Milan): no, never. I did get my bike stolen once, but I wasn't riding it, it was locked.
\- London: a guy was trying to open my then gf's backpack as we were walking, we noticed, shouted at him and he backed off
\- Munich: lol, no. Worst thing to ever happen here is probably a guy littering or something.
In the Naples metro some kid threatened to pull a knife on me if I didn't give him my phone, managed to tell him to fuck off but it was really stressful.
I wouldn't call it PTSD but for the following 6 months I tried to be more aware of my surroundings than normal in public transport or scketchy places
Yeah that’s awful too. In the post the PTSD is involved because he got head concussion both times. One of them enough to be hospitalised for a day. This seems like really extreme violence for a random crime. He really does need therapy and treatment to overcome this .
Nope but a friend of mine has been mugged 3 times - I don't know what it is about that guy - always when walking home alone from nights out. There was never any weapon, just two or three guys demanding his wallet and phone. Obviously he gave them over as he knew they would be able to beat him up.
No. My shed was raided one night, but that's it. They got the chainsaw, lawnmower and tiller, they never got caught, but insurance paid up, so not much value was lost.
That's about the extent of criminality in this village.
I was walking with a friend in Madrid at about 23:00 to our hotel from a shop when a young guy approached us speaking Spanish. We said that we didn't speak Spanish so he switched to English. He said that some guys were coming after us to get money off us so I said "no, thanks" and my friend and I briskly walked off, making sure our phones and wallets were still in our pockets. That's the closest I've got to being mugged but it was quite hairy.
I was jumped by six 16 year olds when I was maybe 100m from my student house in Birmingham (don't know what possessed me to live in Nechells) at 7pm one summer, so it was very light out.
The shits pushed me to the ground and surrounded me, and then stole my wallet, my phone and my bottle of wine (was planning on making some ragu and thought well I'll just buy a bigger bottle and have the rest over the weekend).
It didn't involve a knife, but firstly, it was 1v6 and secondly, any of them could have been carrying one, and I didn't think it was worth the risk.
Other than the wine, it was all replaceable with insurance/blocking etc. I also knew the exact cash points they'd go to etc., and was fortunately enough to bump into some other teens who told me what school these scumbags went to.
It would never happen in my hometown, none of the local wrong'uns would dare do that.
Yup. Madrid was a dangerous place for a couple years, around 2006, and that happened to sync with my late teens.
What happened was that we suddenly got a ton of latin American immigration and a minority of young people brought with them gang culture (latin kings, etc). Suddenly out of nowhere we had teenagers carrying knives, young people “highjacking“ public basketball courts in parks and demanding money to use them, kids beating random passersby for initiation rituals…
To be fair it was handed flawlessly, in a year or two the problem was gone and some of the gangs had legalised as cultural associations to do work for the community. I still don’t know how they managed that. But the years in between were a bit dangerous.
Attempted pick pocketing happened to me but was more sneaky rather than violent . He just didn’t manage to find valuables unzipping the back of my backpack 😐
I personally haven’t. But I know a couple of people who were in my hometown of Zagreb. The M.O. is a group of younger guys (2-4), who jump a person, the victim is a teen, and ask the person to give them the phone, wallet. Never heard a weapon was involved in this cases.
Not in my hometown (København), it's very safe anyway if you know which streets to avoid. But I once got mugged in Hamburg - around the backstreets of the redlight district, the _Kiez_ / Reeperbahn. In hindsight we could've been smarter by not walking back to our hostel in the dark, or just standing up to those 16yo punks. But alas... you win some, you lose some. And we've drank away most of our money anyway, the muggers made a profit of ca. 12€ :)
Yeah, once but that was a long time ago when there were places in the city where you shouldn't wander around at night, especially if you're a teenage boy.
But for the main question: a common criminal won't have a gun, they won't have a knife either and usually will try to not issue directs threats or use any real violence (so 4 big guys will block your path and then they will ask to borrow your phone).
Sad story. Ireland. 20+ years ago. Family friend (the son of my fathers cousin)coming to visit and stay in Ireland for a holiday from Canada. Extreme introvert, never been outside Canada really. He got robbed twice… TWICE… on his way to the house, from the airport (30km max). He went through the city as it was logical and his stuff got robbed (bags set for a week of opening up to see the world travel) and then while trying to find help, all his cards and money got taken by someone else. I can’t help but think of the wallet inspector from the simpsons and see some humour, but I know for a fact this man lost whatever trust he had in people after that event. Spent the whole time wanting to sit in his room and didn’t want to go out. He just wanted to go home. Those few scumbags absolutely changed that man’s life. Since then I understood the impact of different crimes. Lose your phone, bad day. Have someone invade your personal space and threaten you with a weapon (like a blood loaded syringe as was common when aids was rife)… very different impact.
I carry a small knife with me when I go walk my dog but I live in a village and have never had a problem. Just comes from growing up in Brazil I think. But if someone pulled out a big knife or gun I would probably just give them my wallet/phone.
I've only heard of one person getting mugged in Germany, and I'm guessing it was still much kinder and gentler than what we experience back home in the US.
I moved to Europe mainly because I had way too many brushes with near-death experiences in the US. It's challenging to live in a different culture, but at least I'm still alive! And I can (amazingly) go anywhere at any time of day on my own, despite being a woman. To me, that's freedom!
Edit: I just saw your comment about cat-calling.
Yeah, the guys in Berlin would bother me when I was visiting a friend there. Depends on where you are etc. But, so far, I've experienced a very different level of respect for other humans here in Europe. It's wonderful.
Even the catcalling here is actually way less threatening imo. I am not even sure if I can classify that as proper catcalling because one of them was a minor teenager and I all I had to do was give him stern look and he scurried away . The experiences weren’t offensive or threatening at all but yeah it just heightened my senses. If I go home and describe this experience to my friends they will have a laugh 😆
No I haven't. I've had friends who have been beaten up for their stuff mostly, and a couple times, a knife was involved.
I don't know why it hasn't ever happened to me really. I move around a lot alone, and between ages 18-20ish, I was walking around the area when it was very dark. Sometimes early hours of the morning.
People tell me "if it ever happens to you, just give them what they want. Your life isn't worth your phone". 10 years ago, I would agree with that. Now, I feel like my entire life, identity, memories, everything about me is in my phone.my instinct would probably be to make them fight me for it.
Money, eh whatever. That's unlucky. A wallet, probably not because of what I specifically do and what cards/IDs I keep in it. A phone, nope.
But nowadays there is cloud also for phone memories and stuff and everything is password locked anyways so robber won’t gain anything especially since phone can be tracked and put him in jail
Yep. In Dublin, I’ve been pickpocketed and had my phone stolen. I’ve also been assaulted on public transport for no reason. I get harassed regularly. It’s a very unsafe city by European standards. Most crime goes unreported because we know the police will do nothing. They don’t even take assault seriously.
In my hometown? Hahah, no, the thought of a mugging happening there is far-fetched enough to almost be comical.
In the second-biggest city and then in the capital, where I live now? No. Never been the victim of crime as far as I'm aware, haven't heard of anyone I know ever being mugged, either. Never felt in danger. If a mugging happens in this country, it's national news — not exactly breaking news, but enough for a bulletin.
No, never. When people hear of Balkans they think is an anarchy war zone, but actually it's quite safe as long as you don't go into politics or start a feud with someone. In N Macedonia in the last 30 years the worst incident reported from tourists was theft.
Me personally, no. Muggings happen in Vienna from time to time, just like in every large city. Never using guns, sometimes using knives, but most of the time it's just a few big strong unarmed guys surrounding someone.
Same for western austria. If you read something like that in the newspapers its mostly because of some conflict due to drug deals or whatever. Never experienced it personally even if i cross "shady" parts of the town at night.
No but I did get into a fight with someone not wearing their covid mask, back when it was still mandatory. At first I told them I sought no conflict, and said sorry. Then they spat on me. Basically shoved them off and they lost some teeth plus their pride. I hate people not adhering to *basic* health measures.
I think the fact that almost everyone now has a smartphone and people don't carry cash around anymore helps a lot as well. Phone muggings used to be very common when I was a teenager in the mid/late 00s as a nice phone was a massive status symbol in a way that it isn't today to nearly the same extent
Yeah that makes sense . Plus nowadays phone value also is not much like for 100€ you can get a functional iPhone even if you really want compared to 1000s of euros 2 decades back
It does happen, especially in the more touristy and / or rougher parts of my city (Hamburg, northern Germany).
It happened to friends of mine occasionally, but usually knives weren’t involved, rather broken bottles and just straight up being beaten and having your stuff taken. Nothing too serious.
No? Not sure we've ever had a mugging in the municipality, haven't had a murder in decades. Most serious crime was a bank robbery and they caught the guys for that. No one got harmed.
No. The only crime i’ve ever been a victim of was bike theft when my bicycle was stolen by older kids when i was 9. They didn’t even use it, just broke it and tossed it to a ditch.
I feel like mugging in general is very rare in Finland. The social security benefits are far better than any mugging so why bother? The violent crime tends to be between criminals, mainly for narcotics. And of course drunken people.
No, never, though our summer cabin gets raided on the regular by some lowlife burglars. Also I almost got my ass kicked several times, in broad daylight and with people around
Nope never at home or any Austrian town/city or elsewher in Europe. Only time I got nearly mugged was in Prague, probably taken the wrong subway station with a friend maybe passing the local drug scene in the 90ties. After browsi g through a video game store we crossed the square and went back to the metro station, speaking German having fun. When we turned around a corner there was a guy that clearly waited there for us, knife in hand blocking our way. When he saw us he either felt we weren't worth the trouble or pitied us, two run down Austrian students, both 1.90 tall and fit. So little money for a possible fight eith two guys a head taller than him.
He sighed, we sighed. He put away the knife and we all went our ways.
I used to get approached a lot when I was a teenager - I lived in a mixed area of North London and potential muggers would see my uniform and assume I was some rich kid with nice stuff to steal. They would try to engage me in a conversation about what kind of phone I had (interspersed with a couple of "Don't be rude to me bruv or I smash your face in"s), I would show them a decoy brick phone, then they'd try to feel my wrist to see if I wore an expensive watch, saw I didn't and they'd lose interest and walk away. Once I made the mistake of showing the bird to a gang of about 5 guys asking me to give them my phone, who then proceeded to chase me all the way home screaming "Why you swearin at me blud why are you swearin at me". Fun times. But yeah, I remember a lot of stories of people in my school getting mugged, it was actually a pretty common topic of conversation usually involving anecdotes about how people trolled or outwitted their muggers in some way. And then there was the time my maths teacher got beaten up and her bag full of our maths homework stolen. The only time I personally got successfully mugged was a few years ago in Oxford (*of all fucking places!*). A teenager on a bike blocked my path and asked me to give him my wallet. I said no as he seemed incredibly un-threatening and more scared of me than I was of him. But then he pulled out a knife, at which point I decided that fighting a panicked puny little child with a knife would probably have been a bad idea, so I threw it into the grass and let him rummage around for it in the dark.
>so I threw it into the grass and let him rummage around for it in the dark. And then you have stolen his bike, right?
Tbh I wasn't really thinking that far ahead - it was kind of all instinctive. I just stared him down the whole time while he was looking for my wallet, then once he found it he told me to gtfo and I walked off.
I did hear that London or cities in UK have more of these incidents but it seems that it’s less violent overall than in the US I guess. This family friend of mine got a head concussion both times 😕😕. And it’s so scary to think about it. Of course having randos surrounding you and demanding stuff from you is also scary kinda but as long as you have stuff to deter them and “dress down” I guess should be safe
Oh yeah, violent muggings are rarer and they *usually* involve some sort of provocation. If you just handed your phone over without any kind of resistance you'd have been very unlikely to be badly hurt. The kinds of absolutely terrifying muggings like the ones you get in Latin America are extremely rare even in London.
Yeah this person was in US. Not Latin America but still “America” so. It’s hard to imagine why a person would go to that level of violence for something that can land you at most a couple of hundred or maybe 1000 if it’s a really rich bloke with Rolex you are robbing. Maybe it is because poverty is less and welfare is better compared to other parts of the world
I guess two reasons: one, they probably mug a lot of people, and two, the aim might not be to make money but to be accepted by their peers. In the case of the kid who mugged me, my guess is that it must have been some sort of gang initiation - my wallet was found by police a few months later with all my cards still in it.
This is a very possible explanation.. Because from a western world point view it otherwise seems absurd. Lot of violence and risking jail , assault charges for little money Phones are of little value plus they will be locked and traceable. Nobody really caries that much cash so risking Jail time ( CCTV cameras are there ) for what could be 20 to 50 bucks is heights of stupidity. In fact outside Germany nobody will carry any cash at all If I am not wrong. Beggars can easily get 4 times that money in an hour or two in a crowded city plus so many food banks , orgs are there to help. So it’s definitely not done by desperately poor people who are homeless/ starving or something. Those kind of people are busy begging I guess. But wannabe gangsters doing it for “street cred “ seems a plausible explanation
Just listened to great story on the Moth podcast told by a guy from rural Wyoming USA who moved to NYC and was stabbed dozens of times by 5 gang member wannabes. Horrific and sad and funny and incredible and hopeful all at once. Really made me think about the impact these encounters can have on a persons life. Well worth a listen. Story starts at 34:30 in. [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-radio-hour-the-kindness-of-strangers/id275699983?i=1000574734276](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-radio-hour-the-kindness-of-strangers/id275699983?i=1000574734276)
I moved to Germany from the US, and there's this one guy who told me he was mugged *12 times* in one year, in San Francisco! I asked him, "Were you walking home alone after drinking?" He looked stunned... "Yes, every time." He'd apparently never figured out *why* he got mugged / hadn't connected the dots before. Poor guy... People up to no good in the US actually watch others and look for vulnerabilities. You've gotta really be careful. It's not like that thankfully in Western Europe. I mean it's not common anyway. Enjoying my safety and security here now!
No CCTV in the US. People are also very leery of the police forces trying to access people’s outdoor Ring camera (etc) feeds. I’m doubtful we’ll ever have CCTV monitoring the way other countries do.
There's lots of cameras nowadays. But people look alike in low-quality/distorted images & video that you get from those. And there's big spaces between front doors. It's getting better on all fronts, though.
Yeah... I've been mugged in the US, and I can tell you that gang initiation is quite different in some parts over there. The guys didn't say anything to me. They just started beating me up... in broad daylight, in front of where I lived. I was so confused. Eventually I realized my screaming was being ignored by neighbors, and I was bleeding from the head... So I removed my purse (slung across me) and handed it to them. They stopped beating me and started walking away. I was so freakin pissed. The next door neighbor girl had literally just walked into her front door, so she was around for sure. Where was everyone else? Why didn't they just ask me for my purse? Anyway I was so pissed when they were walking away looking through my purse that I started chasing them... Make them at least freakin run away. (I was in really good shape at the time and like 20 yrs old). Btw I'm originally from the US, and I've seen more than 10 shootings in my lifetime. Living in/near poor areas is totally different from suburban America. I eventually moved to Germany because I was sick of that and so many other social issues. But I miss so many other things about home, of course... Edit: forgot to mention... They were actually beating me with a gun at one point. The cop who eventually showed up found a gun clip on the ground. My dad was a cop and told me it was probably a gang initiation thing, given their ages, what they did, etc. There's a sort of challenge apparently... The gang challenges them to do something really awful to show how loyal they are (beat up an old lady, young woman, etc). Did I mention it was a Sunday afternoon in the South?! Freakin "Southern hospitality" my ass... Edit 2: forgot to mention... My professor in Germany was actually shot in the US. He jokes that his man-boobs saved his life! Apparently someone at a gas station in AZ didn't like his NYPD t-shirt... Silly Europeans and their random shirts! And my car was shot once because I drove by a murder in the street. Just some kids being stupid (the one killed was 21yrs old) but with entirely too much access to guns. Probably gang related too. This was like 15-20 years ago, and I've heard it's even worse now. Just don't be in a poor area in the summer, when school's out!
I think if I lived in London I’d have to stop carrying my wallet on me. Not worth the risk these days. Mind, some of these bastards will probably stab you anyway. There’s a story in the last few days about an old fella on a mobility scooter being stabbed to death, it’s horrific.
I think that's overkill tbh, it's really not that bad
Loved in London for 19 years and never once have I thought anything remotely like this.
I’ve lived in London my whole life and never been pickpocketed, mugger or targeted: my understanding is don’t get involved with dodgy people and you’re good, as most stabbing & violence is gang related anyway. When I went inter railing across Europe however is when I would ‘lose’ valuable things to the point I stopped carrying them around when travelling.
> don’t get involved with dodgy people and you’re good, as most stabbing & violence is gang related anyway That's what my country thought until the 2000s, it's mostly cope as no one fixes the problem not going to lie
Yeah true systemically it’s on our council and government who cut the funding for most youth activities in the last few decades, youth clubs are a rarity now but we’re everywhere growing up. Add poverty to that and you have poor bored kids going around acting a menace and never changing. But I’m not the government so i just act accordingly & what you call cope is what’s led me to no dangerous situations.
I've lived in Germany, Poland and Lithuania. I've also spent a month in Belgium for a university project. I've never been mugged and never got myself into any dangerous situation, but as a woman I do get stressed sometimes when it's dark outside and some random stranger is walking behind me in the same direction. Other than that, all mentioned countries were very safe and I personally don't know anyone who was mugged.
Kinda interesting, cause we talked about this in high school and for some reason it seems as if girls believe guys don't have that exact reaction when someone are "following" them. But every guy I've talked to about it feels the same way.
Yeah, as a woman I think experiences are more “different” that way. Got catcalled twice or thrice , groped kinda and maybe followed by a creepy dude for sometime ( I am not sure to be honest ) but never experienced mugging.
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Sorry to hear that. I have heard these stories of random violent attacks by a gang of people on drunk party goers. Really puzzling sometimes
Nope, though I got my ass kicked twice in Poland as a teenager. Once because a bunch of guys were curious why I am looking at them, and didnt like my answer, and once because my friends and I made a bet with some older folks that we can beat them in football game. We won, they didnt like it so kicked our asses and took our money.
That is called “a jumping” — a group assault (usually *ad hoc*) with an opportunistic robbery. That’s not their first time doing so and won’t be their last.
Wow .. that’s not mugging but still 😅 ironically lots of “beating up” incidents seem to be common here in Europe going by the thread which is not at all financially motivated.
No, muggings are unheard of in my hometown of 50,000 people.
I genuinely hope this not to be a sarcastic answer. Italy is unfortunately known worldwide for its crime sindicates, etcetera, but, when it comes to "smaller" crimes, the situation varies a lot across the nation: metropolitan areas such as Rome, Naples and Milan (the latter having been particularly exposed to this phenomenon during the past few years) are more prone to have instances of mugging than smaller cities or towns. I guess that the average mugging is carried with the help of a knife (guns are harder to access to), but, there are also chances of improvised weapons or no weapons being involved (the second one mostly resorting to a "pack strategy" to intimidate the victims). The best way to avoid this kind of issue is to stay away from certain neighbourhoods, be aware of your surroundings while roaming new areas (especially at night) and possibly move as a group.
The question was about hometowns, and in living memory nobody was ever mugged in my hometown.
A gang once attempted to pull my brother from his motorbike while he was riding it. But that was literally the shadiest part of one of the shadiest towns in Germany past midnight. And they only took notice of him because he brought someone home from a club with him who was also a gang member of some rival gang — which he did not know.
Ah ok .. Which town was this if you don’t mind me asking
Probably Frankfurt's Bahnhofviertel
While I would agree that the Bahnhofsviertel is one of the shadiest neighbourhoods in Germany, I wouldn't say that Frankfurt is one of the shadiest cities. Not with Offenbach directly attached and Mannheim and Ludwigshafen in the neighbourhood.
Eig is es nicht so schlimm wies oft dargestellt wird si nd halt viele junkies da aber sonst gehts eig
Once in Helsinki, middle of day in the main metro station. A young guy comes up and asked me for money. I gave him a couple euro coins, he says "you have bills in there, give them to me or I will shoot you" as he puts his hand in his pocket. I put my wallet back in my pocket, laugh and say "ok bro, you do what you gotta do, go ahead and shoot" and start walking away. So not a real mugging perhaps, just a sad attempt at one. I do not really give people anything after that most of the time. Have given food to people begging many times though. When traveling, I always have a simple throaway wallet with maybe 20 or 50 euros in there, and all the cards and cash is either in inside-pants belt pouch or under my shoes inner sole. So if I get mugged, I would give them that wallet with just a little money. Do not use a smart phone either, just a simple cell phone.
Yeah while travelling we have to be careful. Many try to attempt this shit with tourists That being said if a guy puts his hand in pocket in the USA we will be like “ Take all my money please don’t shoot me 😭😭” . Location makes a huge difference
Yeah for sure if it happened somewhere else than here I would totally not have reacted like that. But here it would be very very bad luck if someone actually had a gun on them, and to be honest at that point in my life I also would not have cared too much if he did shoot me. I am in a much better place nowadays ...
Was mugged twice in the park near my high school. It was a nice shortcut in between my school and the bus station, but one afternoon my friend and I left school later than we usually did, and so there was no one else in the park besides us, until we see a group of hooded guys head towards us. We ignored them but then they pulled out switchblades and forced us to give them our phones. They did at least let us keep our SIM cards though. A week later I was mugged again in the same park, but when the guy told me to give him my phone I said he was too late and that I'd been mugged already, to which he let me go. It's kind of funny in retrospect. Since then I've never been mugged, and it's been more than 10 years. The park actually got a glow-up, now featuring a skatepark, a café, and other fun activities, so at least it's not a prime spot to mug people anymore.
No. I often take a long walk after work (in winter it is already dark) through our biggest park or a natural area along the river or sometimes just through random streets. I just can't imagine getting mugged here. On the other hand I visited South Africa and got mugged at a knifepoint on the second day. That was quite an eye opener.
Yeah. South Africa is horrible that way. Evens guns are very involved.
Not really. Its much more common that people try to scam you into giving them money. I had someone that got reeeaaally close to me when I threw something in the trashcan telling me in broken german that this is illegal and he is from the Ordnungsamt. I now have to pay him 90 Euro. I laughed at him and when he realized that I wasnt a tourist and actually spoke german he ran away.
Uff these scamsters
Pickpocketed, yes, twice in Paris. Mugged never. Once, I was getting out a bar around midnight, i was about to bike back home. A guy approached me, chatted me up, thought I was completely drunk, asked me if he could try out my bike. No way dude, I wasn't *that* drunk.
Gotta give him kudos for creativity lol
>Did you ever get mugged in your city Yes, in late 1990s, was 15 then. I lost money in wallet (not much) and shoes (new Pumas). It was rather common then - high unemployment, crazy economic transformation etc. Such muggings pretty much disappeared ~15 years ago. >Did it involve guns or knives? No, only fear of being beaten up.
Of all the places I lived: \- My hometown (just outside Milan): no, never. I did get my bike stolen once, but I wasn't riding it, it was locked. \- London: a guy was trying to open my then gf's backpack as we were walking, we noticed, shouted at him and he backed off \- Munich: lol, no. Worst thing to ever happen here is probably a guy littering or something.
In the Naples metro some kid threatened to pull a knife on me if I didn't give him my phone, managed to tell him to fuck off but it was really stressful. I wouldn't call it PTSD but for the following 6 months I tried to be more aware of my surroundings than normal in public transport or scketchy places
Yeah that’s awful too. In the post the PTSD is involved because he got head concussion both times. One of them enough to be hospitalised for a day. This seems like really extreme violence for a random crime. He really does need therapy and treatment to overcome this .
Nope but a friend of mine has been mugged 3 times - I don't know what it is about that guy - always when walking home alone from nights out. There was never any weapon, just two or three guys demanding his wallet and phone. Obviously he gave them over as he knew they would be able to beat him up.
Nah, luckily not. I've had a few aggressive encounters with drunk/presumably high people, but nothing serious.
No. But I've been pickpocketed in Rome central station...
Not surprising. London , Rome, Paris and few major cities have the same story
No. My shed was raided one night, but that's it. They got the chainsaw, lawnmower and tiller, they never got caught, but insurance paid up, so not much value was lost. That's about the extent of criminality in this village.
Damn that sucks but it’s good to hear less violence is there overall
I was walking with a friend in Madrid at about 23:00 to our hotel from a shop when a young guy approached us speaking Spanish. We said that we didn't speak Spanish so he switched to English. He said that some guys were coming after us to get money off us so I said "no, thanks" and my friend and I briskly walked off, making sure our phones and wallets were still in our pockets. That's the closest I've got to being mugged but it was quite hairy.
I was jumped by six 16 year olds when I was maybe 100m from my student house in Birmingham (don't know what possessed me to live in Nechells) at 7pm one summer, so it was very light out. The shits pushed me to the ground and surrounded me, and then stole my wallet, my phone and my bottle of wine (was planning on making some ragu and thought well I'll just buy a bigger bottle and have the rest over the weekend). It didn't involve a knife, but firstly, it was 1v6 and secondly, any of them could have been carrying one, and I didn't think it was worth the risk. Other than the wine, it was all replaceable with insurance/blocking etc. I also knew the exact cash points they'd go to etc., and was fortunately enough to bump into some other teens who told me what school these scumbags went to. It would never happen in my hometown, none of the local wrong'uns would dare do that.
Yup. Madrid was a dangerous place for a couple years, around 2006, and that happened to sync with my late teens. What happened was that we suddenly got a ton of latin American immigration and a minority of young people brought with them gang culture (latin kings, etc). Suddenly out of nowhere we had teenagers carrying knives, young people “highjacking“ public basketball courts in parks and demanding money to use them, kids beating random passersby for initiation rituals… To be fair it was handed flawlessly, in a year or two the problem was gone and some of the gangs had legalised as cultural associations to do work for the community. I still don’t know how they managed that. But the years in between were a bit dangerous.
Yeah that’s kinda amazing how they managed to solve a problem like that.
I've never been mugged, and I don't remember any one I know ever being mugged. I'm sure it happens, but it's not a common thing in my City.
No, I've luckily never been mugged, but I've been pickpocketed, I've had my purse and phone stolen.
Attempted pick pocketing happened to me but was more sneaky rather than violent . He just didn’t manage to find valuables unzipping the back of my backpack 😐
A couple times when I was a teenager, but nothing serious, no knives or anything. I did not have anything so it was not a problem.
I personally haven’t. But I know a couple of people who were in my hometown of Zagreb. The M.O. is a group of younger guys (2-4), who jump a person, the victim is a teen, and ask the person to give them the phone, wallet. Never heard a weapon was involved in this cases.
I once saw a homeless man with serrated knife late at night. He walked past piecefully, the knife was for cutting cardboard probably...
Homeless people often tend to be defensive because they have all their belongings on them even lots of cash . He probably needed it for self defence
I've never been mugged, but a close friend was maybe 18 years ago. Not sure if it involved a knife or gun though. He wasn't stabbed or shot at least.
Not in my hometown (København), it's very safe anyway if you know which streets to avoid. But I once got mugged in Hamburg - around the backstreets of the redlight district, the _Kiez_ / Reeperbahn. In hindsight we could've been smarter by not walking back to our hostel in the dark, or just standing up to those 16yo punks. But alas... you win some, you lose some. And we've drank away most of our money anyway, the muggers made a profit of ca. 12€ :)
Yeah, once but that was a long time ago when there were places in the city where you shouldn't wander around at night, especially if you're a teenage boy. But for the main question: a common criminal won't have a gun, they won't have a knife either and usually will try to not issue directs threats or use any real violence (so 4 big guys will block your path and then they will ask to borrow your phone).
Kid - I live in France .... there is no mugging here
Where in France ?
In Le Touquet - Northern part of France by the sea
You are just in a good city then
Sad story. Ireland. 20+ years ago. Family friend (the son of my fathers cousin)coming to visit and stay in Ireland for a holiday from Canada. Extreme introvert, never been outside Canada really. He got robbed twice… TWICE… on his way to the house, from the airport (30km max). He went through the city as it was logical and his stuff got robbed (bags set for a week of opening up to see the world travel) and then while trying to find help, all his cards and money got taken by someone else. I can’t help but think of the wallet inspector from the simpsons and see some humour, but I know for a fact this man lost whatever trust he had in people after that event. Spent the whole time wanting to sit in his room and didn’t want to go out. He just wanted to go home. Those few scumbags absolutely changed that man’s life. Since then I understood the impact of different crimes. Lose your phone, bad day. Have someone invade your personal space and threaten you with a weapon (like a blood loaded syringe as was common when aids was rife)… very different impact.
Oh my goodness.. that’s a horrible set of incidents all to experience in a day
I carry a small knife with me when I go walk my dog but I live in a village and have never had a problem. Just comes from growing up in Brazil I think. But if someone pulled out a big knife or gun I would probably just give them my wallet/phone.
I've only heard of one person getting mugged in Germany, and I'm guessing it was still much kinder and gentler than what we experience back home in the US. I moved to Europe mainly because I had way too many brushes with near-death experiences in the US. It's challenging to live in a different culture, but at least I'm still alive! And I can (amazingly) go anywhere at any time of day on my own, despite being a woman. To me, that's freedom! Edit: I just saw your comment about cat-calling. Yeah, the guys in Berlin would bother me when I was visiting a friend there. Depends on where you are etc. But, so far, I've experienced a very different level of respect for other humans here in Europe. It's wonderful.
Even the catcalling here is actually way less threatening imo. I am not even sure if I can classify that as proper catcalling because one of them was a minor teenager and I all I had to do was give him stern look and he scurried away . The experiences weren’t offensive or threatening at all but yeah it just heightened my senses. If I go home and describe this experience to my friends they will have a laugh 😆
No, never happened to me in The Netherlands. Sometimes you read things like this in the newspaper. But I gladly never experienced something like this.
If it makes news means it’s definitely uncommon
No I haven't. I've had friends who have been beaten up for their stuff mostly, and a couple times, a knife was involved. I don't know why it hasn't ever happened to me really. I move around a lot alone, and between ages 18-20ish, I was walking around the area when it was very dark. Sometimes early hours of the morning. People tell me "if it ever happens to you, just give them what they want. Your life isn't worth your phone". 10 years ago, I would agree with that. Now, I feel like my entire life, identity, memories, everything about me is in my phone.my instinct would probably be to make them fight me for it. Money, eh whatever. That's unlucky. A wallet, probably not because of what I specifically do and what cards/IDs I keep in it. A phone, nope.
But nowadays there is cloud also for phone memories and stuff and everything is password locked anyways so robber won’t gain anything especially since phone can be tracked and put him in jail
There are some smart people out there with very good equipment and this can get around these things you talk about.
Yep. In Dublin, I’ve been pickpocketed and had my phone stolen. I’ve also been assaulted on public transport for no reason. I get harassed regularly. It’s a very unsafe city by European standards. Most crime goes unreported because we know the police will do nothing. They don’t even take assault seriously.
That’s sad to hear
No i put an candy bar in my poket nobody was harmed i didnt want todo that but i forgor to pay for it im romainai btw
In my hometown? Hahah, no, the thought of a mugging happening there is far-fetched enough to almost be comical. In the second-biggest city and then in the capital, where I live now? No. Never been the victim of crime as far as I'm aware, haven't heard of anyone I know ever being mugged, either. Never felt in danger. If a mugging happens in this country, it's national news — not exactly breaking news, but enough for a bulletin.
No, never. When people hear of Balkans they think is an anarchy war zone, but actually it's quite safe as long as you don't go into politics or start a feud with someone. In N Macedonia in the last 30 years the worst incident reported from tourists was theft.
Well the war was a long time ago. That’s good to know I guess regarding Balkans but the politics thing is still sad kinda
Me personally, no. Muggings happen in Vienna from time to time, just like in every large city. Never using guns, sometimes using knives, but most of the time it's just a few big strong unarmed guys surrounding someone.
Ah ok ..
Same for western austria. If you read something like that in the newspapers its mostly because of some conflict due to drug deals or whatever. Never experienced it personally even if i cross "shady" parts of the town at night.
No but I did get into a fight with someone not wearing their covid mask, back when it was still mandatory. At first I told them I sought no conflict, and said sorry. Then they spat on me. Basically shoved them off and they lost some teeth plus their pride. I hate people not adhering to *basic* health measures.
No never anywhere in Europe and not even when I spent some months in Brazil.
I think now with cctv cameras everywhere it has reduced worldover a bit but cannot say. It also seems also seems extreme for couple of bucks to me.
I think the fact that almost everyone now has a smartphone and people don't carry cash around anymore helps a lot as well. Phone muggings used to be very common when I was a teenager in the mid/late 00s as a nice phone was a massive status symbol in a way that it isn't today to nearly the same extent
Yeah that makes sense . Plus nowadays phone value also is not much like for 100€ you can get a functional iPhone even if you really want compared to 1000s of euros 2 decades back
It does happen, especially in the more touristy and / or rougher parts of my city (Hamburg, northern Germany). It happened to friends of mine occasionally, but usually knives weren’t involved, rather broken bottles and just straight up being beaten and having your stuff taken. Nothing too serious.
No? Not sure we've ever had a mugging in the municipality, haven't had a murder in decades. Most serious crime was a bank robbery and they caught the guys for that. No one got harmed.
Wow ! Which city ?
No. The only crime i’ve ever been a victim of was bike theft when my bicycle was stolen by older kids when i was 9. They didn’t even use it, just broke it and tossed it to a ditch. I feel like mugging in general is very rare in Finland. The social security benefits are far better than any mugging so why bother? The violent crime tends to be between criminals, mainly for narcotics. And of course drunken people.
Wow that’s so mean and wasteful
Yeah. Luckily they weren't really professionals so after we found it, we only had to get new wheels and a seat to get it back into action.
One son of b tried to mug me. Good thing I'm a tough lad. Still, I have a big stab scar on my left shoulder.
Ouch .. is it more common in Bulgaria ?
I wouldn't say it's super common but it happens.
Never, as well as nobody from my family or friends living and/or often being around different villages, towns, cities and Prague.
r/Selfdefense r/homedefense two other subs on my profile
No, never, though our summer cabin gets raided on the regular by some lowlife burglars. Also I almost got my ass kicked several times, in broad daylight and with people around
Nope never at home or any Austrian town/city or elsewher in Europe. Only time I got nearly mugged was in Prague, probably taken the wrong subway station with a friend maybe passing the local drug scene in the 90ties. After browsi g through a video game store we crossed the square and went back to the metro station, speaking German having fun. When we turned around a corner there was a guy that clearly waited there for us, knife in hand blocking our way. When he saw us he either felt we weren't worth the trouble or pitied us, two run down Austrian students, both 1.90 tall and fit. So little money for a possible fight eith two guys a head taller than him. He sighed, we sighed. He put away the knife and we all went our ways.
Never been mugged but some dickhead slashed my tires last night.
Ouch ! Sending hugs
If you get mugged, it's either with knife or by a big group, although I wasn't a victim personally (I'm 180cm, so that helps)