Keeping your wits (and your dollars)

REGARDING “A Careful Traveler Becomes a Bit Warier” [Travel section Sourcebook, Jan. 22] and subsequent letters on the pickpockets: I have traveled extensively in Europe but met only one.

In September 2002 in Amsterdam, I was ill with the flu and alone on a trolley at the end of the line. I was the last person off except for the thief behind me. I felt his hand on my wallet in my pocket. I grabbed his hand; he sprang back. I had him cornered at the back of the trolley, and he was much smaller than I and frightened.

Keep alert, travel with witnesses, and be aware that these thieves select their targets carefully. Wear a money belt, and try not to be a lonely target.

FLOYD MATHEWS

Santa Monica