New Taipei City Police Department-Eight Common Methods Employed by Groups of Thieves

Ask while knowing the answer: When the victim is getting on the bus, a thief blocks the door and pretends to ask the way, while two or three other thieves crowd around the victim. After they succeed, the thieves do not get on the bus but leave quickly.
Block ahead and push behind: derived from the first method. The leader of a group of thieves selects a victim first. When the victim gets on the bus or is in the middle of a jostling crowd, thieves block the way ahead of and behind the victim , giving the leader a chance to steal.
Ambush from all sides: this is the method used most frequently by groups of thieves when there are few people about. For example, as the bus stops at a station, three or four thieves, having selected a victim, pretend to get off and stand at the door; when the victim gets on, they ask him to enter while blocking him intentionally, which gives the leader a chance to steal when the victim passes through the line of thieves. In other cases, the leader may pretend to get off the bus quickly and jostle the victim to create a chance to steal. After a victim is selected, the thieves approach and jostle him so that he is unable to move, and the leader robs him.
Outflank from two sides: the basic mode of stealing used by three-person groups of thieves. In a bus full of passengers, two thieves jostle the victim from both sides, and the leader of the group steals from behind.
Feign an attack in the east and attack in the west: particularly aimed at women who carry children. Two or three thieves make the child cry, and the leader steals when the woman is busy in taking care of the child.
A bolt out of the blue: Two or three thieves surround a woman. One claims that he is her husband, slaps her in the face and scolds her for having stolen money and run away from home. The leader robs the woman when she is scared.
Do evil openly: the basic method used by a pair of thieves. Thieves use an excuse to talk with the victim ( usually a woman) and pick her pocket, or steal when she is concentrating on shopping.
Picking pockets: the method generally used by a single thief. This method is not necessarily only employed by hardened thieves. Ordinary people steal sometimes .