Years ago I found a foreign hand in my pocket at metro turnstiles in Barcelona, elaborate scheme with 3 people, one covering on the back, one on my right distracting me and one on my left reaching into my pocket.
Something tripped my alarm and I ripped the hand out of my pocket before I lost anything, that dude was gone in a flash, the other two urged me to go through the gates as I would lose my ticket.
Then I remembered the recommendation to swear angrily in Russian at them and came up with a few of those I knew and the other two took a hike very quickly. Apparently they are very afraid of Russian speaking people.
Something tripped my alarm and I ripped the hand out of my pocket before I lost anything, that dude was gone in a flash, the other two urged me to go through the gates as I would lose my ticket.
Then I remembered the recommendation to swear angrily in Russian at them and came up with a few of those I knew and the other two took a hike very quickly. Apparently they are very afraid of Russian speaking people.