Ms. Le Thi Hong Van, 29 years old, living in Berlin, Germany encountered robbers while traveling in Athens, Greece – a place known as the `land of the gods` – on June 17.
`My friend and I are walking through small and deserted streets from the Acropolis, Athens to the hotel. These past few days, I’ve read a lot of news about tourists being robbed in European cities. Therefore,
Van came to Greece this summer to celebrate her 29th birthday. This photo was taken at the Acropolis, before the female tourist had an incident.
Van and her friends dressed simply, not wearing designer bags or luxury watches to avoid becoming prey to bad guys.
Suddenly she turned around and saw two women close behind her, then they turned around, instead of continuing straight.
Then the female tourist ran towards the two people she suspected were pickpockets and asked loudly in English: `Hey, sorry, but where is my money?`
At this time, the pickpocket quickly took out Van’s Aufenthaltstitel card (residence permit in Germany) from his chest to return it to her.
As a witness to the incident, after the two thieves left, Van’s friend turned to say that he was lucky to be a female thief.
Recalling the incident, Van said she was luckier than many other tourists because she got her documents and money back.
Van said, she shared some of her own experience to hope that everyone will be more vigilant so that the trip is a process of enjoying beautiful memories, instead of bringing anger upon themselves.