Wait, Where’s My Access Badge: A Pickpocketing Training for Red Teamers

A few years ago, my dad was pickpocketed next to me on the Metro in Paris. I knew who had done it, but I had no idea what to do. That sent me down a rabbit hole. While researching how to prevent pickpocketing was interesting, learning how to do it was a lot more fascinating.

A few years later, I submitted a talk to Layer 8 Conference, an event for social engineers in Providence, RI. Below is the recording of teaching pickpocketing to red teamers, including demos, explanations and followed by the world’s first ever public pickpocketing competition.

I’ve added some bonus clips at the end of the video — make sure to watch those as well. Links to the resources are below the video in this blog post.

LINK: YouTube video with pickpocketing training, recorded at Layer 8 Conference

Recommended Pickpocketing Resources

• Apollo Robins, The Art of Misdirection: This is a short TED talk with great background on directing attention.
• James Brown, The Secrets of Pickpocketing (POWA Academy): This is the highest quality course I found on learning stage pickpocketing, both in terms of advice and production value. That said, it’s also the priciest one.
• Jim Ravel, Theatrical Pickpocketing: This is a classic book on stage pickpocketing. Generally I learned a lot more from video trainings but Ravel has a short but valuable chapter on touching.
• Derren Brown, The Great Art Robbery: This is a thoroughly enjoyable TV show where magician Derren Brown teaches a crew of pensioners how to rob an art gallery. Great lessons on misdirection, and you learn how to steal a watch with a leather buckle strap. Also check out Derren’s other work — available both on Netflix and YouTube.
• Bob Arno, Pickpocket King: If you’re interested in street pickpocketing techniques, this is a both interesting and weird documentary.
• Nicholas Byrd & James Coats, Encyclopedia of Pickpocketing: This is an eight-hour training on stage pickpocketing. It’s very comprehensive and affordable. It was shot a few decades ago, so the video quality isn’t great but it’s your best value for money if you want deep content and low cost.
• Movie, Focus: This is a feature-length movie with Will Smith. It’s entertaining and you learn some things about misdirection and some interesting steals.

How to protect your valuables

I didn’t have enough time in my Layer 8 talk to cover protecting yourself from pickpockets. Here is some advice:

• Put your valuables in inside pockets and zip them up
• If you are wearing a handbag, wear it over your neck & shoulder and then put your coat on over it
• Carry fewer valuables, and not everything in the same bag or pocket. Leave what you don’t need in the hotel room safe.
• Beware of people getting into your personal space. That should trigger alarms.
• Beware of distractions and blockers
• Be assertive & push back if people are getting too close. They may accuse you of being rude, just don’t let that phase you.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and definitely ping me if you use any of these techniques in a red teaming engagement. I’m @chris_kirsch on Twitter.