The Burrow
Jul 17, 2026
While vacations are something we often look forward to sometimes years in advance, not every trip goes smoothly. Having your wallet stolen or falling for a scam, can take your trip from holiday to headache.
The travel insurance comparison experts at Compare the Market have looked at 34 cities worldwide to identify the biggest hotspots for petty crime that might affect you on holiday.
We looked at safety concern scores, and scam- and theft-related keyword mentions online for each city on tourism platforms to create an index on the biggest pickpocket and scam hotspots globally.
Here’s which cities came out on top.
Paris comes in as the biggest pickpocketing and scam hotspot on our index.
The French capital had the highest number of scam and theft keyword mentions per 1,000,000 international visitors at 17.32. For individual keywords, Paris also had the highest ‘pickpocket’ mentions and third highest ‘stolen’ keywords (at 8.03 and 2.13 per million respectively).
When it comes to overall fear of being robbed or mugged, the iconic city was the fourth highest in our index, showing the city of love is stealing more than just hearts.
Las Vegas is the second biggest hotspot for pickpocketing and scams on our list.
In a city known for gambling, perhaps it’s no surprise that this US city had the highest keyword mentions for ‘scam’ at 8.04 per million international travellers. There were lower mentions of the other keywords; 1.90 for ‘stolen’, 1.69 for ‘theft’, and 0.85 for ‘pickpocket’.
In third place in our pickpocketing hotspot index is New York City.
One of the biggest tourist destinations in the USA, it comes as no surprise that it’s also a hotspot for crime. While New York City has a rating of 49.68/100 for worries about being mugged or robbed, international tourists seem more concerned with scams. The ‘scam’ keyword had 7.7 mentions per million, the second highest in the index. Losing belongings is still a concern, however, having the fourth highest keyword mentions for ‘stolen’ at 1.9.
The Italian capital of Rome is the fourth biggest hotspot for pickpocketing and scams, according to the study.
Rome has the third highest total keyword mentions at 12.17 per million international visitors and sits at the top of the index for ‘theft’ mentions at 2.58 and in second place for ‘stolen’ at 2.17. So, while it’s normal to be awe-struck when walking through the Pantheon or lose track of time staring at the Colosseum, be aware it can leave you open to sticky fingers.
However, Rome does have the lowest level of concern about being mugged or robbed in our top five, with a rating of 42.99/100.
Los Angeles scored 15.2 out of 100 on our pickpocketing and scam index, making it the fifth biggest hotspot overall.
The third US city on our list, LA is a city for Hollywood hopefuls, but that doesn’t stop it from being a hotspot for petty crime, with the city having the highest keyword ratio for ‘stolen’ at 2.19 and an overall keyword total of 9.37 per million overseas tourists.
| Keyword Mention / 1,000,000 International Visitors | ||||||||
| Rank | City | Worried About Being Mugged or Robbed(out of 100) | Pickpocket | Stolen | Theft | Scam | Keyword Total | Index Total |
| 1 | Paris, FR | 60.61 | 8.03 | 2.13 | 1.53 | 5.63 | 17.32 | 2.28 |
| 2 | Las Vegas, US | 49.42 | 0.85 | 1.90 | 1.69 | 8.04 | 12.48 | 10.68 |
| 3 | New York City, US | 49.68 | 1.03 | 1.71 | 1.03 | 7.70 | 11.46 | 14.43 |
| 4 | Rome, IT | 42.99 | 3.42 | 2.17 | 2.58 | 4.00 | 12.17 | 15.20 |
| 5 | Los Angeles, US | 47.69 | 0.00 | 2.19 | 1.87 | 5.31 | 9.37 | 18.25 |
| 6 | London, UK | 58.89 | 0.62 | 0.75 | 0.84 | 2.64 | 4.85 | 19.78 |
| 7 | Athens, GR | 53.08 | 1.38 | 0.57 | 0.11 | 2.18 | 4.25 | 24.30 |
| 8 | Sofia, BG | 29.19 | 0.71 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6.43 | 7.14 | 25.05 |
| 9 | Barcelona, ES | 60.04 | 1.58 | 0.54 | 0.71 | 1.25 | 4.08 | 25.85 |
| 10 | Amsterdam, NL | 26.67 | 3.26 | 1.05 | 1.47 | 1.26 | 7.05 | 28.83 |
| 11 | Lima, PE | 77.73 | 1.32 | 0.26 | 0.26 | 1.05 | 2.89 | 31.88 |
| 12 | Milan, IT | 57.85 | 1.61 | 0.23 | 0.11 | 1.15 | 3.10 | 34.10 |
| 13 | Budapest, HU | 26.89 | 0.25 | 0.49 | 0.74 | 2.72 | 4.20 | 34.88 |
| 14 | Istanbul, TR | 45.28 | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.41 | 3.20 | 3.76 | 34.90 |
| 15 | Orlando, US | 42.89 | 0.00 | 0.79 | 0.47 | 1.10 | 2.37 | 47.75 |
| 16 | Nairobi, KE | 66.23 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 50.80 |
| 17 | Dubai, UE | 12.65 | 0.00 | 0.36 | 0.00 | 2.97 | 3.33 | 52.30 |
| 18 | Berlin, DE | 39.90 | 0.73 | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.73 | 1.53 | 53.08 |
| 19 | Ho Chi Minh City, VN | 55.21 | 0.12 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.05 | 1.16 | 53.10 |
| 20 | Kuala Lumpur, MS | 63.32 | 0.12 | 0.00 | 0.35 | 0.40 | 0.87 | 56.13 |
| 21 | Prague, CZ | 17.94 | 0.60 | 0.36 | 0.12 | 1.45 | 2.54 | 56.88 |
| 22 | Beijing, CN | 21.68 | 0.00 | 0.18 | 0.00 | 1.64 | 1.82 | 56.90 |
| 23 | Bangkok, TH | 35.14 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 0.07 | 1.32 | 1.49 | 58.43 |
| 24 | Vienna, AT | 25.03 | 0.35 | 0.47 | 0.00 | 0.70 | 1.51 | 59.13 |
| 25 | Warsaw, PL | 20.34 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.10 | 1.10 | 71.98 |
| 26 | Miami, US | 49.84 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.21 | 0.21 | 72.75 |
| 27 | Tokyo, JP | 20.45 | 0.12 | 0.00 | 0.16 | 0.48 | 0.77 | 75.80 |
| 28 | Antalya, TR | 25.02 | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.27 | 80.35 |
| 29 | Singapore, SG | 18.72 | 0.00 | 0.06 | 0.00 | 0.30 | 0.36 | 81.90 |
| 30 | Hong Kong, CN | 15.91 | 0.04 | 0.00 | 0.43 | 0.04 | 0.52 | 82.60 |
| 31 | Macau, CN | 18.06 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 90.23 |
| 32 | Shanghai, CN | 22.37 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 92.43 |
| 33 | Taipei City, TW | 18.33 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 96.23 |
| 34 | Mecca, SA | 13.99 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 99.25 |
While it’s true some holiday destinations carry more risk than others, you don’t need to be hypervigilant all the way. Here’s what the Chief Executive of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, has to say:
“Pickpocketing can happen anywhere, but it’s often more common around popular tourist attractions where people are distracted. Staying vigilant by keeping an eye on your belongings and keeping them in secure bags rather than your pockets can go a long way in staying protected.
“However, if you are a victim of theft or scams, travel insurance may be able to cover some or all your losses. But keep in mind that travel insurance won’t cover instances of negligence where you left your belongings unattended or in a public place when they were taken, such as leaving your wallet in an unlocked car.”
Cover for luggage and personal effects can come with limits and sub-limits so always read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the full details, and the Target Market Determination (TMD) to check if a policy is right for you.
Data was collected for 34 different cities across the globe across five categories, and each was indexed with a score between 0 and 100. Higher scores were considered ‘safer’ and lower scores were ‘riskier’. Keyword data was averaged and was weighted 75%, while ‘worries about being mugged or robbed’ were weighted 25% to create a total index score out of 100.
The number of international tourists in 2025 was taken from individual sources.
The metric ‘worries about being mugged or robbed’ for each city was taken from Numbeo and represents a score out of 100.
Keyword data was taken from TripAdvisor’s city forums and only keywords mentioned in comments from 2025 were counted. ‘Pickpocket, ‘stolen’, ‘theft’ and ‘scam’ were the keywords considered for the index.
The keyword mentions were then placed against the cities’ number of tourists in 2025 to calculate the number of keywords per 1,000,000 international tourists.
For a previous iteration of the data, check here.