Beware of thieves

[asiagal2]

I was sitting near the back in the asian room.  I was the only one sitting in my row.  A teenage girl sat behind me and placed her fanime bag on the seat next to mine's.  I thought that was strange when she should have it next to her.  Nonetheless, I watched carefully to my right while watching the movie.  Five minutes later she picked up her bag and then she picked up mine.  I grabbed my bag immediately and told her that's mine.  She looked at me in surprise and quietly said sorry but her look doesn't appear that she's apologetic.  I wouldn't have thought it was intentional but it was.  Each fan has one bag, why would she pick up 2!!

After I claimed my bag from her she walked to the other side of the room.  I watched her as her friend sat next to her.  Then she rose from her seat with her friend after 5 minutes of watching and circled from behind me and sat 3 rows in front me.  I noticed she did the same thing.  She put her bag the row in front of her next to a guy.  I was upset by the ordeal and walked out of the room.  Then from the corner of my eye, she was walking besides me.  I kept an eye on her to see if she'd follow me.  She did for a bit and walked into the next asian room.  I think she knows I noticed her.

In the closing ceremony, I was talking to my neighbor and he said theft has happened.  I was shocked to hear that.  I've been attending Fanime for 8 yrs and never had I heard of such a thing. 

Has anyone gotten robbed or nearly has?

[Junon]

My jacket pocket got picked in the Dance room on Saturday night, I had $72 in cash which has undoubtedly become someone's lunch or dealer's room spending change. It was *possible* that in a drunken situation when I fell 20 times walking (stumbling) around the convention (after someone spiked my drink) that the person who picked me up picked me, or I just dropped it because of the situation.

A friend's badge was stolen too, on Saturday afternoon.

[Pika1979]

I was sitting near the back in the asian room.  I was the only one sitting in my row.  A teenage girl sat behind me and placed her fanime bag on the seat next to mine's.  I thought that was strange when she should have it next to her.  Nonetheless, I watched carefully to my right while watching the movie.  Five minutes later she picked up her bag and then she picked up mine.  I grabbed my bag immediately and told her that's mine.  She looked at me in surprise and quietly said sorry but her look doesn't appear that she's apologetic.  I wouldn't have thought it was intentional but it was.  Each fan has one bag, why would she pick up 2!!

After I claimed my bag from her she walked to the other side of the room.  I watched her as her friend sat next to her.  Then she rose from her seat with her friend after 5 minutes of watching and circled from behind me and sat 3 rows in front me.  I noticed she did the same thing.  She put her bag the row in front of her next to a guy.  I was upset by the ordeal and walked out of the room.  Then from the corner of my eye, she was walking besides me.  I kept an eye on her to see if she'd follow me.  She did for a bit and walked into the next asian room.  I think she knows I noticed her.

In the closing ceremony, I was talking to my neighbor and he said theft has happened.  I was shocked to hear that.  I've been attending Fanime for 8 yrs and never had I heard of such a thing. 

Has anyone gotten robbed or nearly has?

did you bother to report what happened to one of the staff members? if you don't speak up then something can't be done to fix the problem.

[Hylia]

Yep! 25$ in Zelda Fanart =(

[IshokuOsero]

I'm always really cautious about stuff like that happening, which is why I always had my bag in my lap or when I was walking, I'd carry it to the side (it's a mini-backpack looking thing), keep one hand on it at all times and constantly check to make sure the zippers haven't been touched. You really can never be too careful, so I made sure to bring everything I bought up to my hotel room right after buying it, and going through all sorts of precautions like that.

That being said, I didn't catch anyone stealing (or of course I'd have reported them). I do have a picture of the Dokuro-chan cosplayer that was outside that I took from up in my hotel room though, and unfortunately it was only noticed after I uploaded my pictures to my computer, but there was a guy behind her taking an up-dress shot. Perverts... I wish I would've caught that when I took it, cause I would've gone straight to security to get those guys kicked out.

[Devi 1313]

My badge might've gotten stolen Friday afternoon while I was dressed as Misa, but it's also possible I dropped it because I had to costantly set my stuff down for pictures and Staff harped on me for having my badge on my bag. Later I just dressed as unpopular characters and put my new badge on my bag anyways.

[nf33]

Staff harped on me for having my badge on my bag.

well i didnt have anything happen to me i kept my expinsive stuff on me all the time (laptop) and my badge for most of con was on my sholder bag and no one bothered me about that so thats odd that they bothered you. some of my romates said they had some stuff missing and a roomates friend said a hotel maid stole some of his stuff so yeah...

[Oathkeeper]

Yeah...
While me and my friend were working on cosplay, our gluegun was stolen from a nearby table (that we could see). And while we were having pics taken of us, our camera was stolen (we put it on the ground to take a more accurate pic).

And...the most disturbing of all...
me and my friend fell asleep in one of the anime viewing rooms on accident and he took off his glasses and put them on the chair in front of him. When we both woke up about 10 minutes later to leave, his glasses were no longer on the chair. The thing is...these weren't just reading glasses or sunglasses. They were his prescription glasses for his horrendous vision. DX
So, unless someone popped out the lenses, they would be useless to anyone who didn't have the SAME EXACT prescription.

I was absolutely appalled at the amount of stuff that was stolen over the weekend. Especially because we checked the lost and found with conops mutliple times.

I was almost tempted to say that I will not be attending Fanime again. I had near $60 of stuff stolen from me...and a very expensive pair of glasses stolen from my friend. NOT COOL.

[IshokuOsero]

Yeah...
While me and my friend were working on cosplay, our gluegun was stolen from a nearby table (that we could see). And while we were having pics taken of us, our camera was stolen (we put it on the ground to take a more accurate pic).

And...the most disturbing of all...
me and my friend fell asleep in one of the anime viewing rooms on accident and he took off his glasses and put them on the chair in front of him. When we both woke up about 10 minutes later to leave, his glasses were no longer on the chair. The thing is...these weren't just reading glasses or sunglasses. They were his prescription glasses for his horrendous vision. DX
So, unless someone popped out the lenses, they would be useless to anyone who didn't have the SAME EXACT prescription.

I was absolutely appalled at the amount of stuff that was stolen over the weekend. Especially because we checked the lost and found with conops mutliple times.

I was almost tempted to say that I will not be attending Fanime again. I had near $60 of stuff stolen from me...and a very expensive pair of glasses stolen from my friend. NOT COOL.

Holy crap, talk about overkill. D:
I wish I would've seen some of those thieves... I would've given them a piece of my mind in the form of my fist to their face.

[Kaura117]

Remember folks. The paranoid are simply those with all the facts. Keep your eye on your stuff at all times. The moment I relaxed, the kirby doll I bought for a friend of mine went missing. As well as a black, plastic bat that was part of my Keiichi Maebara cosplay.

Luckily, I was far more paranoid about my DS and cellphone, eh? Man.

[M]

If you see (or saw) something happening, please report it to a staff member (preferably a Safety-on-Site or even the SJPD) asap.

As for having stuff stolen from you, I apologize for that and can only hope that in the future everyone is more careful of their possessions. Theft happens everywhere and as much as FanimeCon would like to prevent anyone from trying to steal, there will always be a few people trying to steal something. :(

[Reinna]

Stuff like this is why I'm paranoid as all heck about my possessions.  If it's not looped onto me or hanging off some part of me, it's in my bag, and I always have that tucked underneath my arm so that it's hard to get into.  Valuable stuff (wallet, ipod) are either zipped up in the bag or sitting at the very bottom, or I dropped them off in my hotel room and stashed them in my suitcase.  Sometimes, it's annoying for me because I feel like I'm overdoing it.  And other times, I'm just thankful that I'm so wary.

[Kazuko]

I learned to never take my Ipod or DS to a con because theft is very common. fortunatley my things were not stolen but last year I did have money stolen. Its all about choosing the right bag and well making sure that you keep things close with you at all times. even if its for a breif second or use the buddy system to have one friend guard your stuff. Im super wary of thefts and Making sure my things are kept zipped up. I dont trust buckles or open purses.

Or just keep shit in your crotch LOL :d

[Taka86]

someone stole my $250 18-70mm AFs DX lens and my fish eye lens with a few other various lens filters while I was waiting in line to get into the dealers room.  When I reached for my bag, the zipper was slightly opened. Next time, I'll be breaking fingers if I catch someone stealing my stuff... >=(

[chikhra]

Ugh, unfortunately I can believe that people would do this, but I don't see the point of ruining what's supposed to be a joyous weekend of nonstop anime by yoinking people's stuff left and right. Not cool. My condolences to everyone who had their stuff stolen.

@,@ I was lucky enough not to have any problems, but I'm definitely going to have to be more careful.

If you're cosplaying, may I suggest making inside pockets for cameras/wallets/glasses/other valuables? Really helps at GIGANTOR cons; my conbag got swiped at Comicon last year, but luckily all the important stuff was in a secret kimono-sleeve pocket ;3
Also, storing stuff in bags that have multiple buttons as opposed to zippers or velcro, etc, might take more time in getting your stuff out for pictures or buying stuff, but will also be harder for any thieves to get into too quickly.

[Snakey]

Zippers and deep front pockets are your friends. If you have a lot of money, put some of it in a random place. I remember two years ago I put money in my shoe (not like money smells pleasant anyway). XD

Luckily, despite my carelessness this year, I didn't get anything stolen. Usually I make sure to take a seat at least one chair away from people when I'm alone and actually want to concentrate on anime. That helps tremendously...despite looking a tad antisocial.

Sorry for those who got things stolen, but at least next time you all will be a lot more prepared for such an occurrence.

[SOawesomeness]

I keep everything in my pockets or in my friend's bags if I don't care what it is.
I had my camera in my front pocket, and my cellphone in my back pocket. I chained my wallet to my pants and put it in my pocket, too. (Otherwise, I stuffed it in my sashes of my cosplay or stuck it in the plastic badge holder).

I'm kinda paranoid of being in a crowded-ish place with money. Even when I go to concerts I chain my wallet and keep everything in my pockets.

[Sunara Ishi]

I'm always really cautious about stuff like that happening, which is why I always had my bag in my lap or when I was walking, I'd carry it to the side (it's a mini-backpack looking thing), keep one hand on it at all times and constantly check to make sure the zippers haven't been touched. You really can never be too careful, so I made sure to bring everything I bought up to my hotel room right after buying it, and going through all sorts of precautions like that.

That being said, I didn't catch anyone stealing (or of course I'd have reported them). I do have a picture of the Dokuro-chan cosplayer that was outside that I took from up in my hotel room though, and unfortunately it was only noticed after I uploaded my pictures to my computer, but there was a guy behind her taking an up-dress shot. Perverts... I wish I would've caught that when I took it, cause I would've gone straight to security to get those guys kicked out.

Same. I carry a shoulder strap purse so I also hook it across my body from over one shoulder and under another.

I thought I was being over paranoid but I guess I wasn't.

[spinny]

one of my friends actually got conned out of a commission she took in sunday night just before the artist's alley's closing

she worked on it all monday and then a guy came by claiming he was the commissioner's friend, giving a vague description that happened to fit that one... so she gave it to him since it was prepaid

a couple minutes later the commissioner comes by and asks for the picture....and much confusion resulted. she ended up having to refund the person since she had no more time to work on a new one =/

it's a more roundabout way of stealing but yeah...

[Pika1979]

one of my friends actually got conned out of a commission she took in sunday night just before the artist's alley's closing

she worked on it all monday and then a guy came by claiming he was the commissioner's friend, giving a vague description that happened to fit that one... so she gave it to him since it was prepaid

a couple minutes later the commissioner comes by and asks for the picture....and much confusion resulted. she ended up having to refund the person since she had no more time to work on a new one =/

it's a more roundabout way of stealing but yeah...

That dose suck but your friend should have made a receipt for the person who paid and then signed it when they picked up the commission. No receipt no art.