Originally Posted by wahooflyer
What's counterintuitive is that these days, pickpockets may have better luck in poorer neighborhoods, where some residents don't have bank accounts or credit cards and carry around large amounts of cash.
This is especially true in areas with large populations of immigrants. Many of the restaurants in these areas (especially Asian restaurants) are cash-only, hence a need to carry around larger amounts of cash. Also, these restaurants become virtual magnets for armed robbers.
Many immigrants who work in construction or other labor-intensive industries carry their whole paychecks in cash, which makes them far more enticing targets than white-collar execs who have hardly any cash on them (and who know enough to immediately cancel all plastic after getting robbed).