I was in Italy in March/April this year. On my last day in Rome, I was almost pick-pocketed in two consecutive attempts while on the metro to Termini station for train transfer to FCO airport for flight back to Singapore. Luckily, both attempts were thwarted by the locals. The first attempt was when I was at the platform, ready to board the Termini-bound metro when a middle aged lady suddenly pulled me away from another teenager girl who was standing behind me. That teenager girl was then very angry and scolding that middle aged lady for foiling her attempt while walking away without boarding the metro. I then quickly boarded the metro through the other door while that lady boarded the metro through the door that I originally wanted to board. The metro was jam packed. So, I tried looking through the crowd to look for that lady who saved me from being pick-pocketed. Coincidentally, she was also turning her head around to look for me to see if I was OK. When we looked at each other, I whispered with "Thank you" from afar. She smiled and nodded her head. At next stop, the metro door opened. A teenager boy was trying to squeeze in and standing next to me. An old guy with his sharp eyes and experience, knew that this boy could be a potential pick-pocket. So, he kept trying to chase that boy out of the train with his high toned voice to attract attention of all other passengers onboard. That boy eventually gave up and left the train as everyone was staring at him. After the metro was moving, that old guy started talking to me in Italian. I didn't understand Italian but I could decipher what he was trying to talk to me - something like I should not put my wallet inside my back pocket as I could be pick-pocketed, etc. I thanked him with Italian "Grazie" before I got off the train at Termini station.
After that, I tried to relate the first and second incident, and suspected that both teenager girl and boy could be a gang. Both of them could be students who did not need to go to school on that day as it's Good Friday and the following week was also a week long school holiday. So, that’s the best time for them to prey on victims.