Italy--The Neapolitan thief made a firm offer: "You come with your wife and we'll work on the train that goes from Florence to Monte Carlo to Paris. We will steal only credit cards and then buy Rolexes." He made a stealthy swiping motion. "We will work all day and make 15 to 20 million lire in a day. [US $8,000 - 10,000] We can do a lot of good stuff together. Here's my mobile phone number."

The thief shook hands with his potential recruit and added, "If you do it properly, this is a fabulous job."

Bob Arno and his wife Bambi pretended gratitude for the offer. Accepting the scribbled phone number, they thanked Mario for the espresso and skedaddled out of the cafe. Out of earshot, they burst into laughter.

Las Vegas—With travel safety a timely topic of universal fascination, we found the wise guy widely known as the most entertaining educator.

Bob Arno: One is my regular laugh-filled hour of comedy pickpocketing with an edge of reality. The other is a serious talk on travel safety, worldwide trends in distraction theft, and tourist crime. The two are separate entities, but work well together, one after the other.

BA: I customize the material for each audience, whether business travelers, cruise passengers, security agencies, or a general mix. And with our hidden-camera crime footage and extensive knowledge of the latest tourist scams, our lecture is sought by law-enforcement agencies all over the world.

BA: Everyone, really. We have a unique ability to please and impress in global settings. With a television presence in many European countries and national media exposure in the United States, we have a bit of a following. Ten years ago I redirected my energy towards the corporate event industry.