This was back in the middle 90's. Here's the full story:
My friend was working out of town in a suburb of Lisbon and had to take a train everyday in the reverse flow ( commuters were coming in to the center, he was going out ) so the train was pretty empty one day and he was alone in the carriage.
Two guys walk in, sit next to him and one of them produces a dirty syringe, says he has HIV and that the my friend better cooperate or else.
They escort him out on the next station and go into the tunnel where the syringe guy held him for all that time.
For the next few days he was completely paranoid and he had a friend in the police who tried to find the robbers but unfortunately they couldn't.
"All is money" at the time ( he was 19 ) was around $3000 in today's money, and the bank didn't help ( it wasn't a credit card ). He had no form of insurance either.
He was always a very shy and inward person and that episode made him much more so.
But the years have passed and now he is quite normal and has become a really good 3D artist.
I haven't met him since I left Portugal but I guess he doesn't like to talk about this episode.
Another friend of mine was beaten up when he refused to give his pin and two other friends just gave it without resistance.
This is why I always have just enough money for daily expenses on the card bank account. It means I have to constantly top up that account which could be another security problem but at least if I am confronted with a violent situation I'll just give my stuff away and minimize my risk of physical damage.
[EDIT] Actually I was just on his website looking at his recent work and maybe he was more affected than what I imagined.
My friend was working out of town in a suburb of Lisbon and had to take a train everyday in the reverse flow ( commuters were coming in to the center, he was going out ) so the train was pretty empty one day and he was alone in the carriage.
Two guys walk in, sit next to him and one of them produces a dirty syringe, says he has HIV and that the my friend better cooperate or else.
They escort him out on the next station and go into the tunnel where the syringe guy held him for all that time.
For the next few days he was completely paranoid and he had a friend in the police who tried to find the robbers but unfortunately they couldn't.
"All is money" at the time ( he was 19 ) was around $3000 in today's money, and the bank didn't help ( it wasn't a credit card ). He had no form of insurance either.
He was always a very shy and inward person and that episode made him much more so.
But the years have passed and now he is quite normal and has become a really good 3D artist.
I haven't met him since I left Portugal but I guess he doesn't like to talk about this episode.
Another friend of mine was beaten up when he refused to give his pin and two other friends just gave it without resistance.
This is why I always have just enough money for daily expenses on the card bank account. It means I have to constantly top up that account which could be another security problem but at least if I am confronted with a violent situation I'll just give my stuff away and minimize my risk of physical damage.
[EDIT] Actually I was just on his website looking at his recent work and maybe he was more affected than what I imagined.