This video shows how bold the petty thieves in Rio de Janeiro are. <br />In the clip a group of youngsters target innocent bystanders as they walk through the busy streets. <br />The thieves use a number of methods, including snatching items while they’re riding bikes and reaching into coach windows when the victim is distracted. <br /> <br />But their main tactic seems to be grabbing valuables from pedestrians and then running away. <br />This works for them a lot of the time because the victims are usually taken by surprise. <br />But it doesn’t always end in success. <br />In the clip one of the youngsters is punched by a man after he attempts snatch a chain from around a woman’s neck. <br />The video was filmed in March, a few months before the Olympic Games started. <br /> <br />Astonishing footage shows how brazen Rio thieves target unsuspecting tourists in broad daylight <br />Brazen thieves have no fear as they snatch bags and phones from pedestrians wandering through the streets of the Olympic city <br /> <br />UNAPOLOGETICALLY, a grown woman strides towards a pedestrian and flings her arm out in an attempt to steal her bag. <br /> <br />In another instance, a young boy hangs behind a man holding cash in his hand. Without one swift move, he grabs the cash and makes a run for it. <br /> <br />Any opportunity. Any victim. Sometimes in groups or sometimes solo, these criminals will do just about anything to make their steal. <br /> <br />This is how petty thieves in Rio de Janeiro make their living. Day by day, innocent victim after innocent victim. Handbag by handbag, cash is ripe for the steal. <br /> <br />Footage posted to Facebook has shown just how brazen Rio de Janeiro’s thieves really are, and with the Olympics in full swing, robbery is in peak season. <br /> <br />Here’s how they seem to do it; they get rather close to their target, swarming around their victim until an opportune moment, when with a simple swipe, they’ve got their prey. <br /> <br />Brazen thieves snatch bags from passersby in Brazil in ‘peak robbery season’ for the country <br /> <br />Some thieves perform their crimes on the back of bicycles to help them make a speedy getaway <br />They make no eye contact, sometimes they ride bikes, sometimes they run, sometimes they attack. <br /> <br />Earphones, cash, handbags, backpacks, iPhones and jewellery — anything that’s not protected — is fair game. <br /> <br />Rio’s shambolic security set up has been slammed by Australian Olympic chiefs, who say not enough is being done to protect athletes and visitors to events. <br /> <br />The criticism came with fresh revelations criminals are bypassing checkpoints with fake or no accreditation, a bullet struck a media tent and two team officials were robbed at knifepoint. <br /> <br />“The organising committee needs to do more, particularly at security checkpoints,” AOC spokesman Mike Tancred told the Daily Telegraph. <br /> <br />“The host nation is responsible for the safety of the 10,500 athletes who are in Rio right now, and it is just not good enough.” <br /> <br />Rio is one of the world’s most dangerous cities and a massive 85,000 strong security presence was deployed with the intention of keeping visitors safe. <br /> <br />“I went into six venues today. At two of them they did look at my accreditation, one was a cursory glance and three took no look whatsoever,” Olympic chief Kitty Chiller told News Corp. <br /> <br />“You know they all smile and say hello when you walk through they are very friendly but they don’t actually look at what’s hanging around your neck.”
