Nadia Stephanov (asker) Jan 18, 2010:

When I first posted the question I didn't know it was only Swiss-French, this is why I did not give further context!
Sylvie, can you please post your suggestion, as up to now yours is the closest to "vol à l'astuce", thanks.

writeaway Jan 18, 2010:

thanks!! yes, this would be theft by trickery or swindling.

Nadia Stephanov (asker) Jan 18, 2010:

Hello All. I posted additional context yesterday, but it is not online now. (?). Yes it's Swiss-French, no it's not pickpocketing and neither un vol à la tire. In my context: a client substitutes jewelry in a jewelry store by stealing the real diamond whilst leaving behind a fake diamond in the box. The jeweler did not notice the trick. As someone mentioned, "theft by trickery" seems good in this context.

writeaway Jan 18, 2010:

Swiss articles on www Swiss articles on www refer to vol à la tire" and "vol à l’arraché as well. Vol à l'astuce is used in reference to several scenarios. Pickpocketing is one of them but not the only one. And it seems to be a specific kind of pickpocketing. It's why more details are necessary about the particular context in Asker's doc.

Paul Hamelin Jan 18, 2010:

For info, this is apparently a Swiss-French expression; it corresponds in French-French to "vol à la tire" or "vol à l’arraché".

If it helps the English-speaking colleagues...

writeaway Jan 17, 2010:

any context? it's not a one-stop shop in English and several different examples are given. So we have to know the context to discover what is being referred to in your document