Another pickpocket scam ...

[ezequiel]

As I have been told for yrs by security advisors:

Be conscious, not paranoid.

This type of "crime" happens in every 10+ million people city. You have the bird poo, the "i found this ring on the floor", "what time is it?", pushing you into the metro and pulling the wallet out of your pocket or purse, etc, etc.

A concerning security issue here is drugged people, especially young kids, who can't control their aggressiveness. But pick-pocketing happens in every large city in the world, even Zurich (and it's not that big).

 

[Joe]

I got hit by the bird poop scam yesterday. I was walking down San Juan in San Telmo on mid Sunday morning. Very few people on the street. I'm dressed as a Yanqui: running shorts and new Nikes and a backpack.

I notice some guy eyes me up and down standing in a doorway. Further down the street two women ask me directions, I think they were involved to see if I was a tourist, i.e. a gullible target.

Then a block later, I get hit in the backpack. Two people are conveniently next to me pointing up on an otherwise deserted street. Also a taxi is conveniently parked on the curb. Thanks to this forum - I immediately know what has happened and I just walk away...

 

[RWS]

. . . . I'm dressed as a Yanqui: running shorts and new Nikes and a backpack....

Yes, you had everything to mark you as "tourist"!

Perhaps I should no longer be surprised that some folk insist on advertising.

 

[rmartinbuenosaires]

A few months ago, I and a friend were walking on Libertador near the biblioteca nacional on a Saturday afternoon around 4ish. We were talking and I noticed a couple of indigenous descent behind us. My immediate thought was they were too close. Eventually a liquid was on my leg. Again, my immediate thought was that they threw something on me. I was looking around for a leaf or something to wipe it off and the woman said it was a bird. She and the man then offered with their tissues and bottle of water to clean it off. I thought "Gee I am glad I wasn't rude and said something since they are helping me". Well, before you know it, it was on another place, then on my friend, etc. The woman was cleaning off my friend (another male) and the man was "helping" me. She then said it was good luck and "Recuerdo Argentina". She assumed we were tourists since we were dressed in decent clothes and speaking English (even though my friend is Argentine-born/grew up in the U.S.)
They left and ran to a waiting taxi which I found odd.

My friend said we should grab one too (we live near each other) rather than walk around with bird crap on us. We both reached in our pockets and discovered they had snatched our money although were "Gracious" enough to leave our keys and credit cards. They stole about 600 pesos from each of us. The two things that bother me most about it are that I should have gone with my initial instincts all along and her comment. They are actually quite lucky I didn't figure out what was going on, because if I had there would probably be two dead peasants on the street and I would be in jail.

Once, shame on you. Twice, shame on me. I will NEVER let anyone get near me again and NEVER carry 600 pesos on me. Everyone says "Why did you have so much money"? Its still less than $200 and I thought I was going to buy something. Regardless if I had been dumb enough to have more on me, it still is just more BS in BA.

 

[BlahBlah]

Your creditcard is worth a lot more then 600 peso

 

[Joe]

Yes, you had everything to mark you as "tourist"!

Perhaps I should no longer be surprised that some folk insist on advertising.

Because I am not going to give up the health benefits of exercise to blend in.

I am more on guard when I am in a crowded street. These guys were really ballsy that on a deserted street they would attempt to pull the bird poo scam. Desperation?

 

[RWS]

. . . I am not going to give up the health benefits of exercise to blend in. . . .

Of course, you needn't "blend in". Neither need you wear running shorts (in the city!), Nikes (sneakers, right?), or a backpack (on a grown man, in the city!) in order to exercise. But, again, the choice is yours, as are the concommitant risks.

Edit: Let me soften this a bit:

Joe, all who read what you've posted are saddened that you were robbed, both for you personally and for what it says about the lack of self-control, safety, and civic-mindedness in Argentina. Just as sadly, though, probably anyone who's acquainted with Argentina (or with Latin America in general) knows that crimes against property and person are common. Therefore, we should take precautions. One such precaution, arising from recognition of a popular stereotype of us Americans as rich fools, is to not try to stand out. Dressing as a resident here might dress is, also, deferential to attitudes here and is not a compromise of principles (contrast this with, for example, a willingness to bribe, which would be such a compromise). Indeed, as recently as a generation ago, wearing short pants, cloth shoes, and a backpack in an American city of any size would have been something that only a schoolboy would have done; and Argentine manners tend to be a bit "old-fashioned" by current American standards.

 

[John.St]

... There are many forums that tell visitors that Buenos Aires is no different (with regard to crime) than any other major city. This is ridiculous. I don't know of many places where people have to take as many precautions daily so as not to get ripped off. After a while it becomes very stressful to always have to be on guard.

The only other cities I know of, where you have to be equally on your guard are Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, München, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bruxelles, Paris, Marseilles, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisboa, Wien, Prag, Warszawa, Krakow, Roma, Napoli, Bologna, Genova, Palermo, Athena, Thessaloniki, Bucuresti, Kyev, Beograd, Moscow, Sankt Peterburg, Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Damascus, Halab, Haifa, Jerusalem, Beirut, Bagdad, Tehran, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Semarang, Singapore, Washington, New York, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, Guatemala City, Montevideo, Santiago de Chile, Valparaíso (where I have been assaulted twice - once by four guys, three of whom with knives, moments after I left an ATM at 21:15), Sao Paolo, Rio de J., Maracaibo, Cartagena and San Salvador - but I may have forgotten a few.

Add: I did at least forget Chicago.

 

[Joe]

Joe, all who read what you've posted are saddened that you were robbed, both for you personally and for what it says about the lack of self-control, safety, and civic-mindedness in Argentina.

Actually I wasn't robbed. I knew what was going on when some people started pointing up and before they could get close to me. And fortunately my jacket was washable, so it was a inconvenience but nothing more. I posted simply to highlight some of the techniques of this scam.

I think any time anyone posts a negative experience, some people's political correctness hackles are raised. This experience is not something I would bring up with Argentines, just as I don't offer opinions on local politics when overseas - it's just to easy to cause offense. My post was intended for informational purposes only.

 

[John.St]

I posted simply to highlight some of the techniques of this scam.

Which is an excellent idea.

I think any time anyone posts a negative experience, some people's political correctness hackles are raised. This experience is not something I would bring up with Argentines, just as I don't offer opinions on local politics when overseas - it's just to easy to cause offense. My post was intended for informational purposes only.

My reaction was to this:

"I don't know of many places [i.e. "as in Buenos Aíres"] where people have to take as many precautions daily so as not to get ripped off."

My list of cities where you risk to get mugged, conned or have your pockets picked, has nothing to do with hipocritical correctness, but too many threads contain sentences like the above, as if crime didn't exist elsewhere.

In Washington a number of people have been killed in the streets, because they were unwilling to hand over their car to an armed criminal - does that make Washington a horrible city?

Does crime exist only in BsAs and Washington?

Perspective!

Keep posting, as you did, about new scams, that information is valuable to everyone.