Is BsAs that dangerous??

[BAwithkids]

Never ever carry a wallet.
Never ever carry carry passport or values in a backpack.
Never ever use your cell phone on a sidewalk close to the car lane.

Never ever ...

Be street smart.

Let me ask - if you don't carry a wallet, what do you carry? Do you carry any ID? Do you have a single credit card, or just cash? What are the basics here...

 

[PhilipDT]

I think he was joking. I carry a wallet and with the exception of the mentioned incident have never had a problem.

His point about being street smart is very valid though.

For example I always keep my wallet in my front pockets or the inside breast pocket of a jacket. I walk quickly on the street, usually because I'm in a hurry but it also makes you a lot harder to pick pocket. I keep my eyes open always, at night I look at my shadow from the street lights to make sure noone is coming up right behind me. Etc etc.

 

[sesamosinsal]

Yep, happens at least 800 times a day, in capital alone ... http://www.clarin.com/policiales/pais-roban-millones-telefonos-celulares_0_451754973.html :-/

I just saw it happen about an hour ago at Jean Jaures & Corrientes, about a block away from the Abasto Shopping Center. That area is a hot bed for cell phone theft.

Regarding wallets, it's pointless to carry them. I always carry the cash I need and a copy of my passport. What's the point of carrying an empty wallet around? I'd never carry my credit cards or use them here. Too much of a hassle if one of them gets swiped.

 

[ptolemy]

Regarding wallets, it's pointless to carry them. I always carry the cash I need and a copy of my passport. What's the point of carrying an empty wallet around? I'd never carry my credit cards or use them here. Too much of a hassle if one of them gets swiped.

Same here; no wallet, a copy of my passport, cash I need.

 

[John.St]

Let me ask - if you don't carry a wallet, what do you carry? Do you carry any ID? Do you have a single credit card, or just cash? What are the basics here...

The answer is here. I have two. Room for cash + one credit card on one side, passport + one credit card on the other side of my body: http://baexpats.org/expat-life/5744-carrying-large-sums-cash-how.html#post34442

- oh and I never carry my passport except when absolutely needed, have a plastificado color copy of my passport for daily use, accepted everywhere as ID - and cash for immediate use folded in two small plastic pouches (7 by 10 cm) cut from a checkbook cover, one in my shirt pocket and one deep in a side pocket.

Two more tips, which I learned in Mexico:
http://baexpats.org/newcomers-forum/5606-securing-your-bag-restaurants.html#post33415
http://baexpats.org/expat-life/5776-how-watch-your-watch.html#post34762

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Let me ask - if you don't carry a wallet, what do you carry? Do you carry any ID? Do you have a single credit card, or just cash? What are the basics here...

I've been successfully pickpocketed twice: once in a street market in Bolivia (well, you'd expect that, wouldn't you?) and once in a supermarket in a provincial town in England. So I don't have one rule for Argentina and another for elsewhere, I follow the same plan wherever I am. First: I only ever take out of the house the cash or cards that I know I am going to need that day and I spread that stuff around my inside pockets. I can't understand people walking around with wallets stuffed with every conceivable kind of card: if the wallet goes, everything is gone. Next I have some small change loose in a trouser pocket for the bus and for tipping lavatory attendants and the like: that avoids pulling out a coin purse and rummaging through it. Finally I keep a nice fat wallet in my sucker pocket. The wallet contains a couple of low value notes and some out of date bank cards. Even so, I always button down the pocket and make every effort to protect it. I think that's what the thieves call a distraction technique. Cellphone? I don't carry one. I hate the things.

 

[austgirl]

9. Fake charity collectors – I had to pay ARS10 to get into the cemetery at Recoleta.. the first time I went, I didn’t have to pay… I got scammed, and I knew I was being scammed! I chose not to argue (I let myself get ridden haha!)


[/quote]

omg... fake charity collectors?? i thought they were real!! and they even showed me the australian $20 notes they had to make me feel guilty for not carrying around more money with me and why wasnt i giving them $20aud (like id be carrying aud with me...?)

 

[syngirl]

I just saw it happen about an hour ago at Jean Jaures & Corrientes, about a block away from the Abasto Shopping Center. That area is a hot bed for cell phone theft.

Yeah you have to watch out in front of Abasto -- also a lot of the guys that "help" you get a cab, hold the door open for you etc are actually there to try and pickpocket you! Especially around big holidays / shopping days (ie the next one will be Dia del Nino) -- usually it's a lot calmer to get in a cab on the Aguero side rather than Corrientes.