Buenos Aires Scams: Black Market, Thieves & Danger!

Buenos Aires Scams: Black Market, Thieves & Danger

Chapters:
00:00 Intro to CABA Scams
01:00 Scam #1 Tissue Scam
03:07 Pickpocket Spot #1 Bus Station
04:28 Scam #2 Moto Thieves
06:12 Pickpocker Spot #2 Subway
06:36 Scam #3 Taxi Scams
07:09 Pickpocker Spot #3 San Telmo Sunday Market
07:27 Important Reminder About Safety
08:12 Scam #4 The Black Market
09:34 Beware of your new FRIEND
10:01 Final thoughts on crime and scams in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, Argentina is one of the most vibrant cities in the world, but like many other big tourist cities, it's home to a variety of criminals that prey on unsuspecting visitors. In this video, I'm going to show you scams you need to look out for, to ensure you stay safe during your trip.

I've fallen victim to a few scams across the world. one of my reasons for making videos like this is to help YOU stay as safe as possible, and to learn from my mistakes. On today's video, I will be detailing how several different scams operate in the city, what to look for, and how to avoid them.

I also go visit a few places that are paradise for pickpockets. Join me as we explore the CABA Subway, the confusing black market of Buenos Aires, and the subway system.

[BrentTimm]

I really hope you enjoyed this video! Do you want to see me cover more scams in other countries?

[nickybutt]

Buenos Aires is absolute child's play after Rio. It's like the easy mode in GTA after expert level.

[reyes]

I just came back from Buenos Aires and, fortunately, I suffered no thefts of any kind. If anything, I found the city to feel safe. I'm sure some of these petty thefts have occurred, but all the peddlers that approached me in cafes just looked like poor people trying to make a living. I even bought socks from one of them, and kleenex from the other. Some of them were pushy, but I learned to say "no, gracias" and that's it. I do try to exercise caution everywhere, but really, I walked to my AIRBNB from a nightclub at 2am and older women were walking their dogs out on the street. If they felt safe, I felt safe. Buenos Aires felt blessed with agreeable people, terrific restaurants and cafes. I walked everywhere, didn't take taxis, took the Subte (the Subway) and felt at peace.

[matiasv.]

The population in all the Metropolitan área of BA si about 15 million people. 3M is only in the main district.

[josesaumell]

I lived in Buenos Aires 10 years, very accurate, I was victim of the socks scam and lost a cell phone unfortunately. I would add avoid any taxi from an airport, bus station or train station. They are organized as a little mafia by the taxi driver union. There are only a selected group of taxi drivers that are allowed by the little mafia to pickup passengers there. And they will try many ways to charge you more. Shameful as an argentine to see all the scams, hopefully we will react one day and demand a little more.

[ExclusiveLM]

Here are more tips: Do not go to someone's house you meet in the street or in any business. Many tourists are taken advantage physically and monetarily that why when they drop pills into drinks while visiting unknown places or in bars. Also, do not allow strangers to use your charger to charge their phone. They will swap your charger for their charger equipped with GPS or data trackers and steal your info. Don't lend your phone to a stranger because their phone is not working. They run away with it. If a stranger talks to you keep looking behind you because they work in groups. Do not get into a stranger's car for obvious reasons. Don't let anyone see your phone screen when inputting your credit card info. Don't wear jewelry or cameras around your neck or wrists. Do not get so drunk publicly that anyone can rob you or control your actions. Lastly, put your wallet in your front pocket and always have your hand in that pocket.

[miguelmeza]

I'm from Dallas Texas I was there for nine days in Recoleta I went to san telmo, Palermo, Puerto Madero and I never once felt unsafe! Now walking through downtown Dallas that's a different story

[windrider]

I just got back from 2 weeks in BA, changed money 3 times on Florida St and had no problems. My impression is that although it's technically illegal, it's a common and safe thing to do. The rate was similar to Western Union after fees. Took several taxis and most turned on the meter. The only exception was taxis I got at the airports. One of those charged me $25 for a ride that should have been less than $10 on the meter.

[spencer]

Someone attempted the "Kleenex scam" on me my very first day in Buenos Aires. Thankfully I realized what was going on and thwarted the attempt. He was selling packaged dress shirts and when he set it on top of my phone he used the packaging to hook my phone so that it would get grabbed when he picked up the shirt. Glad I was paying attention and quickly pulled out my phone. I learned my lesson, changed my behavior and haven't had any other problems now about 7 months later. Sadly, the guy looked to be about 14 years old, so I'm guessing he's been trained and put to work by someone older. Definitely worth learning what cons exist and how they work! With some basic precautions, I feel quite safe here and love the city and people. As someone else mentioned below, most of the people selling things in the street seem to be honest people just trying to make ends meet.

[JetLagRecords]

Brent Timm, your channel is a must watch for me now

[davidsandilands]

Four of us (2 couples all retired) stayed in Buenos Aires for 4 days pre cruise and had the most fantastic time and visited San Telmo as well as other areas and we felt safe all of the time. We had a better time here than on the cruise.

[RichiLopez]

Spent two months in BA. I walked the whole city and openly used my smart phone. Visited the villas (slums). I traveled by bus to Patagonia region. Never had a problem. BA is one of the safest cities in Latin America (outside of cdmx).

[FindLoveTravel]

Excellent video Brent! Thanks for sharing all these tips!

[navsofour]

Once in Argentina i actually exchanged with the "cambio" guys to then pay mi Hotel stay, I saved an equivalent of $60 USD a night as compared to the exchange rate the credit card was giving me. They even offered to bring the currency to the Hotel so i wouldn't need to walk with the USDs as they were a few blocks away.

[mattt.]

Black market "cambio" thing is faulty information.

Argentina's gov't (at least when I lived there) would periodically -- depending on which party was in power -- implement a policy against selling (but not buying) foreign currency.

This was ostensibly done to prevent people from buying US Dollars and "taking money out of the economy."

The banks would only sell foreign currency to those who could prove they had upcoming travel plans.

And they were required to BUY foreign currency at a set price-fixed rate...

which was (obviously) much, much lower than the actual market rate.

The "scammers" are simply offering to buy your US dollars or Euros at a rate closer to the actual market rate.

But go ahead and give your US dollars to the banks and get only half as many pesos.

[marm]

Eso pasa sobretodo en Buenos Aires que es un ciudad con millones de habitantes como toda gran ciudad en el mundo! no es la misma realidad en el resto del pais

[keithfolse]

Thanks for a great video. I go to BA a lot. When I walk down Calle Florida with my friend from there, we make a game out of predicting how many times we'll hear CAMBIO before reaching our destination down the street. (Hint: It's always a HIGH number!)

[YASTravelsEatsWell]

Great video! Very informative! Good to get another informative video on typical scams. I changed dollars with my Airbnb hosts, the corner Bodega & WU to get the "Blue" rate! BA rocks & is worth the visit!

[DarylBaines]

Some I've seen in BsAs.
Texting on your cellphone while in the seat by the door of a bus - sounds pretty stupid, but I've see this so many times. As the bus begins to pull away and the doors start to close, a guy will casually step on the bus, take the phone out of your hand, and stroll off down the street, while going through the apps on your unlocked phone.
Street thieves - particularly on Florida - work in groups of two or three. One will try to engage you in conversation and block your movement along the street, while another comes up behind to steal whatever they can. A variation on this is the guy/girl who bumps into you on the street and spills coffee/water/ketchup on your clothes and then apologises and starts to wipe it off, while their buddies come up from behind. It goes without saying, never carry your wallet or phone in your back pocket.

Buses are a good one. Motochorros waiting as people step off the bus. The motobike isn't immediately obvious, because he's waiting halfway down the block. The first guy snatches whatever he can and then runs to the motorbike and jumps on the back.

[britanification]

one thing that happened to me, they throw something in the air like bird poop then they say will help you and when you put your backpack on the ground another person comes by to take it. i saw the person so it was close but not me this time