How to Avoid Pickpockets In Buenos Aires
Josh okungbaiye
When travelling alone or in a big city. There is always the threat of pick-pocketing ruining your whole day or your whole holiday. Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city is known to have an ongoing issue with pickpockets. Buenos is a huge city. It has a population of over 2.9 million people. According to government travel advice websites, there are frequent warnings of petty street crime being a common occurrence in the city. In a bustling city like Buenos Aires where your sense will be overstimulated, a petty street crime such as pickpocketing can happen in the blink of an eye. Especially when your guard is down.
If data is to be believed, the majority of tourists who have been to the city have been robbed at least once or experienced a close shave where it could have been a totally different ending. The most shocking part is that thieves in Buenos Aries are plentiful and they are unbelievably good at their role of stealing.
Being aware of these facts will enable you to be vigilant and to quickly recognise and avoid any situation that may be detrimental to your safety.
Pick-pockets in Buenos Aires take advantage of the bustling nature of the city and use it to successfully operate in crowded areas such as markets, buses, and trains. These places are perfect places for pickpockets to strike and steal from someone without them even realising. Just to give you an insight into their pickpocketing techniques. Most of the time they carry a jacket or a newspaper with them so that they can cover one arm and conceal what they are doing to others. This gives you an insight into how quick and effective they are if you do not take the necessary steps to protect yourself.
A lot of people think that they will never get their stuff stolen. But it usually happens to those that never saw it coming. Unfortunately, those type of people are the perfect targets for pickpockets. When travelling to a new city or new country. It is very easy to be distracted and for your attention to be diverted elsewhere. But it is important to have in the back of your mind that pickpockets may be zoning in on you. We have been travelling for a number of years and we have been victim of pickpockets ourselves so we wanted to share with you the top tips that have helped us stay safe and keep our belonging safe and protected from pickpockets in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
If you are preparing to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina very soon or thinking of going. Make sure you take some notes from this article as I believe the tips here will save you and your possessions and prevent you from being a victim of pickpocketing or tourism fraud out there. Below are the tips. Enjoy:-
1) Speak Out Loud
It’s a useful practice of taxi drivers in the city to change the bill denomination you give them for instance 100 bills would be claimed as a 10 bill or a 50 to be 5 bill. To avoid such kind of scenarios either you can speak out loud the amount you give to the driver or try to give the exact amount.
If the driver is stubborn, call the police for assistance.
2) Don’t Seek Strangers’ Help
In case anyone approaches you offering help, or giving you some lucrative offers, deny instantly and stay away from them. If the person seems innocent, maintain distance while communicating with strangers here.
Also, make sure you apply this rule of avoiding strangers to anyone because pickpockets are known to use children to steal from tourists. A lot of people assume that pickpockets are mostly young men, but pickpockets can also be the elderly, women, and children. Although children are cute and endearing, don’t fall for this strategy because pickpockets are well aware of pulling the right heartstrings in order to make the tourist not vigilant in their behavior.
It is a very powerful strategy used often by pickpockets to hijack your attention through emotion and once they have your attention, you will hardly notice that they are stealing from you.
If you do need help for directions or anything like that, make sure to ask someone in a shop, a tour guide, hotel, or information point and they will be able to point you in the right direction.
In summary. If you do not know them and they approach you for anything, just ignore and keep walking, because the minute you engage, that is the same minute you will find yourself in a pickpockets trap.
3) Avoid Bumping Into People
In order for a pick-pocket to be successful, they have to be in very close proximity to you. It is a crime that is up close and personal. It cannot be done from a distance. So in order to steal from you, they will do everything and anything to get very close to you even if it is for a second because that’s how much little time they need to successfully steal from you. In order to get close to you to steal they will often bump into their target. Sometimes, it will be done multiple times to a target from different people so it doesn’t cause any suspicion. This strategy is effective in very crowded areas and train stations as this activity can happen often and very quickly.
If you find yourself approaching a very crowded bar, restaurant or area be attentive because people intentionally bump into you so they can steal from you. If you are carrying things with you make sure to put your stuff in a sturdy anti-theft bag so you can walk freely in crowded areas without worrying about getting your stuff stolen. The anti-theft bag’s design makes it impossible for pickpockets to gain access so even if you get bumped into, their efforts of trying to steal from you will fail.
4) Don't Use Cell Phones on the Street While Walking
It is advisable to avoid using a cell phone on the street because you will be an easy target for the criminal locals of the city. If you are not careful, they will simply grab it and run away into narrow streets. Even if you decide to run after them, you will lose track of them as they will know their area a lot better than you. So to prevent it from happening in the first place, try to take a call in a safe place such as a hotel or restaurant. Also, a lot of pickpockets are now using a technique where the pickpocket speeds on a motorbike and takes your phone out of your hand and speeds off where you will have no hopes of catching them. This is very common not just in Buenos Aires, but in other major cities around the World. This is because pickpockets are well aware that most people are addicted to their phones will be caught off guard when someone grabs their phone. To protect yourself, make sure you don’t take calls in public and also don’t walk around with your phone. These are very simple tips, but you would be so surprised the at the number of travellers that walk around with their phones out unknowingly advertising it to thieves.
Keep your phone secure and hidden as much as you can and only take it out if you believe it is safe to do so.
5) Distribute Your Money in Your Apparels
While traveling in a crowded place make sure to carry your anti-theft backpack. This will enable you to get rid of any paranoia or worry when you go into very crowded areas in Buenos Aires. The High Spirit anti-theft bag actually gives you peace of mind. You will be safe in the knowledge that no pickpocket (it doesn’t matter how skilled they may be) can gain access to your bag. By having your anti-theft bag with you it gives you a central point at which you can get your stuff in an organised and secure way.
If you want to further ensure that your belongings are safe, you can spread your money into different pockets in your bag, jeans, or top. You can be as creative as you want with your storage options. You may want to use every single pocket available to you, so if someone does steal from your pocket. At least they haven’t taken all of your money in one go.
You can take it a step further and use the same strategy in storing your belongings in your hotel or hostel room. Try not to put all your valuables in one place. Distribute its storage to give yourself peace of mind.
Another tip to outsmart pickpockets is to chain your wallet with a belt loop or carry an empty wallet with a minimal amount of cash or coins. You want to think one-step ahead of pickpockets in order to ensure that they don’t succeed in trying to steal from you.
6) Be Extra Careful At Café Bars
Even though the cafe’s in Buenos Aires is quite safe, thieves in the city may still target areas and establishments where tourists will be relaxing. Usually, tourists will be distracted by eating, drinking, and surfing the internet and their guard may be down. This temporary loss in vigilance will make it the perfect opportunity for a pickpocket to grab your laptop, phone, or iPad and runoff. This happens mostly due to the fact that the target has been watched from the moment they entered. In most cases, the thief will be watching from a discreet distance. Make sure you keep your handbag or backpack in your lap or in between your legs so it won’t be easy for them to grab. Alternatively, you can clip the strap with something under the table or table leg to remove any chance of a grab and run event happening to you.
Also, avoid sitting outside the cafe, and while sitting inside choose a quiet corner so that it is hard to snatch and runoff.
Final Piece of Advice
The best way to keep your belongings safe in this city is to carry minimal things while on a sightseeing spree. Don’t carry too much cash, credit cards, or ID’s when leaving your accommodation. Only take the necessary things with you as you explore the city. If you have to carry these things with you, such as your camera, or phone, laptop, etc. Make sure to carry it in your anti-theft bag as it will give you that peace of mind so you can truly enjoy your vacation without feeling like you will be a victim of pickpocketing.
In addition, feel free to print out this blog article and carry it with you to remind yourself while you are in Buenos Aires. We hope you apply our tips and advice. Buenos Aires is truly a beautiful city with so much to offer. We want you to protect yourself so you can enjoy the city to the fullest.
