[Tango-L] Credit card use in Buenos Aires--words of caution for tourists

[Janis Kenyon]

It is advisable not to carry them around the city, but if you must use one,
be cautious.  These incidents occurred recently in Buenos Aires:

    A man went to a gym to work out and placed all his belongings in a
locker.  He returned after showering to find his locker unlocked.
Everything was in place, and there was no money missing.  After a few weeks,
he received his credit card bill with charges totaling 140,000 pesos.  He
called the bank to tell them he didn't make the transactions.  The thief
broke into the locker and changed his credit card for an expired one.  Since
the man hadn't reported the card stolen, there was nothing they could do,
and he was obligated to pay the amount due.  The thief made many small
transactions which didn't draw attention from bank personnel.

    A man paid for a meal at a restaurant with his credit card.  He signed
the receipt.  The waiter placed the card inside the customer's folded
receipt.  He noticed that the waiter returned an expired card of another
person.  He called the waiter, who was nervous and apologized.  This was
done intentionally to steal his card.  Always verify that the waiter is
returning your credit card after a transaction.

    A woman went to pay for a pizza which she had ordered by phone.  She
used her Visa debit card on her bank account.  She observed the clerk
running her card through, and then saw him take his cell phone and begin to
mark numbers.  She saw that he had the same kind of cell phone as she did.
She heard a click and realized that he was taking a photo of her debit card
with his cell phone.  He was sending a photo of her card to someone. She
immediately cancelled the card after leaving the pizza place.   Days later
the bank phoned to advise her that someone was trying to make transactions
on the internet with her account.

And the mustard scam continues downtown....

I warned three visitors to be cautious while walking along Avenida Florida.
The area of the Obelisco and Florida is where the pickpockets work.  One
tall black man with two women speaking English aren't difficult to
single out as tourists along Avenida Florida near Galerias Pacificas.  Their
coats were splattered with the awful smelling mixture the pickpockets use in
their setup to rob tourists.  At least these three Americans were alert.
When the men offered to help clean off their jackets, they got themselves
together with their coats and extricated themselves from the hands of the
pickpockets.  Those who wait around while the pickpockets help clean their
coats are usually relieved of their wallets.

My advice is to forget shopping on Florida.  There are many other nice
shopping malls where the gangs of pickpockets don't work, such as Alto
Palermo (Palermo), Patio Bullrich (Recoleta), or Abasto Shopping on
Corrientes.