Barcelona scam warning

[shareinfo]

BARCELONA – SCAM WARNING

We just returned from a cruise to Barcelona. We were also in Barcelona 12 years ago and at that time we encountered a scam. On our recent trip we were confronted with the identical scam.

This is what happened on our first trip to Barcelona. While walking we were approached by a young man (neatly dressed and well mannered) holding a map and asking for directions. Of course we revealed to him we were also visitors and cannot assist him. After this short conversation, 2 men approached us and identified themselves as policeman by flashing their badges. The “officers” stated there was a lot of counterfeit money being brought into the country and questioned us if we may be involved in exchanging money because we were talking to a stranger. They requested to see our passports and also to check money. We showed the “officers” both and upon their inspection, they found everything was in order and returned the passports and money. Couple of days later we realized all our large bills were missing. With a sleight of hand, the “policemen” had taken over $300 cash from us.

What happened was that when they returned our cash to us they held the money in both hands, one hand on top of the other. They pushed the money close to our body and said “put it away quickly”. They had deftly scooped off the large bills with the top hand during the motion of helping us put away the money.

Now we travel with a police whistle hanging down our neck. On the recent trip, once again we were approached by a young man (also nicely dressed and soft spoken) holding a map and asking for direction. We told him we were visitors and cannot help him. Right after that 2 men appeared flashing “badges” and identified themselves as police. Before they were even able to start their pitch, we blew our whistles and requested them to go to the police station with us. They immediately walked away quickly and never looked back.

[Keith1010]

Sorry this happened to you. Thank you for posting this. It's a good reminder of the things that can occur in many places around the world.

Keith

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

I'm sorry that happened to you. However, one must be sensible. There are con artist and other attempts to commit petty crime in every city of the world.

This probably occurs more frequently in Times Square than on Las Ramblas, but Barcelona seems to take all of the rap for tourist petty crime.

On another note, this could have well been included inside the thread about thieves in Barcelona.

I think I am going to find the Board about New York City and start a thread about precautions to take to prevent yourself from being murdered or raped during your pre-cruise stay.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta

[Keith1010]

Dear friends:

I'm sorry that happened to you. However, one must be sensible. There are con artist and other attempts to commit petty crime in every city of the world.

This probably occurs more frequently in Times Square than on Las Ramblas, but Barcelona seems to take all of the rap for tourist petty crime.

On another note, this could have well been included inside the thread about thieves in Barcelona.

I think I am going to find the Board about New York City and start a thread about precautions to take to prevent yourself from being murdered or raped during your pre-cruise stay.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta

Gunther and Uta, in NYC you just have to be careful if someone tries to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. :)

Keith

[eh2zed]

Nothing wrong in alerting tourists of scams that people have encountered. Forewarned is forearmed.

[julia]

To the OP:

While I appreciate your warnings, I cannot imagine WHY you would even allow this to get that far (again!) Do NOT stop walking, do NOT "explain" ANYTHING to the map person! A firm stare (with hand held out in a STOP motion while you keep walking) would have sent the message.

[DavidA23]

They tried the same scam on us in BCN. The "officer" flashed his badge and demanded our passports. My wife and I immediately started talking loudly and demanded more identification, etc. As a small crowd started to gather, the scammers quickly disappeared. Been to NYC many times and never had anything like this happen.
BCN is a wonderful city and I look forward to going again. But just like Rome or Athens, there are many bad people preying on American tourists, and yes they can spot us a mile away.

[Langley Cruisers]

They tried the same scam on us in BCN....

BCN is a wonderful city and I look forward to going again. But just like Rome or Athens, there are many bad people preying on American tourists, and yes they can spot us a mile away.

Thanks to both of you for posting your experiences. It has really made me think about things. Obviously, someone who is "lost" will not ask another tourist for help. As tourists ourselves, we always asked locals, or at least, those who looked like locals! :p

OP, sorry you were robbed. :( Barcelona is a great city and praise God, we had no problems there.

[TheBestIsYetToCome]

I've been asked by tourists for directions -- overheard speaking English, I suppose? But, I have also been asked by thieves, hoping I would free up my hands (or at least the one on my purse?) to point to the very easy-to-use Metro map on the train car right behind the thief's shoulder. Instead I said "The sign is behind you -- take a look at it." (Not that he did....)

I feel a little bad to be cold and unavailable to people, but now I have to just say "I'm sorry, I don't know how to get you there" because it's not always easy for me to know the difference between a tourist in need of directions and a thief in need of a distraction.

[Ashland]

We will be sailing out/in plus 2 days post cruise from Barcelona...And these stories/tips have given me much info that I will use but..they have scared me to death...:eek: How can I possibly have a good time in this city ????

[Keith1010]

We will be sailing out/in plus 2 days post cruise from Barcelona...And these stories/tips have given me much info that I will use but..they have scared me to death...:eek: How can I possibly have a good time in this city ????

You can have a great time but just be alert to not only what happened in this situation but to your surroundings as you would in cities in other parts of the World including the USA.

In Barcelona you do want to be careful of your valuables because there is a problem having your items pickpocketed. So lock you valuables in the safe (which is a good idea in many cities around the world) and be careful with what you have with you and just be observant of your surroundings.

It is a beautiful city.

Keith

[sunsetbeachgal]

When traveling to Europe we always used to hear more warnings about the gypsies in Rome and other Italy cities, now it seems as if Barcelona has taken over as the capital of pickpocketing, scams, etc. I think the crowds at Las Ramblas and all of the street entertainment must be the perfect setting for petty crime. Too bad---such a lovely city!

[julia]

We will be sailing out/in plus 2 days post cruise from Barcelona...And these stories/tips have given me much info that I will use but..they have scared me to death...:eek: How can I possibly have a good time in this city ????


You have a good time just as you would anywhere else.... by being careful! ;)

Do you ever come to the Las Vegas Strip? Just like Barcelona, it attracts millions of visitors a year, and with that comes the petty crime that follows m-o-n-e-y-$$$. The crime statistics on the Strip could be just as intimidating as what we are discussing here, but that doesn't stop millions of people from enjoying themselves. You simply have to be smart about your surroundings. :)

[LittleMissS]

Ashland--I felt the same way as you before going to Barcelona. I was paranoid and expecting thieves to jump out and get my money at every turn! Take these stories for what they're worth...cautionary tales. Yes you might be paranoid while you're there, but you will be better for it (more aware of your belongings and surroundings). And yes, even though you will be constantly be focused on your purse, you WILL still enjoy Barcelona.

[Langley Cruisers]

Ashland--I felt the same way as you before going to Barcelona. I was paranoid and expecting thieves to jump out and get my money at every turn!...

Awww, us too! I had made myself sick with worry by reading reviews and these boards before heading to Barcelona! :eek: However, we loved our time there and had absolutely no problems. I did not carry a purse; DH carried only his camera case, which was a sling model and he wore it in front of his chest. No problems at all.

I do admit, once or twice the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I told DH this and we got out of the situation, whatever it was. My intuition is pretty good. Anyway, we spent a lot of time at the other end of town by the beaches, and walked and walked for miles the four days we were there. As I said, no problems. But then again, we tried to be cautious and did not put ourselves in precarious situations. We took above-ground transportation and stayed aware, walking "with purpose".

Ashland, just be alert and aware. Walk tall, take precautions. You'll do great. :)

[Keith1010]

For those of you visiting Barcelona for the very first time it is a lovely city. We have enjoyed all of our visits.

With that said, I strongly recommend that you not carry valuables with you and keep them locked up and what you do carry with you should be hidden in a travel type of wallet. I would say this about many cities around the world but there are places that we have visited that do have more probability of pickpocketers and Barcelona is one of them.

Again, great city but use more caution.

Keith

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

If people reading these Boards are actually getting scared, this situation is starting to get out of hand.

Yes, Barcelona is a city that concentrates large groups of foreign tourists in certain areas and, because of this, also concentrates a proportion of petty crime that is higher than in some other cities. Nothing ever happens to the vast majority of the millions of tourists who visit Barcelona every year.

The fact that most of you who are reading these stories are foreigners also seems to add additional scare.

Barcelona has a higher petty crime rate than some other cities in Europe. However, cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit, Atlanta and others are far more dangerous as far as petty crime, violent crime such as rape and murder, and terrorism are concerned.

May I ask those of you who are scared to visit Barcelona after reading these boards, do you also get all paranoid and read similar boards before travelling to New York to spend a typical shopping and theatre weekend? After all, and with all due respects, reverence and memory, nearly 3,000 people died in New York City one morning ten years ago. None of you would appear to think twice about travelling to New York City, but at the same time you are scared to death to get your pocket picked on Las Ramblas. I just don't understand.

I was a diplomat at a Consulate in New York City for many years. I don't want to scare anybody by bringing up some of the horrors we would have reported to us concerning incidents occurring daily in Times Square -- some of which simple petty crime but, unfortunately, many entailing sexual assault, violent robbery, and even murder.

Enjoy Barcelona and every other city in the world -- just take sensible precautions anyplace you go.

Kind regards,

Gunther and Uta

[Keith1010]

Gunther and Uta, I agree with you that there is no need to be scared of visiting Barcelona. I also agree that Barcelona does have more petty crime than many other cities which is why I always recommend just upping the precautions when one visits there and not to let ones guard down.

The reality is that not all cities are not created equally. Some have more issues than others and some as you say do have different issues.

I am very familiar with NYC having lived outside the city for over 20 years and my wife lived in the city for almost 20 years. We use caution there today. There are areas that we will not visit and there are certain side streets that we will not visit either.

In the 1980's and part of the 1990's I would have told people to be very cautious about walking around the Broadway area at night and that caution would go way beyond just getting robbed. Today I would tell people to be street smart in that area as it is very crowded with people but we do feel very safe walking the immediate area of Broadway which was not the case before things were cleaned up.

We leave valuables in the safe in all cities because we know that crime does happen and we also know as tourists we may be more prone to it. With that said there are certain cities that are more prone to problems such as being pick pocketed or having items blatantly stolen from you. Barcelona is one of these at least based on our own experiences and I feel the same way about Naples and while Rome is better than it was like any big city we use caution there. My experience is that Rio has similar issues but more violence and my experience is that Buenos Aires has a lot of petty crime as Barcelona does.

Keith

[John Bull]

We will be sailing out/in plus 2 days post cruise from Barcelona...And these stories/tips have given me much info that I will use but..they have scared me to death...:eek: How can I possibly have a good time in this city ????

That's the problem with threads such as this.
Posts about crime are well worth reading, especially this one - it's rather more difficult to ignore someone who claims to be a police officer.
So no criticism from me about threads which warn the unwary.

But, as Gunther's post, the reader needs to keep a sense of proportion.
Places such as Barca, Naples, New York, Rio, have higher levels of crime against tourists. But their reputations are blown all out-of-proportion.
Yes, be aware. And not just in Barca.
No, don't get paranoid.

JB :)

[Ashland]

Thanks to all the above comments to my post about being "Scared to Death"....Yes have been to Vegas many times as I'm a west coast gal and it's only a 4hr. drive ;)...Even last August on our Baltic cruise in the many ports we visited I felt little concern...But Barcelona has gotten perhaps more of a reputation on these boards..My concern is also we will be staying 2 days post cruise at the Hotel 1898 and arriving very early before stated checkin times..Assuming we will be able to leave our luggage at the hotel..what about our valuables?..Not having our room safe available then is a real worry...What have those of you done when in this situation?

[Langley Cruisers]

..Assuming we will be able to leave our luggage at the hotel..what about our valuables?....

I would suggest you contact the hotel directly. Not sure anyone here could put your mind at ease, or give you correct information.

[John Bull]

Assuming we will be able to leave our luggage at the hotel..what about our valuables?..Not having our room safe available then is a real worry...What have those of you done when in this situation?

Don't know your hotel, but the norm is to ask for valuables (passports etc) to be put in the hotel safe at Reception. They usually offer a box or sealed envelope for the purpose. Might be a small charge.

Though it may be possible to put them in the safe in your room, even if the room's not ready. And, who knows, mebbe the room will be ready, esp if it was empty the previous night.

JB :)

[Keith1010]

Thanks to all the above comments to my post about being "Scared to Death"....Yes have been to Vegas many times as I'm a west coast gal and it's only a 4hr. drive ;)...Even last August on our Baltic cruise in the many ports we visited I felt little concern...But Barcelona has gotten perhaps more of a reputation on these boards..My concern is also we will be staying 2 days post cruise at the Hotel 1898 and arriving very early before stated checkin times..Assuming we will be able to leave our luggage at the hotel..what about our valuables?..Not having our room safe available then is a real worry...What have those of you done when in this situation?

Ashland, I would e mail or call the hotel to see if you can lock your valuables in their safe assuming they have one.

If they don't I would do one of two things. I would either wait there until your room becomes available or I would find another hotel who has a safe behind the desk and will allow you to use it.

I would not walk around the city with my passport or with valuables.

Keith

[GlendaleCruiser]

Ashland, I would e mail or call the hotel to see if you can lock your valuables in their safe assuming they have one.

If they don't I would do one of two things. I would either wait there until your room becomes available or I would find another hotel who has a safe behind the desk and will allow you to use it.

I would not walk around the city with my passport or with valuables.

Keith

Nor would I. I don't like to carry my passport around in the city (any big city) even if it is in a money belt under my clothes.

[Chicken_Lips]

Hi, I've been to Europe tons of times, and recently with my retired mother. Trust me, crime in Europe is very small compared to the States. We have never had any problems, here are some tips to keep your wits about you. And have fun!! Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities on the planet.

1. Men, buy a front pocket wallet. I got mine at Kohls for under $20. Don't even think about putting your wallet in your back pocket. Women, take a zippered purse, don't even think about taking a purse that only has snaps or flaps for closures. They're easier to pickpocket. If someone bumps into you, grab onto your wallet or purse very tightly, they are trying to distract you.

2. If you're not going to leave your extra cash, credit cards, or passport in your suitcase or hotel room safe, keep it in a light weight travel pouch that zips around your neck under your shirt or around your waist under your pants. You can find these travel pouches in any luggage department at Wal-Mart, Target, etc.

3. Be tough and firm. Americans are very polite. If one of these con artists approaches you, and you will be able to spot them from a mile away, don't be polite. Don't even think about saying "No thank you". They will push even harder on you because you will appear weak if you are a polite American. Always say "No!". Gypsies will flee if you tell them to "F-off!". Or better yet, say no in a foreign language like German, "Nein!". They will not mess with you if you are firm and pretend not to speak English.

Barcelona and the rest of Europe are totally safe. Don't let these petty thieves ruin your trip. There are some great examples of pickpocket scams in Rick Steves "Europe through the Back Door" book. Check it out at your local library. I've seen all these scams, they're easy to avoid.