Scams

1. It's late, it's dark and you have had a few drinks. You hail a cab and sail swiftly to your destination, the cabbie is friendly and all is well. The bill is 15 you hand him a fifty pesos note, he looks at it gives it back and says it's a fake. You are horrified, apologise and give him a twenty, the same thing happens, you scrabble together and pay with your loose change.

The next day you wake up and realise the only place that money came from was your local supermarket. They are decent people, always checking their notes. You realise the reason the notes were fake was because the cabbie (aka doodgy bastard) had swapped them. A very clever little trick that happened to a bloke called Ian i met over the last 2 days whilst watching Champions League football.

Moral of the story: Never pay cabbies with large notes.

2. This happened to a couple of English retirees. Walking along Puerto Madero (posh area) they passed a nice couple in their forties taking photos. Something landed on them, the couple came over to explain that birds had shat on them and helped wipe them down, whilst removing their wallets taking out only the dollars and then replacing them. The same scam is done in cafes where they spray you with mustard etc.

Moral: Never let anyone into your space.

3. I was touring Santiago with Flower (Enlish woman in her fifties), she was explaining to me how she always got robbed on her last day in a country. Today was her last, i said that i didn't fancy wandering around with a cursed lady. She laughed. I was serious. The problem is that she is a lovely person who trusts people. Whereas i am a dodgy git who trusts no one. We sit down at a cafe she puts her bag next to her on the chair next to passers-by, i point out that that's a bit dodgy she moves it. She then gets something out of her bag and puts it back on the chair. 5 minutes later someone has grabbed it and legged it.

It occurred to me you could have an empty bag, get someone to run off with it, and thus get a free meal at a cafe. Nice scam. See what i mean - i don't trust anyone, she did pay me back for the meal.

Moral: If you want to see your bag again tie it to the chair or put it between your legs. Never carry your passport or credit cards in your bag unless you have to - thankfully Flower was aware of this.

Mind you nothing has ever happened to me, but then again you should never scam a scammer.