Common scams in Buenos Aires

• Common scams — 'mustard' squirt, switched banknotes, street taxis

  Refuse the 'mustard' cleanup; pay taxis in small bills

  The 'mustard' distraction — someone quietly sprays a stain on you, then a 'helpful' stranger wipes it while an accomplice lifts your bag — works the microcentro, the San Telmo fair and La Boca; refuse all help and walk on. Taxi drivers may palm your note and hand back a fake claiming it's no good, so pay with small bills and check your change (genuine notes have a watermark and metal strip). Book Uber or Cabify rather than hailing at night, when unmarked-taxi 'express kidnapping' runs to ATMs are a documented risk. La Boca outside the Caminito strip is unsafe after dark.

  Checked July 2026