Foto: conecta9
Thanks to “Robbed in Barcelona” collaborator Don Simon for informing us about this new scam, first seen in the wild this month in Barcelona.
Don’s friend tells us his story in his own words:
“I was in this bar, just having a beer, and this boy who looked like Michael MacIntryre was in the bar having a beer as well. Anyway, we start chatting and he offers to buy me a beer, so we have one. Then, I buy him one. At some point, I look at my phone and put it on the bar counter. Less than a second later he’s grabbed it and has run out the door.”
Basically, as Don puts it, it’s a case of: thief buys a tourist a beer, tourists buys him one back so the thief isn’t out-of-pocket. The tourist, lulled into a false sense of security, is soon very much out of pocket.
The story continues:
“It was a bar on Paral·lel. Just a general cafe-bar joint, I honestly don’t know the name. The boy was Spanish, or so he said. Could have been South American. At the police station, the police refused to believe the robber was Spanish. I said he was Spanish, and he said “no, South American maybe?” I said “no, he was Spanish.” It was like he didn’t want to put Spanish on the form. And eventually, he did it, grudgingly. Like a Spaniard can’t be a thief!”
We encountered another story, somewhat similar, in that the victim was befriended by a thief recently (and we’re not talking about the Free Hugger Scam), this time contributed by Dave on January 13th 2012. In his own words:
“Funny, a mate of mine just last night had the same thing happen. It was outside, in the street, near Port Olimpic, my mate had been arguing with his girlfriend on the phone and passed it to his new ‘friend’ to listen, whereupon the guy ran away with the phone. So, it seems the thieves have a new strategy – make friends first. Watch out for those charmers who buy you a drink and sympathise with your life.”
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Personally, it’s completely your fault. It seems like if you wanted to prejudice Barcelona because of some mobile phones that have been stolen. That happens EVERYWHERE. It’s just a prototype they have of tourists, like “two beers and they already feel confident with the guy beside”. Not a single Spaniard would ever be robbed this way, it’s just the dumbest thing I’ve ever read. Leaving your phone on the bar counter? WHY WOULD YOU EVER DO THAT, AND INDEED WITH A GUY NEXT TO YOU WHO YOU DON’T KNOW AT ALL? So sad, hope you take care from now on.
Yeah right, not a single Spaniard… Is that why there is an increase of 19% of robberies against locals in the last year alone? It´s not a problem that happens everwhere to this extreme. Yes, there is crime everywhere. No, it´s not normal to have over 255 incidents every single day – and to have a legal system which protects the criminal and seems to give them incentives to steal from people. None of this is normal. and it is definitely a reason to not come to Barcelona, or not bring your business here or to have prejudices against the city. It IS a great city in many ways – but this is a terrible problem that has gone on too long and is going too far. I´ve lived and traveled to New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Napols, Rome and many others, I´ve never seen anyone robbed there (I see one almost every single day throughout the year, and often multiple times during the summer, and I don´t know 1 person who hasn´t been robbed) and in those cities I´m able to leave my mobile on the counter while waiting for a friend to call and it will still be there all night…not in Barcelona though. We shouldn´t learn to accept this.
The complacency of the Barcelonins themselves is the most shocking thing. I’m livig in New York right now, and it’s just so refreshing to not have to watch like a hawk over your stuff at all times.
They would do that, because they (we) don’t all come criminal dens like Spain and Barcelona. If a Spaniard, or Catalan would not trust anyone, that speaks only to the amount of crime they have to endure. Try not being so dense. There are places where the amount of criminality which exist in Barcelona is NOT NORMAL. Quit enabling and making excuses for the ineptitude of your local government.
I know this bar your talking about well at least I think.
You were very silly…
Look, in any warp of life dont let yourself be taken in by starngers until you KNOW you can trust them !
I love loads of things about Barcelona but the classic “no es me culpa” is the typical blame others instead of fixing the problem because it is the easier/lazy option