Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
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Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
1–10 of 45 posts
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#2I have heard of this specific scam happening in Buenos Aires as well. It's a particularly nasty one.
It's unfortunate, but I would say that on my world trip about 50-60% of English-speaking locals in non-English-speaking countries were trying to get my money somehow. I feel bad for the ones who weren't, because I had to treat them with such suspicion.
But, the rule is, if somebody doesn't have anything better to do than talk to you, they're probably after your money. I never stop walking if someone starts talking to me on the street, until I have an idea of their intentions.
Actually, this gives me an idea for a blog post on the lines I've been fed in this process.
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#3That's not a mugging. I think you mean robbed:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mugged to assault or menace, especially with the intention of robbery.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rob to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/burglarize to break into and steal from: Thieves burglarized the warehouse.
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#4You don't necessarily need to get travel insurance -- lots of homeowners/renters insurance covers thefts even abroad. I got robbed of my MBP and Kindle in the train station at the Madrid airport in October and the loss was covered. Probably worth checking into when buying insurance in the first place if you're a traveler.
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#5But I thought pickpocketing was a lost art, according to the Salon article we were discussing earlier?
Perhaps a lost art in the old school sense of a mark, a pocket quietly picked, and no one being the wiser, but the run down of events and parties involved sounds identical to the pickpocketing scenario Salon laid out. Just with a more elaborate distraction than bumping into your shoulder.
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#6When I was in Rome, a couple of youths tried the old trap-the-target-in-the-ticket-barriers trick on a friend of mine. Luckily another guy I was with realised what was happening, shouted "watched out" and the two guys scarpered after giving us a cheeky shrug.
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#7That's not a mugging. I think you mean robbed: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mugged to assault or menace, especially with the intention of robbery. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rob to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/burglarize to break into and steal from: Thieves burglarized the warehouse.
I think he doesn't mean robbed. Robbery is theft with the use or threat of violence. Yes, I know that the dictionary mumbles something half-hearted about it being the same as theft.
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#8Grrr...I hate to be this person, but why, oh why, is this on Hacker News? This isn't a "hack" or anything new...they've been doing this to tourists for as long as there have been tourists.
Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#9But I thought pickpocketing was a lost art, according to the Salon article we were discussing earlier? Perhaps a lost art in the old school sense of a mark, a pocket quietly picked, and no one being the wiser, but the run down of events and parties involved sounds identical to the pickpocketing scenario Salon laid out. Just with a more elaborate distraction than bumping into your shoulder.
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Re: Find yourself covered in slime? You're being mugged.
#10I have heard of this specific scam happening in Buenos Aires as well. It's a particularly nasty one. It's unfortunate, but I would say that on my world trip about 50-60% of English-speaking locals in non-English-speaking countries were trying to get my money somehow. I feel bad for the ones who weren't, because I had to treat them with such suspicion. But, the rule is, if somebody doesn't have anything better to do t…
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