Scam City: Conned at Carnival

This is a GUEST POST by Scam City camera crew member LETICIA MERUVIA.

Known for the incredible Carnival parade of the samba schools, with their few thousand troops marching in sparkling and feathered costumes on vibrant floats, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil also has hundreds of street bands and parties sprawled all over the city during the five-day holiday. They’re the fastest growing trend in Rio in recent years.

So for the next stop, Junior—the pickpocket Conor befriended at Copacabana beach—decided to take him to a Carnival street party. But before we could join the party and enjoy some good samba, Junior gave us some sage advice: never carry anything you can’t afford to lose.

Rigged up with secret cameras in our bun bags, clutch bags and even sunglasses, we went to check it out.

Conor went as the perfect bait, with his wallet full of fake money flashing out of his back pocket. Junior was his guide, trying to identify possible pickpockets. But with so many masks, booze and loud music, it was hard to tell.

Eventually, in the midst of the party, Conor’s wallet was found on the floor! Empty of course. We got some of the action on our cameras, but even paying close attention to it, we didn’t notice the exact moment it was gone.

Luckily, we didn’t lose any of our 007 equipment!
 

By Leticia Meruvia, Researcher on Location, Scam City

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