Warnings

While most travelers stay in Bogota without bad incidents on the street, it still pays to keep your wits about you. Here are some of the scams that have been reported:

As you walk down the street, someone approaches to ask something stupid like "where is the post office?" When you answer with your foreign accent, a signal is made to an accomplice, who walks up and claims to be from the police department. He doesn't wear a uniform and the ID he shows is a fake, and he says he is checking for tourists who come to Colombia to buy drugs. The "policeman" also calls over a Latin-looking guy who claims to be a tourist from a Latin American country. When the Latin guy hands over his passport with a lot of money, you are expected to do the same - after all, if a Latin tourist does it, why shouldn't you? If you do, the policeman will go somewhere to "write down the numbers of your bank notes" and you will never see him again. The best way to get out of the situation is to laugh at the "policeman," ignore him, or say you left your passport and money at the hotel.

The innocuous question, like "where is the post office?" or especially "what time is it," is a typical approach for con artists and muggers all over the world. Whatever the question, it is designed to convince you that the person approaching you is harmless so you lower your guard. Asking the time is also a good way to see if you have a watch or cell phone they can steal. Be careful if someone approaches you like this.

Someone might smear ketchup or mustard on your day pack. A gentleman in a nice suit will approach and apologize for what these dirty people have done and offer to clean the pack for you in a nearby restroom. Once you are in the restroom, several guys rush in and your bag is gone.

As you leave a bank where you have just changed some money, someone walking ahead of you drops a small package. A guy walking beside you "finds" the package and discovers it's full of money, and since you also saw it "get lost," he offers to share it with you. He takes you to a dark cafe where a third person arrives, claiming that he just lost some money. This guy says that he will easily recognize his missing money because he works in a garage and the bills are greasy. If you are willing to prove that your bills are clean, you won't see them again.

A shoe polisher offers to clean your dirty shoes for 1,000 pesos. If you accept, he will spray different colors on your shoes and try to charge you 1,000 pesos for each color he used. The final amount could be as high as 12,000 pesos! Don't panic, pay the initial 1,000 pesos and tell him you're going to call the police.

If someone sprays water on you and asks you to look up - DON'T! Instead, look down at your pockets. There is a gang of women who do this on Carrera 7.