Have you ever wondered what you’d do if your phone stolen in Buenos Aires? I never really thought about it until it happened to me in Buenos Aires. I was just two blocks from Plaza Constitución, requesting an Uber ride when a guy on a bike grabbed my phone from my hands and sped away.
It happened two blocks from this place:
It was broad daylight, not a busy street, and there I was, phoneless. What do you do in a situation like that in Buenos Aires? Well, first, you try to stay calm. Easier said than done, but it helps. You can file a police report and do all the official stuff, but the chances of getting your phone back are pretty slim. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but your phone is probably gone, sold on the black market or sent to another country. So, what do you need to do if your iPhone is stolen in Buenos Aires(or any other place)?
Now, what do you do next?
You need to make multiple phone calls. So, if you are travelling alone, the best option is to go to the store or post office and start making phone calls. First, you need to call Apple support(or your carrier) to erase your stolen phone, change passwords for all your apps, and call the bank to block the credit cards in Apple Pay or Google Pay. You also call your relatives to let them know about potential scams.
Where to get a new phone in Buenos Aires and is it possible?
Once you’ve tackled these big issues, you’re left without a phone. So, you think, “Okay, I’ll just get a new one from the Apple store.” Simple, right? Well, not so much. When we went to the official Apple retailer called iPoint, the price of the iPhone 14 (the model stolen from me) was a staggering $4,600! That’s way more than it would cost in the United States. I needed a phone, but that was just too much. It sounds crazy, but you check the current prices on their official website.
What are other options?
I explored other options, like calling Verizon to ship a new phone to Argentina. Turns out, they don’t do that. Neither do any US phone providers. Apple doesn’t ship to Argentina either. Even UPS could only guarantee a 5-business day shipping, and we were leaving Buenos Aires in 5 days for Iguazu Falls. So, getting a new iPhone from the US to Argentina in less than 5 days was impossible.
What are your real options, then?
You could buy an old phone on Facebook Marketplace or get a new one from unofficial resellers, but they charge about five times the regular price. If you have more than a week in Buenos Aires, your relatives or friends could ship you a new phone via DHL or UPS (as of November 2023). Luckily, my son had an old iPhone 11 that we managed to connect, and I had a phone for the trip. When we got back to the hotel, we checked the iCloud backup, and luckily, the last backup was the night before the theft, so I only lost a couple of hours’ worth of pictures.
Phishing scam and how to avoid it?
Back in the US, I got a new phone, but the drama didn’t end there. Over the next three weeks, I faced phishing attacks and scam calls. They tried to get my iCloud password through emails and calls, claiming they found my lost phone. Here is an example of message. Note the link is “Icloud”, not “icloud”:
Eventually, those calls and messages stopped, and life went back to normal. It was a crazy experience that taught me the importance of being prepared and resilient when dealing with a stolen phone in a foreign place. Losing a phone is more than losing a device; it’s losing memories and potential vulnerabilities that need quick and smart responses. From the initial shock to the resolution, it brought challenges, lessons, and an understanding of the layers of modern-day connectivity and security.
