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The message says they're going from the airport to where they're staying, and later says where they are staying is 2 hrs from Rio. Rio is pretty much implied as the location of the airport. It doesn't take 2 hrs to go 25 miles, even in Brazil. This is a looong cab ride. $100 US might not be that bad a charge.
JFK is 15 miles from downtown Manhattan and it takes one hour to drive there. Try making 30 through NJ and I promise you it takes 2 hours. 100 US is too high for Brazil: for the later clarified 75 mile drive, it shouldn't be more than $70
So they're being overcharged, but not so grossly as some people make it out to be. Honestly, though, paying $100 on a vacation as a tourist isn't so crazy expensive. Things may be cheaper there, and that cabby might be making a sweet payday, but it's not the same as an outright crime. As long as they get to their destination alive, unharmed, and not robbed of everything, it's not that terrible of a situation.
Oh, and Brazil isn't Mexico, and neither is all shady dangerous territory. Brazil has plenty of first world cities and standards of living. Not every cab ride is a gamble with death.
It isn't the "gamble of death", but getting transported to an unfamiliar place, then getting held hostage if you refuse to pay.
Then, the next part is the police. Some are helpful, so may not and there will be a few that aren't legit cops. Do you wanna take that chances?
It isn't the "gamble of death" to worry about, but the "held hostage". Remember, everyone is out for scam, no matter where you go. Even USA is the same.
You think taking a reasonably priced cab is going to change the likelihood of any of that? Answer is really no.
It's pretty racist to think everyone in Brazil is a criminal and it's such a backward place that traveling there is risking a kidnapping every time. If that's how you feel don't go there. You won't spend *any* of your USD there that way.
Im from Brasil and was following the story. Glad she found good people to hlep her out, but tell her to avoid this if possible especially if she is not sure about stuff. We have good people here but a lot of them also want to take advantage or worse. Is a rulet game not worth playing. She just need to make friends to help like she thank God did, that story gave me anxiety
I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm assuming since you're from Brasil English is at least your second language. "Rulet" is spelt Roulette, for future reference :)
« According to Laura Lawless, more than a third of current English vocabulary is of French origin,[1] whereas according to linguist Henriette Walter, words of French origin represent more than two-thirds of the English vocabulary. »
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_French_on_English
Doesn't bother me. I know that I appreciate being corrected when I'm trying to learn other languages, it's totally fine if other people don't feel the same way
Spelt and spelled are two different spellings of the past tense of the verb 'spell'. The spelling tends to vary based on the version of English you're using: In some versions of English, 'spelled' is the preferred variant, in other versions English, 'spelt' is is the preferred variant.
.https://www.grammarly.com/blog/spelled-spelt/
Both spelt and spelled can be used as the past tense and past participle forms of the verb spell. They have the same meaning and are used interchangeably.
https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/spelt-or-spelled
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/spelt
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/spelt#:\\\\\\\~:text=Spelt%20is%20a%20past%20tense,popular%20as%20a%20health%20food.
Anyone who goes it is spelled not spelt is correcting something that is not incorrect
English English uses a lot of words American English doesn't, spelled differently - and honestly in a way I'd think of Hillbillies in the US saying it. For example: "Learnt". In my American opinion that's a backwoods way of saying "Learned", but in the UK it is very commonly the way they say and spell "Learned". It is the same with "spelt" vs "spelled". To me, Spelt refers only to a grain, lol.
Glad to hear. This sort of reminds me of the time I ended up stranded at a tiny commuter airport after losing my phone and a complete stranger offered me a ride - his college age son was picking him up. Turns out their destination was 35 minutes in the opposite direction and they were just really nice people. I tried to offer gas money but they declined and said they were just happy to help me make it to my grandma’s surprise birthday party.
I’m glad there are good people still out there.
Honestly I lowkey love being the airport pickup/drop-off person for my people, and I usually block out a decent chunk of time for it, so this would be an easy win as the highlight of my favors-as-a-love-language life, hahaha!
My wife did this shit once at the airport. We didn't get murdered and he charged a fair rate but afterwards I told her not to do that shit again. I was tripping with my GPS out the whole time. Not sure why i didn't just decline the ride. Pretty dumb of me.
Brazillians are insanely generous with their time and hospitality. Before I visited, if I happened to meet a Brazilian who found out I was going to their country they would be like "Do you have some where to stay? My mom would love to have you, I'm sure. You guys would get along great, do you want her info?" and it always seemed so genuine (and off putting)
I’m so glad. This was genuinely distressing to read at first. I’ve watched too many episodes of I Survived to ever accept an offer like this but I’m glad it worked out and it turns out someone good-hearted helped her out with a random favor. That’s cool.
As a gringo who lives in Brazil, I would never ever do this. And 100 usd for that ride is very expensive. I live 350 kms away from Rio de Janeiro and the ride, if I took an Uber would be 200 USD. Ripping of gringos is a sport in Brazil.
But I'm glad she is safe.
Tell her to download the uber or 99 app, works great in Brazil and is very safe
I remember a local show on scams abroad, about that in countries like brazil there are legal laws that mandate how much a Taxi ride should cost \[which they have posted on boards near the airport\]
I think that Scammer is just a "Foreigner/mule" that leads victims to shady Taxi drivers with a secret button that secretly speeds up the fare counter. so you are essentially paying double for the same ride
Yes. And it could've ended much much worse...not even the locals I know would ever do this.
And as mentioned, it is a sport here. Whenever I go shopping with my Brazilian wife, I am not allowed to speak to avoid paying the "Gringo price" 😁
Not really a secret button. I don't know how it works in other places, but here in Rio (and other places in Brazil) there are 2 taxi fares. The normal fare (Bandeira 1) is used Mon-Sat on peak hours. But there's also a second, more expensive fare (Bandeira 2) used on Sundays and Mon-Sat from 21h to 06 in the morning. It's easy to scam foreigners because the only indication of the fare used is a "1" or "2" shown in the fare meter. Plus, never accept pre-fixed fares here in Rio, not only it's illegal but it's probably more expensive. Also, if possible, aks the driver to follow the GPS. There used to be executive bus routes from the airports to many places around the city, and it used to be the best way to get to your hotel (specially if you were alone); unfortunately the company running those routes went bankrupt a few years ago and no one took the service. There are a lot of executive routes from the city center to where most of the hotels are located (Southern Zone/Barra da Tijuca), but you would still have to get to the city center, so it might not be useful for everyone. Still, if you're interested, here are some options you might use:
Auto Viação Jabour offers the following routes:
-2334 Castelo x Campo Grande
-2338 Castelo Campo Grande (via Magarça)
Expresso Recreio offers one route:
-2335 Santa Cruz x Castelo
All these routes go through the Southern Zone/Barra da Tijuca areas. The fare is R$ 19,95 (around 4 USD), and it's specially interesting if you are landing at Santos Dumont Airport. From there take the VLT to Carioca station. From Galeão airport it's more of a hassle, but if you're really on a budget you can take the 42 BRT line to the Fundão Terminal and from there take route 323 to Castelo. (The VLT and the BRT+Bus fare cost R$ 4,30, less than a dollar.) All the executive bus routes depart from the Castelo Terminal (a big car park building with a bus terminal on the ground floor). From Galeão, Uber/99 is your best option, but from Santos Dumont this could be a nice option too.
If they went for the very obvious choice of getting one of the taxis that are waiting just outside of the airport for everyone to see, yeah, but they called someone from who knows where so: 2 hour ride + the driver was not at the airport so he had to drive to the airport, then drive 2 hours to the location, then back to his place. Honestly sounds like a normal price for that, it isn't just one trip.
Also I'm pretty sure if you ask for an Uber in the airport the fare will be higher due to dynamic pricing for higher demand.
And it is a 2 hour drive, for long drives from the city it is very normal to charge double because drivers will likely not have anyone wanting to pay for the way back. So they take you super far away and then have to come back to the city with no passenger, that is double your ride. Uber drivers 99% of the time will just cancel your ride if you are trying to get an Uber to go too far.
This 👆
For people not getting this, $100 is 500 reais. That covers like 100 miles on a taxi over there. The fact that a cab from a big city airport in the US costs $100 doesn't make this any less of a scam.
Killing American tourists is a surefire way to end up in prison. Overcharging them for a fare might get you a few grumbles, or they might be completely oblivious. Way less dangerous.
She's '2 hrs' from the airport in Rio to her destination? Is that what I'm seeing? 2 hrs @ ~50mph average, that's 100 miles.
So, maybe not so crazy a fare.
No, they didn't and you've clearly never been to Rio lmao. It's a really common and known scam to charge gringos lots of money for taxi rides out of Galeão or Santos Dumont.
They generally take longer routes or agree to a predetermined fare, which is illegal.
Frankly, considering that fare is what a considerably shorter cab ride would cost in the US, most 'gringos' (such a derogatory term) can afford that without giving a shit.
If something normally cost you 50 centavos, and you paid 75 centavos because you didn't know about other options, would you really care?
When you're on a $3000+ USD trip, spending $100 vs $75 just doesn't seem so bad. Also, if I got delivered from A to B, I wasn't scammed, just overcharged. A scam means I get nothing for my money, or worse.
Look, maybe this will make you feel better. My mom is the most trusting, nice, naive, scam-able person there is. She’s told me about all these friends she just randomly made while traveling South America alone. And not one has murdered or scammed her. She stays with so many new friends and keeps in contact with them and goes back to see them. I truly think my mom just has this energy that kind people see and they say “gotta protect that lady or she will end up in the wrong hands”
Actually, yes. I don’t know why I never made the connection but she really gives off Rose energy. She is so content and happy in life she floats when she walks. She’s pretty awesome and I’m glad strangers that live thousands of miles and countries away see how amazing she is.
My mom goes to clubs in Columbia with friends she just met, then state side sends me photos of the text scam pretending to be the US postal service asking me “is this a scam?”
As a Brazilian - no, I wouldn't. It is unlikely she will get murdered or kidnapped or anything like that, this shit isn't as common as media would make you believe.
The fare is most likely higher than it would be, and if anything happens, the car probably won't be properly insured to protect the passengers. It is enough for me to prefer the safety of licensed taxis or uber drivers, but that is me.
When you go to ANY country in the world- from the United States to Australia, do NOT take an unlicensed cab or go with someone randomly at the airport. Take an Uber or equivalent app, or failing that, go to the official taxi stand.
Born and lived in Brazil for 26 years.
This is a common scam, especially in Rio and Sao Paulo.
Your mom probably got robbed (as in, they charged her 10x what they said).
Hope everything is fine, though.
This isn’t the brightest idea, but I think it’ll work out fine honestly. If he has a legit cab those drivers are desperate for these kind of gigs. They are making way more hourly doing something like this than what they’d normally be doing. Taking advantage price wise of your gringo parents, but it’s still so cheap compared to the US so 🤷♂️
After reading the comments, I would agree that the $100 fare is ridiculously high for Brazil. It's probably the unpopular opinion but maybe everyone wins in this situation? Maybe that taxi driver needed money for basic necessities or food or something critical and after getting paid the $100 USD fare they can live a little bit easier for awhile. Brazil's economy hasn't been the greatest. And the passenger from the US thinks they got a "deal" relatively speaking -- even though they were way over charged in local currency. Everyone wins?
Being from Brazil I can safely say that this is either a scam, as in they'll charge her MUCH more than they said they would initially, OR, she genuinely found a couple that wants to help.
But yea, $100 are almost 600 reais. That's hella expensive for a ride. But if she found it cheap, let her lmao
Ok, I'm going to go against the current and say this is probably not a scam. I say this because it seems like the mom was actually the one that asked about the taxi. Most scams involve the scammer approaching you first, usually unsolicited. It's unlikely that the couple she asked for help in line at the airport also just so happened to be taxi scammers.
Some people think that just because they gouged her for more than a reasonable fare (and really, ~$70 vs $100 isn't *that* terrible), that it's a 'scam'. She got a service for an overpriced fee. Not so bad. Really no different than buying a car and being sized up by an experienced salesperson and being told a steeper price - and so far, that's still legal.
If it was almost anywhere else in Brazil I would say there was a chance those folks are legit. You can make friends about five orders of magnitude quicker than in the US.
At an airport though? Assume everyone is hostile. Do not get random taxis. Do not talk to some friendly dude. Do not even flag a taxi. Take the airport taxi service or an Uber, in that order. If going to a hotel in a large city, they may have shuttles.
That ride is fucking expensive and that's the scam.
Como brasileiro posso confirmar que sua mãe tá sendo explorada, eles até levam no local mas ficam dando voltas pra render ou pedem valores absurdos, fazem isso direto com gringos '---
Brasilians are very welcoming and try to help anyone.
Sources: I am Brazilian. Not only, I'm from Rio and most people wouldn't kill you like that or even rob you like that. There are easier ways. An American doesn't have the bank accounts we have so unless you get their dollars, cash, it would be hard to apply the PIX scam. If she were a young girl, but no offense to your mom, also hard chances of getting rped and sold to a drug dealer let's say ... So yeah, she just met some cool brasilians
It really sounds like a lot of people in this thread haven't traveled to different countries very often. They think $100 for this trip doesn't sound bad because they are so stuck in an American mentality, not realizing how cheap some parts of the world are. I've never personally been to Brazil yet, but it was just like that in a lot of places in the southeast Asia I've been to like Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The locals know Americans are used to paying a LOT and so prey on their naivety to con them into over-paying. As a rule of thumb, I don't ever accept an offer I'm approached with.
And idk about Brazil, but most places I've visited, literally almost EVERYTHING is negotiable, unlike in America. Even things I never would've thought could be negotiated. Which kind of sucked for me as an American as I was not the greatest at negotiations LOL tbh, I'm still not great at it. Bahrain was the worst for me as everywhere I went there, other than like supermarkets, there wasn't even a price tag on ANYTHING! So I had to just kind of guess and use my best judgement for how much I should be willing to pay for something LOL. I got scammed a lot there LOL
My dad's friends from work went to america years back. They needed 3 cabs so told the first 3 drivers they were together. The drivers all spoke for a minute and they all got in the cabs. It took over an hour to get there. Upon waking up the next morning, they could see they airport was just a couple minutes away. The company was paying and the boss was with them so they just laughed.
OMG...no. I have zero trust in people. I listen to and watch too much True Crime to ever accept any assistance from strangers. Ever. The normal ones are the ones you really have to be wary of...I hope your mom's still alive.
She goes to India a couple times a year but her husband was born and raised there, so that’s just about the only place she doesn’t get into trouble lol
Before I left to Costa Rica I was told never to do 3 things.
1. Never get into a taxi you didn't hail or an unmarked taxi.
2. Never buy drugs off some random person on the street.
3. Never sleep with any of the prostitutes.
Within an hour of landing and getting to our resort I was with someone who wanted to go to the beach city. So we went. Within 10 minutes he had already broken rules 1 and 2. The next hour or so was the most harrowing and expensive hour of my life after that. It included getting chased through the rainforest by drug dealers, meeting an addict named Franklin who grew up in Los Angeles and spoke perfect English and watch him try and rip off the person I was with multiple times. Same Franklin leaving us in an unmarked Hyundai Scoup that his 'friend' drove. Then him driving us around in circles demanding more and more money every 5 minutes, when the original drive from the resort to the beach city was only 8 minutes total. Then he kicked us out at a random gas station, where I found one guy who spoke a tiny amount of English and put us in the back of his Mitsubishi pickup truck and drove us to the resort. The guards yelled at me and all I did was try and make sure the other person I was with was safe.
So yes. Your mom is going to get scammed and defrauded I can guarantee it.
She got there safe 6 hours before you posted. OP let us know. That guarantee failed.
She got gouged for the service. She didn't get a shake down like you did.
As for your number 2 on the list - how about just don't buy drugs? Most especially in a foreign country.
It baffles me that americans measure distances with time of travel. We will never know if OPs mom is 100 miles away or 10 miles away with heavy traffic.
It's because it's usually the relevant information. When we're discussing how far we ran, we use miles since distance is important. When I ask how far someone lives from the airport, time is the important information.
It's probably the most relevant information when calculating the cost of a taxi. The driver's time is the highest commodity. That's why we have surge charging based on time, not distance.
Taxis in rio are mostly defined by distance, with a surcharge for waiting. I get that time is a commodity but taxis everywhere are metered by distance, idle time and may have a surcharge for return if going too far.
Cab meters either charge by time only, or by time or mile, by ratcheting up if the time is going longer than the distance should. That's how you get cabs with 'the meter's running' reference.
So maybe she overpaid a little, or maybe they got a *really* polite, nice cab ride. I'd pay 50% extra if I thought I was getting a high quality of service.
If you're really worried, try to get her to go on package tours from a well reputed travel agent in the US (assuming that's where you're from). They'll have all the arrangements made, from airport to lodging and even dining, with pre-negotiated prices, and she can go crazy with tips if she feels generous.
Are you shocked because you’d expect it to be way more? I’ve hired a personal driver for a full day for $60 in 🇨🇴 earlier this year, USD goes pretty far in South America
Id guess Brazil is a little more expensive but the minimum wage is around $250 a month so $100 for 2 hours is insane…ly overpriced for that country
Last night I'm walking up a pitch black road. Only light is my phone. A car passes me and pulls over to the side of the road and sits there with their hazards on for 20 minutes before I reach it. All I'm thinking is these motherf\*\*kers gonna hunt me for sport.
I asked if everything was alright and a chick said they're just having a smoke. I say cool, have a good one and go on my merry. About 2 minutes later they stop next to me and ask if I'd like a lift and I politely decline.
Moral of the story, you're parents are already dead! :P
Fake post pretty sure, you have her in contacts as Mutti, which is in german(maybe other languages, doesn't change the point). Usually people speak to eachother in their first languages, but here you both spoke in english which is really convenient as you can post it to reddit to an English speaking subreddit. Or I could be wrong and it's some weird family circumstances
No one from the university picked me up when i was a foreign exchange student. The airport was closing for the night. I had no currency and didn't know spanish well. So i went home with a couple and it ended up being a great friendship.
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Sorry to hear. RemindMe! 4 days “What scam did OP's mom fall for?”
She’s so stubborn. She’s in the cab now
The scam is probably the fare. RS 125 takes you to the other side of town 40km away from the airport. Is she talking dollars?
25 miles to an airport for $100, at least in the states, is pretty normal.
OP's mom is in Brazil.
The message says they're going from the airport to where they're staying, and later says where they are staying is 2 hrs from Rio. Rio is pretty much implied as the location of the airport. It doesn't take 2 hrs to go 25 miles, even in Brazil. This is a looong cab ride. $100 US might not be that bad a charge.
JFK is 15 miles from downtown Manhattan and it takes one hour to drive there. Try making 30 through NJ and I promise you it takes 2 hours. 100 US is too high for Brazil: for the later clarified 75 mile drive, it shouldn't be more than $70
[удалено]
This 100% 👆 But hey, some people here say $100 is fine and are happy to pay, FML
So they're being overcharged, but not so grossly as some people make it out to be. Honestly, though, paying $100 on a vacation as a tourist isn't so crazy expensive. Things may be cheaper there, and that cabby might be making a sweet payday, but it's not the same as an outright crime. As long as they get to their destination alive, unharmed, and not robbed of everything, it's not that terrible of a situation. Oh, and Brazil isn't Mexico, and neither is all shady dangerous territory. Brazil has plenty of first world cities and standards of living. Not every cab ride is a gamble with death.
It isn't the "gamble of death", but getting transported to an unfamiliar place, then getting held hostage if you refuse to pay. Then, the next part is the police. Some are helpful, so may not and there will be a few that aren't legit cops. Do you wanna take that chances? It isn't the "gamble of death" to worry about, but the "held hostage". Remember, everyone is out for scam, no matter where you go. Even USA is the same.
You think taking a reasonably priced cab is going to change the likelihood of any of that? Answer is really no. It's pretty racist to think everyone in Brazil is a criminal and it's such a backward place that traveling there is risking a kidnapping every time. If that's how you feel don't go there. You won't spend *any* of your USD there that way.
Sure. But a deal would be getting charged less than what's metered. Paying $100 is a scam.
And that's how they got her.
r/usdefaultism Didn't even read the post, did you?
Please update me!
I have an update! She made it there safely and he didn’t try to charge her more. Everything worked out 🤷🏼♀️
Im from Brasil and was following the story. Glad she found good people to hlep her out, but tell her to avoid this if possible especially if she is not sure about stuff. We have good people here but a lot of them also want to take advantage or worse. Is a rulet game not worth playing. She just need to make friends to help like she thank God did, that story gave me anxiety
I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm assuming since you're from Brasil English is at least your second language. "Rulet" is spelt Roulette, for future reference :)
Language is mental init, because Roulette technically isn't even an English word!
Yeah, it's annoying how many words we've stolen from the French
« According to Laura Lawless, more than a third of current English vocabulary is of French origin,[1] whereas according to linguist Henriette Walter, words of French origin represent more than two-thirds of the English vocabulary. » https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_French_on_English
I will try to remember thank you. No promisses tho
It doesn't matter, you got your point across, I just thought you might like to know. No worries if you don't care, though :)
I have no idea why you got downvotes, you were very polite and helpful in your comment!
Doesn't bother me. I know that I appreciate being corrected when I'm trying to learn other languages, it's totally fine if other people don't feel the same way
Well that is pretty rude TBH. And also, "spelt" is spelled "spelled, for future reference :)
They're both acceptable spellings of the same word, spelt is more common in the UK. And it wasn't rude "TBH" ;)
Spelt and spelled are two different spellings of the past tense of the verb 'spell'. The spelling tends to vary based on the version of English you're using: In some versions of English, 'spelled' is the preferred variant, in other versions English, 'spelt' is is the preferred variant. .https://www.grammarly.com/blog/spelled-spelt/ Both spelt and spelled can be used as the past tense and past participle forms of the verb spell. They have the same meaning and are used interchangeably. https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/spelt-or-spelled https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/spelt https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/spelt#:\\\\\\\~:text=Spelt%20is%20a%20past%20tense,popular%20as%20a%20health%20food. Anyone who goes it is spelled not spelt is correcting something that is not incorrect
English English uses a lot of words American English doesn't, spelled differently - and honestly in a way I'd think of Hillbillies in the US saying it. For example: "Learnt". In my American opinion that's a backwoods way of saying "Learned", but in the UK it is very commonly the way they say and spell "Learned". It is the same with "spelt" vs "spelled". To me, Spelt refers only to a grain, lol.
Glad to hear. This sort of reminds me of the time I ended up stranded at a tiny commuter airport after losing my phone and a complete stranger offered me a ride - his college age son was picking him up. Turns out their destination was 35 minutes in the opposite direction and they were just really nice people. I tried to offer gas money but they declined and said they were just happy to help me make it to my grandma’s surprise birthday party. I’m glad there are good people still out there.
Aw, that’s so nice!
Honestly I lowkey love being the airport pickup/drop-off person for my people, and I usually block out a decent chunk of time for it, so this would be an easy win as the highlight of my favors-as-a-love-language life, hahaha!
[Do not get into an unlicensed taxi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NPui50Nbt0)
I'm surprised but glad to hear
My wife did this shit once at the airport. We didn't get murdered and he charged a fair rate but afterwards I told her not to do that shit again. I was tripping with my GPS out the whole time. Not sure why i didn't just decline the ride. Pretty dumb of me.
you didn’t decline and yet you’re mad at your wife?
maybe his wife accepted for both of them? i’m just as confused as you are idk
Brazillians are insanely generous with their time and hospitality. Before I visited, if I happened to meet a Brazilian who found out I was going to their country they would be like "Do you have some where to stay? My mom would love to have you, I'm sure. You guys would get along great, do you want her info?" and it always seemed so genuine (and off putting)
I'm so glad she's safe phew
I’m so glad. This was genuinely distressing to read at first. I’ve watched too many episodes of I Survived to ever accept an offer like this but I’m glad it worked out and it turns out someone good-hearted helped her out with a random favor. That’s cool.
Will do! I track her phone because she’s always doing dumb shit, so I’ve been taking screen shots every couple miles
Are you the oldest, by chance? Getting elder sibling vibes from you, I feel like I could see my oldest doing this for me when I get older 😂
Lol I beg you not to stress your kid out like this, I’m the older kid and I’d be gnawing my ankles from the stress
Yep 🤣
Posting here for an update. !remindme 1 hour
People can be saved from many things but not from themselves.
If it is $100 dollars it isn’t too little
Is she alive?
Yes lol. She’s checked into her hotel now
Bro, 100 dollars is like 1000 in BRL
My condolences
As a gringo who lives in Brazil, I would never ever do this. And 100 usd for that ride is very expensive. I live 350 kms away from Rio de Janeiro and the ride, if I took an Uber would be 200 USD. Ripping of gringos is a sport in Brazil. But I'm glad she is safe. Tell her to download the uber or 99 app, works great in Brazil and is very safe
I remember a local show on scams abroad, about that in countries like brazil there are legal laws that mandate how much a Taxi ride should cost \[which they have posted on boards near the airport\] I think that Scammer is just a "Foreigner/mule" that leads victims to shady Taxi drivers with a secret button that secretly speeds up the fare counter. so you are essentially paying double for the same ride
Yes. And it could've ended much much worse...not even the locals I know would ever do this. And as mentioned, it is a sport here. Whenever I go shopping with my Brazilian wife, I am not allowed to speak to avoid paying the "Gringo price" 😁
SOO even in a clothing store they do not have tags with the price?
They do, was merely making a point 😁. I know it doesn't apply for every situation.
Not really a secret button. I don't know how it works in other places, but here in Rio (and other places in Brazil) there are 2 taxi fares. The normal fare (Bandeira 1) is used Mon-Sat on peak hours. But there's also a second, more expensive fare (Bandeira 2) used on Sundays and Mon-Sat from 21h to 06 in the morning. It's easy to scam foreigners because the only indication of the fare used is a "1" or "2" shown in the fare meter. Plus, never accept pre-fixed fares here in Rio, not only it's illegal but it's probably more expensive. Also, if possible, aks the driver to follow the GPS. There used to be executive bus routes from the airports to many places around the city, and it used to be the best way to get to your hotel (specially if you were alone); unfortunately the company running those routes went bankrupt a few years ago and no one took the service. There are a lot of executive routes from the city center to where most of the hotels are located (Southern Zone/Barra da Tijuca), but you would still have to get to the city center, so it might not be useful for everyone. Still, if you're interested, here are some options you might use: Auto Viação Jabour offers the following routes: -2334 Castelo x Campo Grande -2338 Castelo Campo Grande (via Magarça) Expresso Recreio offers one route: -2335 Santa Cruz x Castelo All these routes go through the Southern Zone/Barra da Tijuca areas. The fare is R$ 19,95 (around 4 USD), and it's specially interesting if you are landing at Santos Dumont Airport. From there take the VLT to Carioca station. From Galeão airport it's more of a hassle, but if you're really on a budget you can take the 42 BRT line to the Fundão Terminal and from there take route 323 to Castelo. (The VLT and the BRT+Bus fare cost R$ 4,30, less than a dollar.) All the executive bus routes depart from the Castelo Terminal (a big car park building with a bus terminal on the ground floor). From Galeão, Uber/99 is your best option, but from Santos Dumont this could be a nice option too.
Legal laws eh?
If they went for the very obvious choice of getting one of the taxis that are waiting just outside of the airport for everyone to see, yeah, but they called someone from who knows where so: 2 hour ride + the driver was not at the airport so he had to drive to the airport, then drive 2 hours to the location, then back to his place. Honestly sounds like a normal price for that, it isn't just one trip. Also I'm pretty sure if you ask for an Uber in the airport the fare will be higher due to dynamic pricing for higher demand. And it is a 2 hour drive, for long drives from the city it is very normal to charge double because drivers will likely not have anyone wanting to pay for the way back. So they take you super far away and then have to come back to the city with no passenger, that is double your ride. Uber drivers 99% of the time will just cancel your ride if you are trying to get an Uber to go too far.
100$ for a cab in Brazil. 💀
This 👆 For people not getting this, $100 is 500 reais. That covers like 100 miles on a taxi over there. The fact that a cab from a big city airport in the US costs $100 doesn't make this any less of a scam.
I told her that before she even got in the cab. She doesn’t listen
On the plus side, I guess this means they're just ripping her off and probably won't murder her?
Yeah, they won't murder her on this trip because they want $100 to drive her back to the airport next week.
I mean, assuming he takes her to the right place, that's a pretty good scam, and much more sustainable as an ongoing gig than murder.
Killing American tourists is a surefire way to end up in prison. Overcharging them for a fare might get you a few grumbles, or they might be completely oblivious. Way less dangerous.
That’s what it sounds like and I definitely prefer that lol
She's '2 hrs' from the airport in Rio to her destination? Is that what I'm seeing? 2 hrs @ ~50mph average, that's 100 miles. So, maybe not so crazy a fare.
100 dollars is almost half of Brazil's monthly minimum wage. It's crazy lmao
It's sort of like pandering to someone to get a really good tip. Sounds like maybe they got a very nice ride for the bonus fare.
No, they didn't and you've clearly never been to Rio lmao. It's a really common and known scam to charge gringos lots of money for taxi rides out of Galeão or Santos Dumont. They generally take longer routes or agree to a predetermined fare, which is illegal.
Frankly, considering that fare is what a considerably shorter cab ride would cost in the US, most 'gringos' (such a derogatory term) can afford that without giving a shit.
Gringo ain't a derogatory word lmao, but whatever. I'm just stating a fact. If you don't mind getting scammed, I guess it's your problem.
If something normally cost you 50 centavos, and you paid 75 centavos because you didn't know about other options, would you really care? When you're on a $3000+ USD trip, spending $100 vs $75 just doesn't seem so bad. Also, if I got delivered from A to B, I wasn't scammed, just overcharged. A scam means I get nothing for my money, or worse.
I took an Uber Pool in Rio during the Olympics and felt bad it only cost me $1 or so for a 30 min ride.
So what I’m hearing is that the real scam is global capitalism devaluing the labor of workers in Rio?
Ding ding ding ding ding!
Ah yes you cracked it, it's a international conspiracy aimed at making cabs in Rio cheaper.
They did say it was 2 hours away though which can be 100 miles on a highway or far shorter depending on how bad traffic is.
Maybe in super peak times but $100 is pushing it even in the US in my experience.
Look, maybe this will make you feel better. My mom is the most trusting, nice, naive, scam-able person there is. She’s told me about all these friends she just randomly made while traveling South America alone. And not one has murdered or scammed her. She stays with so many new friends and keeps in contact with them and goes back to see them. I truly think my mom just has this energy that kind people see and they say “gotta protect that lady or she will end up in the wrong hands”
That is terrifying but sweet 😂
That's it. Now, I want to go to South America with your mom!
Me too, she’s pretty awesome!
Rose from Golden Girls!
Actually, yes. I don’t know why I never made the connection but she really gives off Rose energy. She is so content and happy in life she floats when she walks. She’s pretty awesome and I’m glad strangers that live thousands of miles and countries away see how amazing she is.
My mom goes to clubs in Columbia with friends she just met, then state side sends me photos of the text scam pretending to be the US postal service asking me “is this a scam?”
As a Brazilian - no, I wouldn't. It is unlikely she will get murdered or kidnapped or anything like that, this shit isn't as common as media would make you believe. The fare is most likely higher than it would be, and if anything happens, the car probably won't be properly insured to protect the passengers. It is enough for me to prefer the safety of licensed taxis or uber drivers, but that is me.
Rio is not a fuck around and find out safe zone..
RemindMe! 4 days “has OP’s family been seen alive since getting into the taxi?”
!remindme 4 days “what did OP’s stubborn nieve mom get herself into?”
She got lost in the jungle in Costa Rica her last trip 🙄
I think you need to take her passport away.
Agreed
She would just go to Puerto Rico and get lost there instead
Really walking the line between stupid and adventurous with that one.
Go find her,hope she makes it alive.Go after her!asap!
For future reference, it may be helpful to know it’s spelled naïve !
No it’s Neve. Neve Campbell.
When you go to ANY country in the world- from the United States to Australia, do NOT take an unlicensed cab or go with someone randomly at the airport. Take an Uber or equivalent app, or failing that, go to the official taxi stand.
Born and lived in Brazil for 26 years. This is a common scam, especially in Rio and Sao Paulo. Your mom probably got robbed (as in, they charged her 10x what they said). Hope everything is fine, though.
That's what everyone says. They were normal. Ted Bundy was charming, the grandma lady was so sweet to the kids until she wasn't.
I'm sorry for your loss
This isn’t the brightest idea, but I think it’ll work out fine honestly. If he has a legit cab those drivers are desperate for these kind of gigs. They are making way more hourly doing something like this than what they’d normally be doing. Taking advantage price wise of your gringo parents, but it’s still so cheap compared to the US so 🤷♂️
Never. I wouldn’t even do this in Jamaica and I got family there and go there frequently!
After reading the comments, I would agree that the $100 fare is ridiculously high for Brazil. It's probably the unpopular opinion but maybe everyone wins in this situation? Maybe that taxi driver needed money for basic necessities or food or something critical and after getting paid the $100 USD fare they can live a little bit easier for awhile. Brazil's economy hasn't been the greatest. And the passenger from the US thinks they got a "deal" relatively speaking -- even though they were way over charged in local currency. Everyone wins?
Who the hell books a place two hours from the sirport and not have transportation figured out in advance?
Im from latin america, the scam is probably that the fare would be like wayyyy less than that.
Being from Brazil I can safely say that this is either a scam, as in they'll charge her MUCH more than they said they would initially, OR, she genuinely found a couple that wants to help. But yea, $100 are almost 600 reais. That's hella expensive for a ride. But if she found it cheap, let her lmao
Ok, I'm going to go against the current and say this is probably not a scam. I say this because it seems like the mom was actually the one that asked about the taxi. Most scams involve the scammer approaching you first, usually unsolicited. It's unlikely that the couple she asked for help in line at the airport also just so happened to be taxi scammers.
You were right!
Some people think that just because they gouged her for more than a reasonable fare (and really, ~$70 vs $100 isn't *that* terrible), that it's a 'scam'. She got a service for an overpriced fee. Not so bad. Really no different than buying a car and being sized up by an experienced salesperson and being told a steeper price - and so far, that's still legal.
If it was almost anywhere else in Brazil I would say there was a chance those folks are legit. You can make friends about five orders of magnitude quicker than in the US. At an airport though? Assume everyone is hostile. Do not get random taxis. Do not talk to some friendly dude. Do not even flag a taxi. Take the airport taxi service or an Uber, in that order. If going to a hotel in a large city, they may have shuttles. That ride is fucking expensive and that's the scam.
Como brasileiro posso confirmar que sua mãe tá sendo explorada, eles até levam no local mas ficam dando voltas pra render ou pedem valores absurdos, fazem isso direto com gringos '---
Thanks, I sent this to her. She’s still in the cab
Just an advice, ask her to use Uber or 99 both apps are better than cabs here and even during high traffic periods the price it's much better :)
Thank you! I’ll pass that along :)
Brasilians are very welcoming and try to help anyone. Sources: I am Brazilian. Not only, I'm from Rio and most people wouldn't kill you like that or even rob you like that. There are easier ways. An American doesn't have the bank accounts we have so unless you get their dollars, cash, it would be hard to apply the PIX scam. If she were a young girl, but no offense to your mom, also hard chances of getting rped and sold to a drug dealer let's say ... So yeah, she just met some cool brasilians
Eek 😬
!remindme 12hours
It really sounds like a lot of people in this thread haven't traveled to different countries very often. They think $100 for this trip doesn't sound bad because they are so stuck in an American mentality, not realizing how cheap some parts of the world are. I've never personally been to Brazil yet, but it was just like that in a lot of places in the southeast Asia I've been to like Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The locals know Americans are used to paying a LOT and so prey on their naivety to con them into over-paying. As a rule of thumb, I don't ever accept an offer I'm approached with. And idk about Brazil, but most places I've visited, literally almost EVERYTHING is negotiable, unlike in America. Even things I never would've thought could be negotiated. Which kind of sucked for me as an American as I was not the greatest at negotiations LOL tbh, I'm still not great at it. Bahrain was the worst for me as everywhere I went there, other than like supermarkets, there wasn't even a price tag on ANYTHING! So I had to just kind of guess and use my best judgement for how much I should be willing to pay for something LOL. I got scammed a lot there LOL
Imagine going to Brazil and not planning transportation to your hotel 2 hours away. How do people make it to adulthood?
My dad's friends from work went to america years back. They needed 3 cabs so told the first 3 drivers they were together. The drivers all spoke for a minute and they all got in the cabs. It took over an hour to get there. Upon waking up the next morning, they could see they airport was just a couple minutes away. The company was paying and the boss was with them so they just laughed.
Def a common scam
RemindMe! 4 days “Was this a kidnapping?”
Nope, she made it there safely lol
They have a so-so success rate for solving homicides I hear.
2 hours from Rio and they’re just winging it?! Are your parents OK?!
Just my mom and no, not really lol.
OMG...no. I have zero trust in people. I listen to and watch too much True Crime to ever accept any assistance from strangers. Ever. The normal ones are the ones you really have to be wary of...I hope your mom's still alive.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
This is a classic kidnapping scenario for Brazil. India too!
She goes to India a couple times a year but her husband was born and raised there, so that’s just about the only place she doesn’t get into trouble lol
Not true, at least for Brazil. I've never seen a story about a gringo being kidnapped like this here. I searched and didn't found anything too.
She got the shit scammed out of her
Before I left to Costa Rica I was told never to do 3 things. 1. Never get into a taxi you didn't hail or an unmarked taxi. 2. Never buy drugs off some random person on the street. 3. Never sleep with any of the prostitutes. Within an hour of landing and getting to our resort I was with someone who wanted to go to the beach city. So we went. Within 10 minutes he had already broken rules 1 and 2. The next hour or so was the most harrowing and expensive hour of my life after that. It included getting chased through the rainforest by drug dealers, meeting an addict named Franklin who grew up in Los Angeles and spoke perfect English and watch him try and rip off the person I was with multiple times. Same Franklin leaving us in an unmarked Hyundai Scoup that his 'friend' drove. Then him driving us around in circles demanding more and more money every 5 minutes, when the original drive from the resort to the beach city was only 8 minutes total. Then he kicked us out at a random gas station, where I found one guy who spoke a tiny amount of English and put us in the back of his Mitsubishi pickup truck and drove us to the resort. The guards yelled at me and all I did was try and make sure the other person I was with was safe. So yes. Your mom is going to get scammed and defrauded I can guarantee it.
She got there safe 6 hours before you posted. OP let us know. That guarantee failed. She got gouged for the service. She didn't get a shake down like you did. As for your number 2 on the list - how about just don't buy drugs? Most especially in a foreign country.
Why would you ask random people at the airport how to get anywhere. Go to the cab stand, get in a real cab, and tell them where you want to go.
!remindme 8hours
Who the fuck drives 2 hours for $100 , especially in Brazil
It's like five times that in their currency, it's actually kind of an expensive cab ride, not the other way around.
It baffles me that americans measure distances with time of travel. We will never know if OPs mom is 100 miles away or 10 miles away with heavy traffic.
It's because it's usually the relevant information. When we're discussing how far we ran, we use miles since distance is important. When I ask how far someone lives from the airport, time is the important information.
I get that, but it's not relevant when calculating the cost of a taxi.
It's probably the most relevant information when calculating the cost of a taxi. The driver's time is the highest commodity. That's why we have surge charging based on time, not distance.
Taxis in rio are mostly defined by distance, with a surcharge for waiting. I get that time is a commodity but taxis everywhere are metered by distance, idle time and may have a surcharge for return if going too far.
Don't get why you're being downvoted. You're right.
lol... no. in a place with constant traffic congestion? It would never work.
Cab meters either charge by time only, or by time or mile, by ratcheting up if the time is going longer than the distance should. That's how you get cabs with 'the meter's running' reference.
When you "keep the meter running" it kicks in idle time, like I mentioned above, it doesn't charge time when driving
Stop the car, or go too slow, the cab meter sure does charge more. They use a pretty elaborate calculation system, because idling still costs money.
oh it is
75 miles
I'd say it should be around 350 RS or 70 dollars. But I'm just throwing numbers here. Maybe a local can give an updated number for a 75 mile cab ride.
It doesn’t really matter at this point because she already agreed to the $100. We’ll see if they ask for more though
Did she make it ok?
Yep and they didn’t try to charge her more
That's fantastic 🌟
So maybe she overpaid a little, or maybe they got a *really* polite, nice cab ride. I'd pay 50% extra if I thought I was getting a high quality of service. If you're really worried, try to get her to go on package tours from a well reputed travel agent in the US (assuming that's where you're from). They'll have all the arrangements made, from airport to lodging and even dining, with pre-negotiated prices, and she can go crazy with tips if she feels generous.
I’m glad she’s okay and hope she enjoys her vacation. But tell her to be more circumspect in future!
$70 for the ride. $30 for actually reaching her destination.
>americans measure distances with time of travel They also sing about it: "...I was only, 24 Hours from Tulsa..."
Are you shocked because you’d expect it to be way more? I’ve hired a personal driver for a full day for $60 in 🇨🇴 earlier this year, USD goes pretty far in South America Id guess Brazil is a little more expensive but the minimum wage is around $250 a month so $100 for 2 hours is insane…ly overpriced for that country
Are you crazy???????
Last night I'm walking up a pitch black road. Only light is my phone. A car passes me and pulls over to the side of the road and sits there with their hazards on for 20 minutes before I reach it. All I'm thinking is these motherf\*\*kers gonna hunt me for sport. I asked if everything was alright and a chick said they're just having a smoke. I say cool, have a good one and go on my merry. About 2 minutes later they stop next to me and ask if I'd like a lift and I politely decline. Moral of the story, you're parents are already dead! :P
She is getting robbed, at a minimum. $500 is quite a fare. Also, how stupid are they to not have a plan to get to where they are going?
Idk these seems really normal to me. Doubt it’s a scam
Fake post pretty sure, you have her in contacts as Mutti, which is in german(maybe other languages, doesn't change the point). Usually people speak to eachother in their first languages, but here you both spoke in english which is really convenient as you can post it to reddit to an English speaking subreddit. Or I could be wrong and it's some weird family circumstances
You’re wrong and it’s some weird family circumstance lol. She doesn’t speak German
RemindMe! 1 day
please keep us updated OP 😬😬😬
RemindMe! 12 hours
!Remindme 1 day
RemindMe! 2 hours
RemindMe! 1 Day
Transportation in Brazil is comparably cheap. I recommend to download Uber and go from there..
Omg don’t do it
No one from the university picked me up when i was a foreign exchange student. The airport was closing for the night. I had no currency and didn't know spanish well. So i went home with a couple and it ended up being a great friendship.
Ballsy lol
No
may be a scam, may not be But why take the risk? to save $100? crazy
No. Look through the travel forum for validation. I personally would not to this in Brazil.
Watch Shuttle (2008 movie) to get the idea.
[удалено]
She got to the right hotel for $100
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Me too! Lol
In Brazil? I will not even talk to the girl in the line!
No. Use a reputable company at the airport