7 Tourist Scams in Quito

You are walking through Quito's beautiful Centro Histórico when someone bumps into you and points out a mysterious stain — mustard, ketchup, bird droppings, or some other substance — on your jacket or backpack. A second person immediately appears, all smiles and tissues, offering to help clean you up. While you are distracted looking at the stain and being wiped down, a third accomplice lifts your phone from your pocket, unzips your daypack, or slides your wallet out of your jacket. This scam is one of the most frequently reported crimes against tourists in Quito. TripAdvisor's Quito forum and multiple travel blogs document it extensively. One blogger from BaconIsMagic.ca described how her sister was robbed in broad daylight after someone squirted sauce on her clothing near the Old Town — store owners and workers nearby watched the whole thing unfold but said nothing. The UK Government's travel advisory for Ecuador specifically warns about 'methods of distraction including requests for assistance, staged fights, and pushing or shoving.' Variants include someone spilling a drink on you on a bus, a staged fight breaking out nearby, or a person asking you for directions while an accomplice works your pockets from behind. The scam works because it exploits your natural instinct to look down and address the stain.

You step off a bus at the Quitumbe terminal and flag down a taxi on the street. The car looks like a normal yellow cab with what appears to be an orange license plate. Ten minutes into the ride, the driver picks up a second passenger — his accomplice. They drive you to a series of ATMs over the next several hours, forcing you to withdraw the maximum amount at each one. In some cases, victims have been held for days and forced to make online bank transfers before being released. Express kidnappings — known locally as secuestro exprés — have been a documented threat in Ecuador for years. The UK Government, Australian Smartraveller, and Canadian travel advisories all specifically warn about this crime. The GOV.UK advisory states that 'express kidnappings are common throughout Ecuador' and that 'criminals pose as drivers or hijack taxis shortly after pick-up.' A report from TouristKilled.com documented a US tourist who was robbed in a kidnap express in Quito after entering an unregistered taxi. Insight Crime reported on Ecuador's broader kidnapping epidemic, noting that the number of kidnappings has significantly increased since 2022. The good news is that Quito now requires all official taxis to have security cameras and panic buttons installed — look for white tape around the camera confirming it has not been tampered with.

You are walking through Parque El Ejido when two men in plain clothes approach and flash badges, claiming to be police officers. They say there has been a counterfeiting problem in the area and they need to inspect your wallet and passport. One examines your documents while the other rifles through your cash, pocketing bills while pretending to check for counterfeits. They hand everything back and disappear. Back at your hotel, you realize several hundred dollars are gone. The fake police scam is one of the most documented tourist crimes in Ecuador. The US State Department's Ecuador Travel Advisory specifically warns about 'criminals who pose as uniformed bus inspectors' and similar impersonation schemes. PassportsAndGrub.com, in their comprehensive Quito safety guide, warns that fake officers 'approach you claiming to be police, ask to see your identification or search your belongings, and may accuse you of a crime and demand a bribe.' WikiForTravel's Quito scam guide confirms that the scammers sometimes claim to be from the tourist police and approach travelers near popular attractions. Real Ecuadorian police carry official photo identification and will never ask to inspect your cash or demand payment on the street.

You use an ATM near La Mariscal to withdraw cash for dinner. The machine works normally, but you notice the card slot felt slightly loose. Two days later, your bank alerts you to unauthorized withdrawals totaling $1,500 from ATMs across Quito. Alternatively, you are struggling with an ATM when a friendly stranger approaches, offering to help you 'avoid local bank fees.' While seemingly assisting, they watch you enter your PIN and discreetly scan your card with a pocket skimmer. ATM skimming and credit card cloning are well-documented problems in Ecuador. WikiForTravel's Quito guide describes the 'helpful stranger' scam at ATMs in detail: scammers claim to help you avoid fees while their true intention is to scan your card and observe your PIN. The USCIS Guide for Ecuador warns about credit card cloning, noting that 'a swiped credit card may also be copied for use by a third party.' TerraSurTravels.com's guide to using credit cards in Ecuador advises travelers to never let their card leave their sight and to always pay at the cash register or table. NoScam.web.app's Quito page lists multiple reports of skimming devices found on ATMs in tourist zones. The risk is highest at standalone ATMs outside banks and at machines in poorly lit locations.

You land at Quito's Mariscal Sucre Airport and head to one of the mobile kiosks to buy a local SIM card. The vendor offers you a 'tourist special' package for $25-30 that includes data and calls. You pay and activate it. Later, you discover the same package costs $5-8 at any Claro or Movistar store in the city. Worse, some travelers on TripAdvisor reported receiving entirely different packages than what they purchased — less data, shorter validity, or a prepaid plan that ran out within days. TripAdvisor's Quito Forum has a dedicated thread about the airport SIM card scam, with multiple travelers reporting they paid 3-5 times the normal price for mobile plans. The vendors at the airport kiosks are technically legitimate resellers, but they exploit the fact that tourists arriving at a new country feel urgency to get connected immediately and have no basis for comparison. Some travelers reported that the package they received did not match what was verbally promised — for example, being told they would get 5GB of data but receiving only 2GB. The price difference is significant: a 30-day plan with 10GB of data costs roughly $7-10 at a downtown Claro store versus $25-35 at the airport.

You are out at a bar near Plaza Foch in La Mariscal, Quito's main nightlife district. A friendly local strikes up a conversation and offers to buy you a drink or hands you a cocktail. Hours later, you wake up in your hotel room with no memory of how you got there. Your phone, wallet, watch, and cash are all gone. In the worst cases, victims wake up in unfamiliar locations having been robbed of everything and forced to make ATM withdrawals they cannot remember. The US State Department's Ecuador Travel Advisory explicitly warns that 'incapacitating drugs, such as Rohypnol and scopolamine, have been used to facilitate violent and non-violent robberies and sexual assaults.' Scopolamine — derived from the borrachero plant native to South America — is particularly dangerous because it can be administered through drinks, food, or even blown into a victim's face as a powder. The drug renders victims compliant and erases their memory of events. Carlota.ec's Quito safety guide warns tourists to 'not leave food or drinks unattended and never accept drinks from a stranger.' Multiple travel advisories specifically flag La Mariscal's Plaza Foch area as the highest-risk zone for drink spiking in Quito.

You are walking down Avenida Amazonas checking Google Maps on your phone. A motorcycle with two riders slows alongside you. The passenger on the back reaches out and snatches your phone from your hand at speed. They accelerate away and disappear into traffic within seconds. Alternatively, you are standing at a crosswalk with your camera around your neck when a motorbike rider grabs the strap and drags you briefly before the strap breaks. Motorbike snatch-and-grab robberies are one of the most common crimes targeting tourists in Quito. The UK Government's Ecuador travel advisory specifically warns about 'bag snatching at knife or gunpoint by a passenger on a motorbike.' TripAdvisor's Quito forum has multiple threads about phone snatching incidents — one user described their phone being grabbed from their hand in broad daylight near the Basílica del Voto Nacional in the Old Town. A blog post on MakeLikeAnApeMan.com detailed being robbed while walking in Quito, noting how fast the incident occurred. The CountryReports crime database for Ecuador confirms that motorcycle-based grab-and-go thefts are among the most frequent street crimes. The crime is so fast that victims often do not realize what happened until the thief is already blocks away.