Overview
- The incident occurred on January 25 at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, and the victim identified herself as María Cristina Gómez Aguilar.
- She intended to pay 20 reais for corn but, after the vendor handled her phone, a transfer of 20,000 reais was approved within seconds.
- The debit drained most of her trip funds, roughly equal to nearly six million Argentine pesos, according to the coverage.
- She filed a police complaint the same day; as of the latest reports, investigators have not identified the vendor or recovered the money.
- Brazilian outlets label the scheme the “golpe da maquininha,” and authorities recommend keeping control of phones, verifying on-screen amounts, setting daily transfer limits, using apps in one’s language, and paying cash for small informal purchases.