Costa Rica Crime

The Overseas Security Advisory Council considers the crime rate in Costa Rica as high, due to the number of tourists who are victims of criminal activities. Any large city has common criminal activity, but there are some crimes that are particular to Costa Rica. Common criminal activities in Costa Rica include street scams, automated teller machine thefts, robbery of tourist’s property on public buses, and credit card theft.

Tourists who rent vehicles in Costa Rica can also fall prey to criminal activity. It is recommended that if a tourist has any car problems, to take the car to a public place.

Also common in Costa Rica is credit card fraud, or ‘numbers skimming,’ which is theft of the information contained on the magnetic strip on the back of the credit card. Common in Costa Rica, criminals will swipe the card through a machine that stores all of the Credit Card information. Then, with this information, the criminal is able to charge items to the victim’s credit card. The victim only becomes aware of this theft once they review a monthly invoice.

Political Crime

As Costa Rica is the country with the longest history in Central America, terrorist organizations are non-existent. In Costa Rica, there is no known organization targeting U.S. Citizens.

In Costa Rica protests and labor strikes are common but are mostly peaceful.

Crime Statistics

The Regional Security Office at U.S. Embassy San Jose reported the following 2004-2005 crime statistics in Costa Rica: (Provided by the Costa Rican Judicial Police.)

The majority of the criminal activity indicated above took place in Costa Rica’s San Jose region. This region has a high population of approximately 1.48 million citizens.

Also in 2005, there was a 30% increase in stolen U.S. passports in Costa Rica, and as a result, Costa Rica is now the highest country where U.S. passports are stolen.