Very common in Europe. Groups of 5 or 6 small kids surround you and steal what they can.
In 1986, I got stationed in Panama. I needed to rent a house. I had this Panamanian guy come over and escort me to a place that he wanted to rent me. Nice neighborhood, newly built in past five years, really nice landscaping, two minutes from local mall. Tour of the house went nicely.
Then out front, there were three women having a conversation just on the street, and I noticed this odd guy walking about 50 feet away. It was like some Tiger on the prowl. He comes right up within twenty feet of the ladies and then goes into a run....snatching her purse and necklace. Off he goes.
At that point, I turned my head toward the direction where he came from, and on the hillside....there were all these lean-to houses sitting there....about a mile from where I was standing.....on the hill. I just looked at the mess, and said ‘no’ to the landlord.
Where you have mammoth-sized poverty, there is mammoth-sized crime. Rio simply isn’t a place where you’d ever want to go for a trip.