Be careful with your ATM cards

[Pati]

Returned recently from a lovely trip to Sorrento and the Amalfi coast and found, unfortunately, that my bank account had been drained. Fortunately I had taken precautions and put a limited amount of money into the account with the separate ATM card and not exposed our regular household checking, and I had sent for enough Euros to get me through the first few days. So thankful that I did!

I used the ATM machine right in the center of town, and because I took out 200 Euros and used my credit card for the small purchases I made, I really didn't notice anything was wrong until our week in the apartment was up and we were back in Rome. Then I got a notice from the VISA fraud dept. wondering had I tried to make these withdrawals? It listed a couple of attempts for about 100 Euros each, and it included an 800-number. Thankfully I had also added a temporary international calling service to my cell, because of course I was put on hold.

Well here's what happened, and I only know this after several two hour long sessions at my local bank.....the day after my first ATM, someone attempted to remove 800 Euros. That was over the limit, and they hadn't figured out my pin. Then they tried a small amount and that was rejected also, but they must have gotten the pin correct after that, so for the next four days, at different locations around Naples and Rome, they removed 400 Euros a day. When the well ran dry and they tried the smaller amounts, there was now insufficient funds and FINALLY! the fraud dept. alerted me. I informed them that I had not made a withdrawal since the first one in Sorrento, and they cancelled my card. Too little, too late.

When I sat down with the bank and he handed me a print out of the activity on my account, there was an i in the column next to the 800 Euro attempt and I asked what it meant. Incorrect pin, he said, and the next one? Same. Why then wasn't I informed right then and the whole thing could have been avoided? What good is a fraud department if it waits until there are insufficient funds because you've been drained? It ended with VISA denying the reimbursement and the bank eventually paid. But I did have to show receipts to prove I was no where near where the transactions occurred. When I asked about the bad timing, I was told that I had alerted the bank that I was going to be in Italy, so....so what? Jet lag had made me forget my pin? Twice?

So what is the answer, traveling community? Take more Euros with me? Any suggestions?

 

[Sharon J]

Pati, I am so sorry to hear about this. We travel a great deal in Italy and France, so I will be watching this thread with great interest. Thank you so much for the warning.

 

[Chris]

I'm a little bit anal about these things, but I check the charges against all of my accounts on a daily basis online whether I'm at home or traveling so I'll be able to react immediately. It sounds like you were very smart to have this in a separate account to protect your household account. I have never thought of that, but I will arrange to do it for future trips.

 

[Pati]

I'm a little bit anal about these things, but I check the charges against all of my accounts on a daily basis online whether I'm at home or traveling so I'll be able to react immediately. It sounds like you were very smart to have this in a separate account to protect your household account. I have never thought of that, but I will arrange to do it for future trips.

I hadn't thought about checking daily, but in the future I definitely will. In the long run, with my money back in my account, I guess not knowing about this until the end did make for a more relaxing trip. But preventing the angst will be my priority next time. Possibly take more euros with me, only using them when I have to for taxis, etc.

I did see a report on 60 minutes about thieves using heat sensor devises to determine your pin number by which numbers were touched first to last. They're getting smarter. We must stay aware.

 

[Pauline]

I have read about thieves who put a fake front on an ATM machine to read card numbers and passwords. It looks just like an ATM machine - but it "skims" your card info. This might be what happened to you.

We tend to use cash a lot instead of credit cards, but we do go to ATM machines for the cash - so this could happen to us. We don't have a separate bank account for travel (great idea) but our working account has a limited amount of money and no overdraw, so we are protected somewhat.

Thanks for posting this @Pati - it will make me be more aware in future. Checking accounts daily is a good idea @Chris .

 

[Pati]

My sister went off by herself at one point to do some shopping and went into a bank to use the atm. She said she felt that it was much safer to do it this way, Also, my nephew, who is in Rome for a semester, noticed the device that was in the atm machine he was going to use and actually was able to pull it out and discard it. So maybe we have to do several things....be more vigilent, take more Euros, go into banks for withdrawals and check our accounts daily. It certainly won't stop me from future travel.

 

[GailS]

A few years ago I was notified by Bank of America about what they suspected was a fraudulent withdraw on my account made in Germany - I don't recall the exact amount but a few hundred euro. They succeeded making the withdrawal. It indeed was fraudulent as I had not been in Germany and not in Europe at all for several months. They refunded my account promptly after I filled out an affidavit that I had not made the withdrawal. Interestingly, when my husband checked his account he also had a withdrawal from Germany on the same day. There was only one place where we had ever both used our ATM cards in the same ATM - at the (former) BNL in Piazza Repubblica in Florence, Italy. We did a side by side comparison of rates by withdrawing the same amount from our different banks that, at the time, both had no foreign transaction fee. This was an ATM inside the bank - something we try to use rather than ones exposed on the street. His bank also quickly refunded his account when the withdrawal was pointed out but they didn't catch it and notify him. The worst thing about our experience is that it was many months after our trip that the fraud happened. I guess the lesson is to always monitor your accounts.

 

[Cameron]

Wow, so sorry you experienced this fraud!

I "firewall" off my accounts, too. I use a different ATM card and account for travel, than what I do in day-to-day usage.

However, I don't usually logon to my bank from an apartment wifi because I don't know if t's secure. Instead, I always get a receipt with a balance on it from the ATM machine when making a withdrawal in Europe.

I also firewall my credit cards. When in Europe, or traveling in the US for that matter, I don't use the credit card that is used for auto payment of my bills. Afraid of pickpockets, I keep a "decoy wallet" in my purse with my walking around cash. I keep my credit and ATM cards in RFID sleeves (or another flat wallet) in the inside zippered pocket of my purse.

Many years ago, I had been in the Bay Area of San Francisco in April. It wasn't until September that someone used my credit card in Oakland and made $17,000 worth of charges---buying Oakland A's tickets, Southwest Airline tickets, and jewelry. So, there can be a delay between the capture of your ATM/Credit card number and when it is used.

A few years ago, we paid for our dinner at a Cuban restaurant here in Durham. That was on a Friday. By Monday, our credit card number had been used to buy very expensive Cuban cigars in Lyon, France! Not coincidentally, there was a Cuban food festival in that area of France at the same time. So, someone in that restaurant took my credit card number to France and the bank caught it.

 

[Jan55612]

Thanks for the heads-up! One of the ways I try to protect against this sort of fraud is by using ATMs in bank lobbies where they are available. On my last trip to Paris I selected the ATM inside the Post Office because I thought the security of the machine might be a better bet.

 

[Karen Frerichs]

Yikes!

What a mess, so sorry.

I'm sorta glad I wasn't keeping up with SlowEurope while I was in Sicily the past 2 weeks, or I would have been constantly worried. But now will check my bank statements carefully for a while.
I do always use ATMs associated with banks, during bank hours, since a machine once ate a friends card at lunch, and we had to wait through the lunch hour to go in to correct the problem. And I also withdraw the max each time, so I don't have to use the ATM as often. As Susan says, I am reluctant to check my bank balance online too often, as wifi is not always secure, either. But will now consider her other suggestion to keep one card separate for travel, with limits on it.

I will say that my credit union is pretty good about security, and when the airline pushed my return date back a day, I found my CC rejected my last day, as I had given them a different return date of the day before... so that was good, and I was glad to have my back-up card to use.

Thanks for the heads up, glad it turned out OK in the end.

 

[Karen Frerichs]

OOPS.... meant Cameron, re: wifi and extra card... sorry!