Originally Posted by cordelli

Because there is no federal law against it, credit card fraud is rampant in Mexico. From what I've seen, the main way they are getting numbers is through skimming, where you hand your card to the clerk and they run it through their skimmer/reader, then through the terminal. There's a training video that shows the setup is as simple as they have their skimmer on the counter, swipe the card pretend it doesn't work, and then swipe it through the real machine right next to it. The first swipe was to collect your info.

Here are a few stories in the press about it

http://www.allbusiness.com/accountin.../676417-1.html

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-ca...exico-1276.php (click on cards and crime)

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...s/cis_970.html (under crimes in Mexico City)

ABC news - http://abcnews.go.com/Business/YourM...d=85984&page=1

Some stories call credit card cloning close to a national sport in Mexico.



While you may have some safeguards from your bank or visa, it will still be a huge hassle, especially with debit cards, as they have access to your bank account. Pay direct deposited? Gone before you even notice a problem. Should they get your PIN (say they have a reader that records it when you put it in at the restaurant or store), and clone your card and do PIN based transactions, chances of getting them revereses are much less then credit type transactions.