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Have you been Victimized by credit or debit card skimming? How to prevent it?

Have you been Victimized by credit or debit card skimming? How to prevent it?

Old May 10, 2016, 9:07 am
  #16  
 
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BTW, I've who eats damage on those cases? Bank, issuing the card or merchant selling something on a stolen/cloned card?

P.S. Here in SEA, in Australia, Japan and Europe as well I was never asked to produce any form of ID when purchasing something even before the chip technology was adopted. Seems ID check is only US phenomenon.
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Old May 10, 2016, 9:16 am
  #17  
 
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In the US, it is typically the bank. However, if the bank can show that the merchant was negligent, then they can make them responsible. I used to have a merchant account and once in a while if there was a fraudulent charge found, we would have to prove that we followed some basic steps (checked ID for in person purchases, shipped to billing address on card, etc.). Once we submitted proof, it was accepted every time and we were never held liable.

I believe the new chip cards are simply an extension of that. If a merchant doesn't adopt the chip terminals, then the banks are going to make them responsible for the loss. Even now, the adoption of chip technology is uneven. Just about every store has the new terminals, but only a few use the chip slot. I've found that stores that sell higher end items like electronics (and Target) make you use the chip. Grocery stores around me always make me swipe. It makes sense, grocery stores do higher volume small transactions where the speed of swiping outweighs the more secure but slower chip (if they take a loss it's likely on a smaller amount).
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Old May 11, 2016, 12:36 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by invisible
I am in Singapore as well and eager to listen what was the resolution of your case, after hearing number of horror stories how local banks have cardholders responsible for charges from lost/stolen/skimmed cards.
Don't know yet. The fraud investigation apparently takes "6-8 weeks" (I got hit with the charges in mid-April).

In the meantime, the us$5k is still sitting in my account, and appears on my outstanding balance both on the statement and on internet banking, despite multiple Citibank phone agents on multiple occasions telling me that they would temporarily reverse the charges ...

Originally Posted by invisible
P.S. Here in SEA, in Australia, Japan and Europe as well I was never asked to produce any form of ID when purchasing something even before the chip technology was adopted. Seems ID check is only US phenomenon.
I forgot to sign the back of my Citi PM Amex, and not once in eight months of use did a waitress, cashier etc notice.
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Old May 11, 2016, 3:26 am
  #19  
 
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Card details being bought/sold is big business.
Nothing you can really do to stop it but you can try and protect against it by choosing what banks to have cards with and refuse to be a customer of a bank that puts the liability on the consumer.

In Europe we mostly have chip and pin for everything and most online purchases go through 3D secure.
If I absolutely have to use an ATM in a developing country then I have a really good 0%FX PAYG card that I can load with whatever amount I want and withdraw from an ATM instantly, perks of that is that even if the card gets skimmed, I lose nothing and I'm not having to call up banks and deal with all of that while on holiday because I still have my main cards to use, when you are in a foreign country it's not always so easy to just get a new card to use.
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Old May 11, 2016, 4:05 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by richard
Happened twice in the past six months. One an atm card and one a credit card. Making me hate to pay with plastic on a trip. The atm card was at a real bank atm. Any tips on preventing this?
Not much to do. Don't share your credit information with dubious operators. Don't leave your card out of your hand. Even then, you can still end up being scammed.

Originally Posted by The_Bouncer
USA: $500+ spent on cloned card at K Mart in New York, and bizarrely $4.95 at Burger King. No idea how or where the card was cloned.
They usually go to BK or McDonalds to test if the cards working.

Happened to me over 10 years ago. I paid with my new credit card at a petrol station in Belgium, before hitting the road to the UK. By the time I arrived in Plymouth (~48 hours later), the card had been heavily used and already blocked by the card issuer.

They were pretty certain that there was a scam going on, given that I paid for petrol somewhere along the Belgian Seaside and that only a few hours later the card was used in New York City to order at McDonalds (for 2 or 3$). After that it was used at BestBuy and large stores specializing in multimedia and electronic goods.

By the time the credit card issuer got suspicious (who reacted within hours), they managed to rack up 2,000 or 3,000$ worth of damage. The credit card issuer send all transactions: They bought flatscreen tvs, iPods, phones, etc... .
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Old May 11, 2016, 7:15 am
  #21  
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Interesting that so many people seem to be wary of using cards in "third world" or "developing" countries, yet every single example of fraud on this thread has happened in the "developed" world.
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Old May 11, 2016, 10:05 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by shuigao
Don't know yet. The fraud investigation apparently takes "6-8 weeks" (I got hit with the charges in mid-April).

In the meantime, the us$5k is still sitting in my account, and appears on my outstanding balance both on the statement and on internet banking, despite multiple Citibank phone agents on multiple occasions telling me that they would temporarily reverse the charges ...
So you are hooked and responsible for it. If it is in your upcoming statement then you have to pay it and only after that, if you are lucky, they will refund it back. Congratulations and good luck.

/offtopic on
When I said several years ago and say again that customer service and protection in US is best in the world, somehow a lot of people in this forum take the statement as a personal offence.
/offtopic off

Originally Posted by shuigao
I forgot to sign the back of my Citi PM Amex, and not once in eight months of use did a waitress, cashier etc notice.
None of my Singapore cards have my signature. Nobody bothered for 4 years.

Originally Posted by The_Bouncer
Interesting that so many people seem to be wary of using cards in "third world" or "developing" countries, yet every single example of fraud on this thread has happened in the "developed" world.
Yes and no. There was a big case here in Singapore (1st world country) 3 years ago, where two 'tourists' from Malaysia cloned ATM/Debit cards of number of people at several compromised DBS ATM and then hit each account with at least $5000 cash withdrawals done at Malaysia and couple of other neighbouring countries. Total amount of losses were in the range of several millions, if I remember correctly.

They were eventually caught, not cash was not recovered.

Last edited by invisible; May 11, 2016 at 11:03 am
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Old May 11, 2016, 10:38 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by The_Bouncer
Interesting that so many people seem to be wary of using cards in "third world" or "developing" countries, yet every single example of fraud on this thread has happened in the "developed" world.
It's simply a question of expected criminal profit. Would you go through the troubles of such criminal endeavors for little or no credit card informations? Doing those scams, where credit cards are broadly used, ensures that the criminal makes lots of money.
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Old May 11, 2016, 12:17 pm
  #24  
 
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I have a prepaid card with no FX fees that I use and top up 100 or so at a time using my mobile phone.

If any payment is made I can identify it immediatley, it also allows me to disable different types of transactions e.g. ATM withdrawls, swipes, online shopping.

All in all, clever.
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Old May 11, 2016, 1:47 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by khizman
I have a prepaid card with no FX fees that I use and top up 100 or so at a time using my mobile phone.

If any payment is made I can identify it immediatley, it also allows me to disable different types of transactions e.g. ATM withdrawls, swipes, online shopping.

All in all, clever.
Sounds like one of my cards, is it the Revolut card by any chance?
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Old May 11, 2016, 2:06 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by shuigao
Don't know yet. The fraud investigation apparently takes "6-8 weeks" (I got hit with the charges in mid-April).
That's about what it took when I got a bogus charge on a card. No idea of how it was compromised, but definitely not by skimming.
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Old May 11, 2016, 6:34 pm
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by shuigao
Don't know yet. The fraud investigation apparently takes "6-8 weeks" (I got hit with the charges in mid-April).
Thats pretty rediculous. The email from my bank:

Hi SpannerSpinner,

Thank you for confirming the unauthorised transactions on your account. Can you please complete the attached dispute form and return it directly to either FinancialCrimeTeam@..... or your local branch.

Please note, you need to list all unauthorised transactions (transactions you do not recognise) on the form.

We will endeavour to have the transactions reversed for you within 7-10 business days once the form has been returned.
I forgot to sign the back of my Citi PM Amex, and not once in eight months of use did a waitress, cashier etc notice.
Due to having a metal card wallet the signature strips on all my cards have been obliterated, there is nowhere to sign anymore. But with all transactions being chip & pin or contactless I haven't signed for anything except the odd restaurant meals in years.
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Old May 11, 2016, 9:03 pm
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by SpannerSpinner
Thats pretty rediculous. The email from my bank:
Ah. Welcome to Singapore. Hold your wallet tight.
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Old May 12, 2016, 6:05 am
  #29  
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In a mountain town in Tuscany, there was a weird character hanging around the ATM. But we didn't pay attention to the signs. Almost 100% sure that's what our ATM card got skimmed. He even went back to the machine after we left. How stupid could we be. It never occurred to me. I thought the guy was just a random idiot.

In the US I'm not sure where it happened. Somewhere along the line, all of a sudden I was getting contacted by American Express. Interestingly, the Apple Watch link to my card still worked so American Express could cancel that card but I could still buy things with the watch.
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Old May 12, 2016, 6:44 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by richard
In a mountain town in Tuscany, there was a weird character hanging around the ATM. But we didn't pay attention to the signs. Almost 100% sure that's what our ATM card got skimmed. He even went back to the machine after we left. How stupid could we be. It never occurred to me. I thought the guy was just a random idiot.

In the US I'm not sure where it happened. Somewhere along the line, all of a sudden I was getting contacted by American Express. Interestingly, the Apple Watch link to my card still worked so American Express could cancel that card but I could still buy things with the watch.
Genuine question: could this have anything to do with it? I am not a big fan of Apple Pay, using my watch to pay, etc. Maybe that's more secure than actually swiping/dipping my card.
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