ATM fraud near Holiday Inn

[djdubuque]

On a recent visit to Chiang Mai I was taken for close to 1000 USD, I blame the ATM outside the Holiday INN as it was the last transaction I did before I checked my bank statement.  I only used two ATM's, One at the airport in Bangkok the other as mentioned.  So I reported to my bank and they had to cancel my card and fedex a replacement.  Long story short watch your transactions.

[Rotweiler]

Whose Bank was the machine?  What ever it was, there is a telephone number on the ATM - Call it.

[Rotweiler]

If it was  a fake machine, and you did not notice it, call the Police.

[Rotweiler]

BTW - how did you manage to get 31,000B out of a machine here?

[stillhereandlovinit]

3 minutes ago, Rotweiler said:

BTW - how did you manage to get 31,000B out of a machine here?

Close to could mean 30,000

[amexpat]

May we have some detail on how you were taken?  Purchases on your card?  Withdrawals? 

[RichCor]

If you have online access to your Debit/Credit Card records, you should be able to determine where the charge against your account was made. Sometimes it will be local fraud, other times international.

 

Surprised no-one in thread has linked this related ThaiVisa News post:

 

Chinese ATM Skimming Gang Arrested in Chiang Mai

ThaiVisaNews (by CitiNews)  |  WED, FEB 7, 2018 5:36 PM

 

The skimmers, all from China, were skimming Chinese credit and debit cards used in Chiang Mai at ATM machines to then be fraudulently recreated and used here and back in China.

 

Over the past two weeks police have been investigation the skimmers after receiving reports by banks in the Chang Puek area that their ATM machines had been targeted by skimmers. 

[holy cow cm]

Thanks for the news. I hate thieves 

[Dante99]

Information unclear/incomplete.   That the problem occurred at a CM ATM is just a guess.

 

 

12 hours ago, Rotweiler said:

BTW - how did you manage to get 31,000B out of a machine here?

He did not.  Somebody else charged approximately that to his card via unexplained means, possibly ATM(s), possibly purchase(s)....

[Thailand]

11 hours ago, RichCor said:

If you have online access to your Debit/Credit Card records, you should be able to determine where the charge against your account was made. Sometimes it will be local fraud, other times international.

 

Surprised no-one in thread has linked this related ThaiVisa News post:

 

Chinese ATM Skimming Gang Arrested in Chiang Mai

ThaiVisaNews (by CitiNews)  |  WED, FEB 7, 2018 5:36 PM

 

The skimmers, all from China, were skimming Chinese credit and debit cards used in Chiang Mai at ATM machines to then be fraudulently recreated and used here and back in China.

 

Over the past two weeks police have been investigation the skimmers after receiving reports by banks in the Chang Puek area that their ATM machines had been targeted by skimmers. 

I don't think the  op  had a Chinese debit or cc card?

[djdubuque]

14 hours ago, amexpat said:

May we have some detail on how you were taken?  Purchases on your card?  Withdrawals? 

There where charges on my account after words from different locations around the world.  Online transactions.  It's as if once my card was used in the ATM everyone and his brother started charging against the card.

[djdubuque]

15 hours ago, Rotweiler said:

Whose Bank was the machine?  What ever it was, there is a telephone number on the ATM - Call it.

If I remember correctly it was a Bangkok bank ATM.

[Peterw42]

15 hours ago, Rotweiler said:

Whose Bank was the machine?  What ever it was, there is a telephone number on the ATM - Call it.

Its not much use calling the owner of the ATM, other than to inform them that there may have been a skimmer etc in place a week ago. The card provider would have already informed them after the fact. The local ATM or bank isnt responsible for cancelling cards, issuing new card, reimbursing funds etc, the card issuer is.

[CMBob]

There are ways to prevent similar situations by putting daily limits on ATM transactions and providing for SMS and email notifications.  For example, I have a 20,000 baht daily limit on my SCB debit card and I get an SMS and email notifying me of use of the card.  Those notifications occur within a very few seconds of that use (likewise when I either simply access my account online or make any use of purchases or whatever online).  I've never had a problem myself but at least am assured that any loss I ever suffer due to fraud will be limited to no more than 20,000 baht.

 

Plus, when notified by SMS and email, there's an immediate method for me to advise that it wasn't me that used the card and I suspect there is a lag in time (similar to western credit cards) to stop the flow of funds from my account; however, I can't say how effective that method is as I've never had to use it before.

[Peterw42]

50 minutes ago, CMBob said:

There are ways to prevent similar situations by putting daily limits on ATM transactions and providing for SMS and email notifications.  For example, I have a 20,000 baht daily limit on my SCB debit card and I get an SMS and email notifying me of use of the card.  Those notifications occur within a very few seconds of that use (likewise when I either simply access my account online or make any use of purchases or whatever online).  I've never had a problem myself but at least am assured that any loss I ever suffer due to fraud will be limited to no more than 20,000 baht.

 

Plus, when notified by SMS and email, there's an immediate method for me to advise that it wasn't me that used the card and I suspect there is a lag in time (similar to western credit cards) to stop the flow of funds from my account; however, I can't say how effective that method is as I've never had to use it before.

That right, there are lots of precautions you can take. The main one is to upgrade to a chip ATM card, that cant be skimmed in the usual methods.

 

The SMS notifications is great for a local account and Thai phone, but not much use for tourists if using an ATM card from home, you either need to send the SMSs to a temporary Thai number (not usually an option) or keep your home phone running on roaming to recieve the SMS.

Email option also involves firing up a local or roaming phone (if you want notification out and about), regular check of emails, set to ping for new emails . etc

[geriatrickid]

16 hours ago, Rotweiler said:

BTW - how did you manage to get 31,000B out of a machine here?

There are a few banks who allow 30,000. Thai Military bank (TMB) is one of them.

 

1 hour ago, CMBob said:

There are ways to prevent similar situations by putting daily limits on ATM transactions and providing for SMS and email notifications.  For example, I have a 20,000 baht daily limit on my SCB debit card and I get an SMS and email notifying me of use of the card.  Those notifications occur within a very few seconds of that use (likewise when I either simply access my account online or make any use of purchases or whatever online). 

This is the most valuable method. I do the same with both SMS and email. 

It's free and works like a charm. I set mine to advise for withdrawals in excess of 2000 baht.

[MaeJoMTB]

7 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

There are a few banks who allow 30,000. Thai Military bank (TMB) is one of them.

 

This is the most valuable method. I do the same with both SMS and email. 

It's free and works like a charm. I set mine to advise for withdrawals in excess of 2000 baht.

Bangkok bank, my normal Be1st ATM card allows 20,000bht x2 taken out one after the other.

Getting an SMS after the fact ain't much use.

[brommers]

Skimmer Scanner is a useful app if you plan to use ATMs that you do not usually use. It identifies the presence of Bluetooth linked skimmers, so you can check out an ATM before you use it. Download free from Google Play Store.

[RichCor]

6 hours ago, Thailand said:

I don't think the  op  had a Chinese debit or cc card?

I'm not sure that the skimming device placed in the ATM discriminates the race of the victim/target. I surmise the 'gang' only new wealthy Chinese would be in Chiang Mai using their cards to spend money.

 

Pretty sure the gang accepts all valid cards.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

4 hours ago, djdubuque said:

There where charges on my account after words from different locations around the world.  Online transactions.  It's as if once my card was used in the ATM everyone and his brother started charging against the card.

 

It doesn't have to be the ATM at that specific location.

 

I had a bank card and a credit card in in a safety deposit box...one of them I never even used and they were able to withdraw 200 bucks from my account.

 

 

 

 

[amexpat]

^

  Inside job, doncha think?

[RichCor]

43 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

It doesn't have to be the ATM at that specific location.

 

I had a bank card and a credit card in in a safety deposit box...one of them I never even used and they were able to withdraw 200 bucks from my account.

 

Yep. A valid card number is easy to make up. Then find a merchant who accepts and manually runs purchases through a card terminal without requiring the CVV (merchant accepts fraud responsibility) and the charges against the card will add up quickly.

 

Some merchants are either too busy to care or are greedy for sales and don't even look for the warning flags that accompany these type of purchases. I can only laugh or shake my head when I notice the fake card carrier and shipping info the fraudster provides ,when researched, returns obvious scam setup details.

 

But having the CVV or PIN to go with the card number... 

[XGM]

9 hours ago, RichCor said:

Some merchants are either too busy to care or are greedy for sales and don't even look for the warning flags that accompany these type of purchases.

Plus, I guess many of those scams don't get spotted by the card holder or by the systems of the CC companies, in those cases both the fraudster and the merchants benefit, at the expense of the card holder.