Latest airport scam in Chiang Mai

[tifino]

3 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

I still have a couple Oz credit cards but don't use here and have a Thai one too. I changed my base address in Oz last week so was trying to change details online. One card vendor would not allow my Thai number to be used so had to phone them. No real problem.

 

My wife and I had a credit card in Australia and i phoned one day to make a change. I can't remember but I think it was for my wife supplementary card on my account. While doing the change on the phone I asked my wife something and when bank staff heard that then refused to carry out the change. I think it was something simple like change colour of card. I like security but sometimes goes too far.

that was just a typical banking privacy action. They have only identified her as the person they are talking too. Everyone else around her during the call must stay quiet!

[BobBKK]

Who uses a card for cigarettes? I get annoyed if I'm in a queue and someone pays for a low value item with a card holding everyone up. Use cash!  then you can't be scammed

[Dazinoz]

2 minutes ago, tifino said:

that was just a typical banking privacy action. They have only identified her as the person they are talking too. Everyone else around her during the call must stay quiet!

Yep, learnt that. I am sure it was only to change colour of card and card would have been sent to her listed address. As I said I have no real problem with the security.

 

[Dazinoz]

1 minute ago, BobBKK said:

Who uses a card for cigarettes? I get annoyed if I'm in a queue and someone pays for a low value item with a card holding everyone up. Use cash!  then you can't be scammed

I used to be a director of a credit union. We allowed 20 free transactions per month on your card then  $1 for each after that because the credit union was charged $1 for every transaction on the card. At one of our board meetings the manager had a list of all charges above 20 transactions. One guy on my shift had nearly $40 in fees so he had made nearly 60 transactions that month. When later on shift I suggested to him how to save money. Got very angry that I knew his details. I said I was director and part of my job.

[Peterw42]

10 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Who uses a card for cigarettes? I get annoyed if I'm in a queue and someone pays for a low value item with a card holding everyone up. Use cash!  then you can't be scammed

If the cash comes from an ATM, arent you just moving the risk from merchant to ATM ? I have been scammed more times at ATM than merchant or online. Nowadays with the wave the card over the terminal it ends up being a quicker process than cash/getting change etc.

Back in Australia a pack of cigarettes at $40 a pack is a major purchase , lol

Edited August 6, 2018 by Peterw42

[Vacuum]

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Governments are trying to invoke a cashless society so they can more easily track the black and criminal economy.

Yes, this is what they tell their 'herd', and most of them believe this...

[Belzybob]

2 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Great idea. I suggest to anyone who is going to scratch off the 3 digits take a photo of the back of the card in case you forget the numbers. 

Great idea, but in my case it doesn't work. The number is actually imprinted/embossed in the card.

[BobBKK]

5 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

If the cash comes from an ATM, arent you just moving the risk from merchant to ATM ? I have been scammed more times at ATM than merchant or online. Nowadays with the wave the card over the terminal it ends up being a quicker process than cash/getting change etc.

Back in Australia a pack of cigarettes at $40 a pack is a major purchase , lol

 

Maybe not sure. I always use ATMs in shopping centers if at all possible. In fact, thinking about it, I rarely use my card apart from online where I use it a lot. I certainly would not risk using it when trolling bars or eating at restaurants. Cash is King and I guess it's habit but that's what I use for small purchases 'over the counter'. 

[Seeall]

22 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Who uses a card for cigarettes? I get annoyed if I'm in a queue and someone pays for a low value item with a card holding everyone up. Use cash!  then you can't be scammed

Especially as when using a thai debit card, there is no upside to using the card exposing yourself.  

[Mac98]

15 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The OP could have saved himself a lot of angst by giving up smoking.

Yes, and he would have lower blood pressure without the urge to gag his critics.

[Seeall]

2 minutes ago, Belzybob said:

Great idea, but in my case it doesn't work. The number is actually imprinted/embossed in the card.

scraper...

[Belzybob]

2 minutes ago, Seeall said:

scraper...

I'd need to drill holes to remove the digits,  a scraper wouldn't do it without damaging the card to the point where it might be rejected.

[Seeall]

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

My CC/debit and online banking app are linked, in the app I can lock/unlock the cards, turn on/off online purchases etc. When I use CC/debit to buy something online, open the app and turn on online purchases, make the purchase then turn online purchases back off. Most of the time I have cards locked in the app. Its a great feature if you are like me and often misplace a card only to find it again, you dont need to go into a mad panic and cancel cards, wait for a replacement etc. 

I presume most banking apps offer something similar. 

Thai cards?

[Seeall]

1 minute ago, Belzybob said:

I'd need to drill holes to remove the digits,  a scraper wouldn't do it without damaging the card to the point where it might be rejected.

jewlers grinding wheel

[dpspike]

This scam was pulled on me at the Houston Airport (USA) more than a year ago, but they only spent about 300 USD before my bank identified "suspicious activity". I was on my way to Thailand.

[Belzybob]

Just now, Seeall said:

jewlers grinding wheel

Exactly how is that any different? To remove the indentation would require a slot to be cut through the card.

[Kelsall]

I got taken at a hotel in Vietnam.  The desk guy even asked to see my card so he could get the number on the back and I just agreed, not thinking.  That was at 3PM.  At midnight I woke up to use the bathroom and happened to check my email.  Big alert from the cc company, Is this your purchase?  3000 USD at a camera store in NYC.  Obviously they had sold the card number after I had gone to bed.  SInce I had also used it that day for an airline flight, I wasn't sure.  Anyway the cc company canceled my card and sent me a new one. 

[Sparkles]

Now you know what interest on credit cards is so high.Its to cover all the funds that have been scammed and refunds to customers.

 

Don't Starbucks have a member card which doubles as a credit card ?

 

Saw their promo a year or too back.

 

If you cant afford to pay cash for a cup of coffee, even at their prices, you have,I would suggest , a big problem

[Fairynuff]

2 hours ago, soistalker said:

Cash. Just use cash. 

Handing over your credit card to someone making $4 an hour is insane. 

Most people in Thailand get paid in Baht

[Cranky]

16 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The OP could have saved himself a lot of angst by giving up smoking.

What a useful observation, and those nasty drinkers shouldn't buy booze either, and as for those horrible handbag shoppers....

[Spidey]

1 hour ago, BobBKK said:

Who uses a card for cigarettes? I get annoyed if I'm in a queue and someone pays for a low value item with a card holding everyone up. Use cash!  then you can't be scammed

A carton of cigarettes, in duty free, isn't what I would class as "a low value item". Also, can be quicker. Contactless CC's are way quicker than paying with cash. I usually buy mine when transiting through Dubai, try paying with THB there! Luckily, the days of you dinosaurs are numbered!

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, Cranky said:

What a useful observation, and those nasty drinkers shouldn't buy booze either, and as for those horrible handbag shoppers....

A poor attempt at a reductio ad absurdum.

People who smoke are anti-social in many ways. Hotels charge extra for cleaning the room of a smoker. Doctors sometimes won't treat a smoker patient until they stop. Getting into a lift with a smoker is a new experience in BO. Go to any party where there are smokers, and one goes home with the stink of their habit permeating one's clothes. Of course, there's always the fire risk.

Yes, alcohol removes inhibitions and can result in violence. However, it's more frequently used as a social lubricant. I'm not sure how handbag shoppers fit into your irrelevant argument.

If nothing else, the following statistic should give you pause: smokers are 20 times more likely to die of lung cancer than a non-smoker. To say nothing of the burden placed on the health system by emphysema, heart attack and stroke in smokers.

. So I'm concluding my observation is more useful than yours.

[Canuckabroad]

1 hour ago, BobBKK said:

 

Maybe not sure. I always use ATMs in shopping centers if at all possible. In fact, thinking about it, I rarely use my card apart from online where I use it a lot. I certainly would not risk using it when trolling bars or eating at restaurants. Cash is King and I guess it's habit but that's what I use for small purchases 'over the counter'. 

ATM card skimming is a huge problem in Southeast Asia.  I only use ATMs in malls or indoor bank branches with security guards, and I still always check for obvious skimmers.  There are YouTube videos that show you how to look for them, but you can never completely eliminate the risk.

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, McTavish said:

Same happened to me at KLI2 Duty Free when I flew thru to Oz last year.  It was easy to figure out as I'd only used that particular Oz CC once since its issue.  I only noticed the fraud when viewing transaction history and found iPhone gift card purchases (a common fraudulent online purchase).

 

Bank reissued a new card and deducted all charges.  I covered the CVV code with a small Thai-impossible-to-remove sticker as a precaution and will not permit a salesperson to take my card away for payment processing as is common in large stores and airport DFS.

 

Plus, some shops hand write all the details, every CC transaction in a book. Saw this a while back at one of the biggest hardware type megastores (in Thailand). I was waiting in the queue while farang and his Thai wife use their cc to buy something, second cashier girl is quickly handwriting the CC details in a book. Thai wife picks up the book and pretends to be scanning the details and tells her husband various names and purchase amounts etc., shop staff do nothing to stop her.

 

Then the Thai wife politely but strongly demands the manager come, he comes, then the Thai wife reveals she is a senior officer of the Bank of Thailand and asks the store manager why they are recording the details like then when it's actually breaking the law and breaking BOT banking regulations. And she calls the police.

 

By this stage about 15 customers gathered to see what's happening. Thai lady takes many smartphone photos of numerous pages but careful to cover the 3 digit security numbers.

 

Police arrive, BOT lady explains to police that the shop is breaking the law and BOT regulations and by this stage she's used her husband's tablet to show the cops the law / regulation details on screen. 

 

Junior cops now ask the BOT lady if she wants to keep the handwritten book. BOT lady gets a bit strong with the cops and says 'you should keep the book, it's evidence of breaking the law'. More senior cop has now arrived and quickly agrees and shows mock anger with his men for not just keeping the book.

 

Senior cop now asks store manager why they are hand writing the details in a book and why they are breaking the law. Manager says his bank manager told him it's OK to do this. Senior cops says that the bank manager is also breaking the law to advise merchants to keep such book and then demands from the store manager:: the name of the bank, location, manager's name and mobile number. Store manager gives the details but obviously ready to piss himself.

 

By this stage the BOT lady has obtained the police name card of the senior cop and the store manager, and tells all of them the BOT will seriously investigate the matter.

 

Never went back to the same megastore. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2018 by scorecard

[tryasimight]

40 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Plus, some shops hand write all the details, every CC transaction in a book. Saw this a while back at one of the biggest hardware type megastores (in Thailand). I was waiting in the queue while farang and his Thai wife use their cc to buy something, second cashier girl is quickly handwriting the CC details in a book. Thai wife picks up the book and pretends to be scanning the details and tells her husband various names and purchase amounts etc., shop staff do nothing to stop her.

 

Then the Thai wife politely but strongly demands the manager come, he comes, then the Thai wife reveals she is a senior officer of the Bank of Thailand and asks the store manager why they are recording the details like then when it's actually breaking the law and breaking BOT banking regulations. And she calls the police.

 

By this stage about 15 customers gathered to see what's happening. Thai lady takes many smartphone photos of numerous pages but careful to cover the 3 digit security numbers.

 

Police arrive, BOT lady explains to police that the shop is breaking the law and BOT regulations and by this stage she's used her husband's tablet to show the cops the law / regulation details on screen. 

 

Junior cops now ask the BOT lady if she wants to keep the handwritten book. BOT lady gets a bit strong with the cops and says 'you should keep the book, it's evidence of breaking the law'. More senior cop has now arrived and quickly agrees and shows mock anger with his men for not just keeping the book.

 

Senior cop now asks store manager why they are hand writing the details in a book and why they are breaking the law. Manager says his bank manager told him it's OK to do this. Senior cops says that the bank manager is also breaking the law to advise merchants to keep such book and then demands from the store manager:: the name of the bank, location, manager's name and mobile number. Store manager gives the details but obviously ready to piss himself.

 

By this stage the BOT lady has obtained the police name card of the senior cop and the store manager, and tells all of them the BOT will seriously investigate the matter.

 

Never went back to the same megastore. 

 

 

 

 

She gave the book with the credit card details to the police????  Bet they had a party that week. 

[VBF]

4 hours ago, Belzybob said:

Great idea, but in my case it doesn't work. The number is actually imprinted/embossed in the card.

How about.....

Cut a small piece of a sticky label, stick it over the number and NEVER hand your card to anyone.

Maybe make a note of it somewhere secure for good measure.

If you want to use it to pay in a shop or whatever, YOU scan it yourself. (In a restaurant, either insist on them bringing the terminal to you, or go to the cash desk yourself)

If anyone did somehow manage to tamper with it, you'll notice it - if you need to use the card online, you peel the sticky label off and replace it later.

Edited August 6, 2018 by VBF

[Seeall]

3 hours ago, Belzybob said:

Exactly how is that any different? To remove the indentation would require a slot to be cut through the card.

I will study this issue and get back to you.........

[naboo]

I have a debit card from SCB (MasterCard) and credit card from Aeon (Visa). Neither can be used with just a copy of card number and security number without the card present (Eg online shopping) unless a 3rd security measure is completed - an SMS to my mobile phone with security code.

[RocketDog]

On 8/5/2018 at 6:16 AM, Lacessit said:

The OP could have saved himself a lot of angst by giving up smoking.

Thanks so much for your helpful but condescending advice.

Along the same lines one could eliminate All credit card problems by not having /using any. ALL traffic accidents could be avoided by hiding under your bed all day.. Woman problems avoided by becoming a monk.. The list can go on forever.

 

ALL of all problems avoided by a large dose of sleeping pills.

 

I felt it important to add these extra tips to yours.

[fanjita]

1 minute ago, RocketDog said:

Thanks so much for your helpful but condescending advice.

It was good advice.  Smoking is no good and we all know it.  I'm three months smoke free and don't get accosted daily now for a fag, a quid and the shirt off my back.