Thai Post Office Steals Credit Cards--why?

[Yangpuss]

Someone sent me a small Priority Mail envelope (like an overnight letter envelope, made of stiff paper, but not guaranteed) from the US. I should have received it by now. It contained several credit and ATM cards, as well as some new printed checks for a checking account and a check made out to me and some other documents.

If my fears are correct and the post office has stolen it, I just want to know why. They can't use those cards. Credit cards routinely have to be activated by telephone before they can be used, and the person activating them has to know personal information about me in order to activate it. They don't know that information. And they ought to know that this was a personally addressed letter to me, not from a business, and that I was expecting this stuff and will promptly cancel all cards if they don't arrive.

They can't use my ATM cards because they don't know the PIN. I made sure that wasn't enclosed in the envelope.

They can't use the checks. They don't know my signature. What are they going to do with my checks?

They can't cash that check made out to me, because they would have to prove that they are me, and they can't.

All they have done is create big problems and headaches for me. So I ask you, what are they going to do with those cards? How are they going to profit from them? Do they sell them to a fence? Doesn't the fence know that he can't use these cards? Why would he pay for them?

Before anyone starts lecturing, yes, I know I should have sent it by guaranteed mail, and wanted to, but decided not to because the person sending it won't let me pay for anything, and I feel bad about that, so try to let her send me stuff the cheapest way possible. Also, I've seldom had anything not arrive in 4 years of living in Thailand. Though a couple of months ago a bank did send me a credit card that never arrived.

I just want to know why?

[rainman]

I just want to know why?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not trying to be a smart--- here, but how should we know? Unless someone who posts here is actually the one who stole it or at least works at the post office, there isn't much more that we know about it than you do. Do you have some sort of a tracking number or similar for the letter you were expecting? This would help in tracking it down. Otherwise it could simply have been 'lost' in many different ways and maybe not even in Thailand but any other country, perhaps in the US, during transit.

[Pie Boy]

Steal now - think after.Perhaps the culprit thought they could use them, perhaps the thief wasn't as clever as you.Who knows?

[Patex]

I just want to know why?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A collector?

Don't worry, maybe it arrives after Sonkran...

Regards, Patex

[OldAsiaHand]

The mails here are utterly unreliable and should never be used for anything that matters. I notice that over the years about half my magazines disappear. Stolen? No, dumped more like, and naturally no one in authority would ever do anything about it even if you caught your friendly local letter carrier personally pushing your mail into the nearest storm drain. That's just the way it is here.

[Sphere]

Packages sent by ordinary post that contain some hard stuff routinely go missing. This could happen at origin as well as destination.

It is an "easy pickings lottery" for a dishonest person to "feel" unrecorded envelopes and open them if he/she thinks the contents may be valuable. Once the package is opened and the contents are found uninteresting, it is easier to throw them away than to try and seal the package per its original condition.

Always use guaranteed registered post or a courier service for such items as you described.

[Thaiboxer]

You can't trust the postal service as much as you'd like to. My mother once sent me some chocolate candies from the States and they never arrived...guess somebody at the post office was hungry.

[ZOVOX]

I just want to know why?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Identity theft is a major problem today. It is surprising how much information can be gained from the envelope the person stole. He knows your name, address, bank, bank code, account number, credit card number. From this info, it is possible to get your date of birth, parent's names, mother's maiden name (a security measure used by the u.k banks), especially if you have an unusual surname. If he comes to your house and raid your bins, he probably can get hold of your signature and much more. I don't want to scare you, but it happened to a friend of mine.

[Mig15]

I had a card stolen in this way some years ago. I enquired with the bank, HSBC, and they said that they never send cards to Thailand from the UK! But why do they do it? The card was not in date and I had weeks to cancel it.

[Heng]

Have yet to lose anything of importance from overseas. *Knock*

As a light gratuity we give the postal carrier a few bags of snacks or cokes once or twice a year also. Might not be directly related, but the cost of these snacks (usually given to us for free anyway) is worth more than losing even one important envelope.

[Prudent_rabbit]

Never under-estimate the stupidty of thieves, I had a guy in my office forge a check and present it at our local bank, using a directors name who wasnt a signature of the bank and who corrected the cheque at the bank in full view of the camera!!!!

[wilson steer]

My bank wrote to me and said they wouldn't send my ATM card to Thailand, and that I could either collect it in U.K. (£500) round trip or send it by DHL (£30). I opted for DHL and waited.....

Now I got lucky here, never so lucky in my life.....my girlfriend was walking back to my apartments and saw, face down in a puddle a yellow cardboard package, she picked it up, recognised my name and brought it to me.

I made enquiries. The packet had been signed by a girl in the internet shop next to my tiny red postbox and then balanced on top. I pressume the wind blew it into the puddle.

I called DHL and asked what sort of an operation they were running, basically no joy, so I read the small print on the Thai DHL website. They are within their rights.

The packet can be signed by anyone at the address, not necessarily the intended person. So DHL is as bad as regular mail.

I wrote to the bank and they didn't want to know, on the telephone I spoke to an operator (in India) who just said 'well you got it didn't you'.

FEDEX are better. Every year my airline card comes by courier and he calls my mobile and meet him face to face.

Wilson Steer.

[Rumpole]

My Channel Island bank also refused to send credit/debit/atm cards to Thailand, stating that the country has the highest incidence of postal theft of those items in the world.

[kat]

It's amazaing that someone started a thread on this today, because I was going to start a thread myself. My ATM card was pickpocketed in Indonesia 4 months ago, and after cancelling it, the bank (HSBC in the states) informed me that they never send bank cards to Thailand. I also ordered university transcripts several weeks ago and they never arrived.

Now my plan is to have a new card and transcripts sent to my friend's house, and have her send it to me by DHL. I really, really need this to work. Is this the best method of receiving sensitive material in Thailand?

Wilson, do you have the number of your courier?

Edited March 17, 2005 by kat

[Erwin1011]

My bank wrote to me and said they wouldn't send my ATM card to Thailand, and that I could either collect it in U.K. (£500) round trip or send it by DHL (£30). I opted for DHL and waited.....

Now I got lucky here, never so lucky in my life.....my girlfriend was walking back to my apartments and saw, face down in a puddle a yellow cardboard package, she picked it up, recognised my name and brought it to me.

I made enquiries. The packet had been signed by a girl in the internet shop next to my tiny red postbox and then balanced on top. I pressume the wind blew it into the puddle.

I called DHL and asked what sort of an operation they were running, basically no joy, so I read the small print on the Thai DHL website. They are within their rights.

The packet can be signed by anyone at the address, not necessarily the intended person. So DHL is as bad as regular mail.

I wrote to the bank and they didn't want to know, on the telephone I spoke to an operator (in India) who just said 'well you got it didn't you'.

FEDEX are better. Every year my airline card comes by courier and he calls my mobile and meet him face to face.

Wilson Steer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not only is DHL extremely careless in handling the packages, but they also charge incredibly high. Last week I sent some papers + two expired CD's to Malaysia. Normally for papers they charge me 660 THB. Because of the CD's they charged me 1700 THB. The total weight was not over 0.5 Kg, which is normally the reason to kick in a higher price. When I tried to talk to theis office, they gave me a complete run around.

[toastwars]

I just want to know why?

The cheques can be cashed if they have the right connections, and all they need to do to fleece your credit cards is know someone with a merchant account who can then call up to verify one of the cards and use the info to activate the rest. ATM cards can be used to clone your identity along with the information on the cheques and the credit card details...I hope you have reported the theft and cancelled the cards, or did you not bother as you were so sure they could not use them, sometimes it pays not to think so much and just sort it out instead of worrying about the inconvenience now think about the inconvenience of trying to sort out the mess of debt that you know nothing about.

Stop asking why and get on the phone.

[Jai Dee]

the bank (HSBC in the states) informed me that they never send bank cards to Thailand.

kat, HSBC have a branch office in Bangkok.

It is possible for your US branch to send a replacement card to the BKK branch where you can collect it, for a small handling fee of course.

I know... it does take some time, but I've had it done.

[Yangpuss]

Well, surprise, surprise. The letter arrived today, 12 days after it had been mailed. I am amazed that it arrived, because the envelope was so stuffed with papers and checks that it felt hard, like there could have been some merchandise inside. And yet it seemed nobody had opened it. The US customs declaration was intact, and said "papers." I could have had a laptop hard drive in there or something, it felt so hard.

Never mind!

[Yangpuss]

Hmmm...I am still very surprised that this very thick letter wasn't purloined. Do you think it's because it had this very official looking sticker on it, the Customs Declaration? Maybe the postal employees were intimidated by that, thinking it was some kind of guarantee or a way it could be traced.

[raybkk]

Here is what I always use. It works and mail always arrives on time and never gets lost.

Before the person in Europe mails me anything I prepare a label with the address which I email to the person in Europe.

That person prints the address out and sticks it on the package or envelope.

It says

Company Name(make one up if you dont have one)

Attn: PICK A THAI HIGH-SO NAME OR BIG GENERAL OR POLICE.

YOUR OWN NAME

Address:

And the would be "thieve" leaves the mail alone.

Hope this helps. It has always worked for me without any problems.

[Thaicoon]

I sent a small parcel from the UK to Thailand, 2nd week in January, it got to Buriram, last Thursday, i sent registered air mail, i tracked it down last month by the tracking number, had a reply saying not yet passed on to the overseas department, i rang royal mail to complain and it arrived in Thailand last thursday, useless british post.

If i had known it would of been so long i could of brought it with me. so sometimes you cannot blame Thailand.

[Harmonica]

Hmmm...I am still very surprised that this very thick letter wasn't purloined. Do you think it's because it had this very official looking sticker on it, the Customs Declaration? Maybe the postal employees were intimidated by that, thinking it was some kind of guarantee or a way it could be traced.

And now you're trying to figure out why there was no theft; after jumping to all sorts of negative conclusions and, getting the rest of the "complainer squad" mobilized & in gear?

Go back & re-read your origination!

Come to my house tomorrow and pick up a box of pampers for the participants of this wholesome thread -- and get that fella, OldAsiaHand to switch to the right hand -- he ought to know better!

[Putu]

Hello all....

Let me share my experience. Someone sent me a letter+USD XXX by registered mail to bangkok from another country on March 4. i was waiting it for long time but didnt receive it. normally it takes about a week. just today i went to the postoffice and asked for it. the staffs tried to find out and it was in their drawer together with other letters. but the surprising thing was there is nothing inside we found. just empty, someone tore to take all and reclosed it.

the officers discussed each others and finally they told me to fill up a form to claim. they said they will call me within 7 days. how do you think it will really work or not? i don't know how they can solve it for me. this is the first time for me in 5 years here in bangkok.

i think it was happened in thailand side, not from the sender's side. bcoz here the staffs checked their record book and found nothing wrong. i suspect why they didn't deliver my letter to me and kept it for long time.

[soundman]

DHL are a pack of thieves.

I sent a car key from Melbourne Airport to thailand (dorn meuung depot pickup) and they charged me $85 Aud (2,400B).

Soundman

[dave111223]

Now I got lucky here, never so lucky in my life.....my girlfriend was walking back to my apartments and saw, face down in a puddle a yellow cardboard package, she picked it up, recognised my name and brought it to me.

I made enquiries. The packet had been signed by a girl in the internet shop next to my tiny red postbox and then balanced on top. I pressume the wind blew it into the puddle.

I called DHL and asked what sort of an operation they were running, basically no joy, so I read the small print on the Thai DHL website. They are within their rights.

The packet can be signed by anyone at the address, not necessarily the intended person. So DHL is as bad as regular mail.

That really is shocking, remind be never to ship anything with DHL....

[H2oDunc]

I often wonder what some people are doing living here. All they tend to do is slate the place they have supposedly made their home. I buy lots of things on ebay and shop a lot on line. I have yet to have anything go missing here yet things in the UK dissapeared on a regular basis. Just lucky? I dont know but when something does go missing I wont immedietly presume it has been stolen. Post goes missing. I wouldnt send anything I really needed LIKE A CREDIT CARD other than with a registered provider. But thats just me!!!!!!!!

[Bagwan]

I am glad that your letter turned up You were lucky -- I had five pensions cheques sent from England ( The Goverment will not send OA pensions by electronic transfer to Thailand) All were in brown papers envelopes -- all were Lost and when I enquired about them I was told that brown paper envelopes were treated as junk mail.

Why not open a bank account in the UK and have your pension paid into it. Then you can transfer the money as and when. Use a bank in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man and interest on the account balance is not deducted.

BTW in today's Post was a report from a guy in Phuket complaining about mail theft. He reported the matter to BIB who told him that theft from the mail in Thailand was not a criminal offence! TIT

Edited March 21, 2007 by Bagwan

[Pepe']

My Channel Island bank also refused to send credit/debit/atm cards to Thailand, stating that the country has the highest incidence of postal theft of those items in the world.

---------------------------

Shocking!!! What do they have to back that up.

[Naam]

Credit cards routinely have to be activated by telephone before they can be used, and the person activating them has to know personal information about me in order to activate it.

it's an excellent feature but that applies only to U.S. issued credit cards. i hold various credit cards from non U.S. institutions which do not need activation.

[leisurely]

Lloyds won't send bank cards out either. When I last checked, DHL refused to carry them too.