Couple Get Lucky With Stolen ATM Card, Then Get Arrested

[yesdavy]

Couple get lucky with stolen ATM card??? What kind of mentality is that? It seems to imply that it was perfectly all right and customary, had they not gotten arrested.

[thaibkk]

error 1 : car left open, insurance should pay nothing back

error 2 : birthyear as pin number ... stuuuuuupid

error 3 : isnt there, as in developped countries, a number you can call to stop your card by phone ?

once i was told by the wife, that my atm bankcard is also a debit card and you can buy stuff in shops without introducing any pin number... big liability, same as internet banking, which i cancelled as only protected by a password and no real encryption check...

[SteveB2]

sure sounds implausible all round ...

but still..anywhere you go in this world surely at least lock your car even without valubles inside..

basic common sense i would think....then again common sense is a rareity now..

Even Thai banks post out new debit and credit cards with a warning in English not to choose an easily guessable PIN........

The Thai couple obviously never watched CSI - if they wanted to get away with theft, they should have withdrawn cash from ATMs wearing disguises. Losers.

Same same, but slightly different - my missus had her debit card nicked just last week and her account emptied.... she wrote the PIN number on the back of the card.

Thankfully she only lost 1,500Baht, and huge amount of face in front of one extremely irate Kasikorn Bank clerk.

Interestingly, the bank were able to access a photo/video of the person who withdrew the cash, cleverly wearing a motorbike helmet.

CLEVER!!!

Edited July 2, 2010 by SteveB2

[nikkoid66]

1 - You can ALWAYS cancel your card 24/7 by calling VISA or MASTERCARD or AMEX international number.

2 - You cannot guess a credit card code.

3 - my bank would not authorize 750 000 bath purchases in the same day, there are limits!!! What kind of card was it?

It sounds really buggus ripus,

(and good Job to the Thai police!!! The thieves are going to have some hard time. Do that in Europe but in Thailand, they must be dumb!)

Edited July 2, 2010 by nikkoid66

[sirchai]

Amount of money and number of transactions reported seem very strange...there are daily limits which should minimise potential damage.

<deleted>? They could guess his birthday? Wouldn't you do all to get your account closed? 33 transactions? Can't you smell that smell/ Sorry, but there's an important point missing................

[Boycie]

Quote nikkoid66 2 - You cannot guess a credit card code.

I'll give you odds of 9999-1 that you can

Quote OP The passing couple took advantage of his mistake and stole his ATM card, cellphone, 5,000 baht, five rings and various documents from inside, police said.

"Various documents" - maybe something with his DOB wrote on it.

Hence the headline

Edited July 2, 2010 by Boycie

[ryladie99]

sure sounds implausible all round ...

but still..anywhere you go in this world surely at least lock your car even without valubles inside..

basic common sense i would think....then again common sense is a rareity now..

You are so right and I agree with your comment. In my town, the policemen have no jobs except giving tickets and filing reports of stole goods because, people leave the cars unlock. Some even left handbags and laptops. Well, what can I say and now no one has money to go around. 12% unemployment in California..I will not dress well and walk around...people at this century are another world?? Everyone wakes up an smells the coffee...the world is not the same as 10 years ago. My take and opinion.

[Boycie]

Take a deep breath and click here for another version of the story

It all makes sense now

Boycie

[chuang]

i think what they meant is his bank was closed forever...and also all phone lines were dead....

[sedeflonga]

left his car unlocked with his bank card in it? couldn't cancel his card cos the bank was closed? (no 24 hour 'report your card stolen' number???) how did they know his date of birth? I think he's a mug and they deserve to keep it all

They also took 'various documents' from his car...

Cant cancel credit card? <deleted>? The Bank must be in Antarctica or near Sahara....

[Tonto21]

“The pair face a variety of charges, including theft and fraud” and will be held by the BIB until they can guess the correct lotto numbers!

[cowboydog]

I thought the maximum you can draw out from a Thai bank is 50,000 per day

In the Uk it's even less, 300-400 pounds

On average they were getting 22,750 baht per transaction, this would take around 2 weeks.... something stinks of poo poo

20,000 Baht is the usual limit per day irrespective of transactions unless you have made other arrangements. If it is an offshore bank who knows? Usually about USD500-1,000 depending what you tell your bank.

You can actually upgrade your daily limit to anything and can do this at an atm machine. It will ask you for your passport number and then what limit you want to raise the limit to. I can currently withdraw upto 200,000 in 1 day

can I have a loan then?

[nikster]

left his car unlocked with his bank card in it? couldn't cancel his card cos the bank was closed? (no 24 hour 'report your card stolen' number???) how did they know his date of birth? I think he's a mug and they deserve to keep it all

well they stole other documents, I assume his birth date was on those.

just goes to show - don't use your date of birth as your PIN.

As for canceling the card - he probably thought they would not be able to figure out the PIN code. The number to call is on the back of the card, so.... come to think of it I am going to write that number down just now...

[Redr0m]

What kind of bank let you choose your own pin??? I got 4 credit cards from 4 different banks not on of them let me choose my own pin they are random and send out a few days after the credit cards. The only exception is if your old credit card has been broken in some way they let you use the old pin, but that way the pin is still random and no other person than yourself knows it. If you have money you can easily get a credit card with very high limits or no limits... But the whole story sounds like a big scam that i bet the faring was in on himself. No european police authority would have bought any part of that story.

[ashleytiernan]

All Thai banks let you enter your own pin code when they issue you the atm card at the branch on the same day

[Boycie]

Quote Redr0m I got 4 credit cards from 4 different banks not on of them let me choose my own pin they are random and send out a few days after the credit cards.

Go and open a KTB savings account and they will give you the ATM card, there and then and you can choose your own pin at the same time.

The news story from the Phuket Gazette never mentioned a credit card!!!!!

The headline is in bold 'Stolen ATM card'.

Look back at me post #38 "It all makes sense now"

Pleeeeeeeease someone click on the link, i'm trying to help

[farangtopper1]

Yes I agree. This story stinks. Maybe they steal the pickup truck too. I can not beleive you can take 750000 baht with atm card maybe with credit or better debet card yes.

Maybe a big shot who wants to show a gold card of something then maybe possible but a very strange story. I know everybank has a 24 hour hotline if something like this happens.

[hardy1943]

Amount of money and number of transactions reported seem very strange...there are daily limits which should minimise potential damage.

When I make 2 or 3 different transaction on mine they always lock the account.

Thailand is considered very high risk.I called them last night to make sure

that I can withdraw my daily limits a few time today and the next.Mine is an American Credit Union and they know I live in Chiang Ria. There is something fishy with that bank.

Edited July 2, 2010 by hardy1943

[Samuian]

Quote Redr0m I got 4 credit cards from 4 different banks not on of them let me choose my own pin they are random and send out a few days after the credit cards.

Go and open a KTB savings account and they will give you the ATM card, there and then and you can choose your own pin at the same time.

The news story from the Phuket Gazette never mentioned a credit card!!!!!

The headline is in bold 'Stolen ATM card'.

Look back at me post #38 "It all makes sense now"

Pleeeeeeeease someone click on the link, i'm trying to help

Bangkok Bank for sure!

One can change the PIN at the ATM too!

After the "Puket Holiday" article the story makes little bit more sense, still can't get that the owner of the card didn't cancel it at the 24 hrs. hot line,and the very high ceiling of the withdrawal amount.. there is a lesson there somewhere, besides once hacked into an ATM account, at least with the Software of Siam City Bank one can raise the level... for withdrawals, what the couple thought of transferring money into their friends accounts... is very funny and very thai!

Edited July 2, 2010 by Samuian

[davecolt55]

I had my Kasikorn atm card stolen while I was in Vietnam and whilst I was trying to cancel it with the hopeless staff in Thailand they went shopping and cleared out my account. No PIN number needed! I lost 17,000 baht...luckily I never keep too much in my Thai bank accounts as I know there's no chance of getting it back...moral of the story? Never keep more in a Thai bank than you can afford to lose as there's no protection from fraud here like in most western countries. I even managed to get online and report the theft before it was used but the guy couldn't cancel it...I had to call the hotline in Thailand and by the time I managed to talk with somebody it had already been used! There're still a lot of countries where a pin number is not required to make a purchase so be careful guys, if you lose your card you could lose all your money to boot! By the way I also lost an HSBC UK credit card at the same time and this got hit up for 150,000...had the money refunded within 2 days! DON'T TRUST THAI BANKS WITH BIG $$$!!!

[TAWP]

Thai Bank cards dont have names on them !

Mine does...

Checked again, surely it is there, including middle names...

[davecolt55]

with regards to names on cards, it depends on the bank,my Bangkok bank does have the name on, Kasikorn doesn't.

[Boycie]

Thank you Samuian, at least your with me

I wonder how many pints of Guinness their friends had??

Slauncha Declan

[captainhornblower]

An Asian with the name 'Decland Rowland' would be somewhat suspicious!

I don't know of any bank, let alone an ATM card that will let you withdraw/spend this much cash is such a short period of time, unless said unlucky punter had an AMEX black card and the pair that stole the card quickly whipped up fake ID with the punters name on it.

[loser1]

<BR>This guy made several bone head mistakes (not locking his car at the beach, easily guessable PIN code, etc).    Guess this Irish expat better get a new four leaf clover...and he better get a whole bale of them if he continues his current methods of protecting his valuables.<BR>

<BR><BR>

You sound like my Dad, he likes to spout obvious advice after the event.

Edited July 2, 2010 by loser1

[Lumumba]

If I try to use my Standard Chatered bank debit card outside of down town bangkok, the machines hold it back, if i try to withdraw less than 20000, the machine holds it back.

I called the bank to overide these restrictions, the reply was that the computer has the pattern of the card usage anything unusual, it aborts the operation.

Even times of the day, I once needed money about 2 am one day, it was saying contact issuing bank.

Premium ATM cards, on request can withdraw unlimited amounts, and you can buy a house just by signing a slip.

Using cards in South Africa, even in the banks , you will be rquired to key in your PIN, In china too , withdrawing over the counter with debit cards , you ll key in PIN.

Inter bank transfer or intra bank transfers in Thailand is limited to 99999, in amounts not exceeding 30000 at a time. But be careful not to forget your card inside as with one pin input you can transfer 100 grand to other account and still take cash max of 20 or 25 grand depending on the ATM bank brand.

750 grand can make a decent swimming pool in Phuket. or at least a very big bath tub.

[richieudon]

I thought the maximum you can draw out from a Thai bank is 50,000 per day

In the Uk it's even less, 300-400 pounds

On average they were getting 22,750 baht per transaction, this would take around 2 weeks.... something stinks of poo poo

20,000 Baht is the usual limit per day irrespective of transactions unless you have made other arrangements. If it is an offshore bank who knows? Usually about USD500-1,000 depending what you tell your bank.

You can actually upgrade your daily limit to anything and can do this at an atm machine. It will ask you for your passport number and then what limit you want to raise the limit to. I can currently withdraw upto 200,000 in 1 day

can I have a loan then?

I have noted now that the thieves transferred the money rather than withdrawing it.

I know for a fact that you can transfer up to 1000,000 baht per day if you make that arrangement

This all makes sense now and who would be so stupid (greedy) to transfer to friends bank accounts?

Don't they realise that it's very easy to see where money is being transferred? DUH

[frankthetank]

Quote Redr0m I got 4 credit cards from 4 different banks not on of them let me choose my own pin they are random and send out a few days after the credit cards.

Go and open a KTB savings account and they will give you the ATM card, there and then and you can choose your own pin at the same time.

The news story from the Phuket Gazette never mentioned a credit card!!!!!

The headline is in bold 'Stolen ATM card'.

Look back at me post #38 "It all makes sense now"

Pleeeeeeeease someone click on the link, i'm trying to help

Just a bit curious!! What link?

[DickFarang]

bendejo quote For all the plastic cards I have the PIN was given to me by the bank.

When i opened my Krung Thai Bank account they gave me a bank card and i set my own pin number. When the bank staff asked me to enter a pin number and i paused for thought, the bank clerk said "Birth Date Year"!!, but i decided to go for 1234 instead, not.

Only a guess but maybe they bought the car and stayed at hotels using the stolen card in a pin and chip credit card machine and forged the signature, if they ask for one.

Not sure if all banks are the same, but my KTB bank card has no name printed on the front of the card.

Now if that had said Mr. Paddy Murphy for example, 'tings' might not be so worse.

In general, European debit cards are produced with your name and bank account number on it.

The PIN-code is sent by separate registered mail and usually you can change the PIN-code at any ATM in the country of issue.

In some countries, e.g. in Belgium, you usually keep your old PIN-code when the expiring debit card is renewed.

In some countries, e.g. in the Netherlands, you have to make your first operation (any) at an ATM in the country of issue.

Thai banks provide debit cards from stock with no personal data on them and with a standard PIN-code.

Normally, the standard PIN-code is immediately changed at the ATM outside the bank agency.

[Boycie]

frankthetank Just a bit curious!! What link?

Boycie Look back at me post #38 "It all makes sense now"

Here it is again It all makes sense now

Please, please, please admin/mods help me out here.

If another member only reads the OP then posts "must be something more to the story", "pin numbers", "amount can withdrawal in a day"