Citibank Problem........

[Gary A]

Since the dollar to baht exchange rate isn't very good I have been using my Citibank ATM card hoping the exchange rate will get better before making a wire transfer. Today I went to a bank and my ATM card gave me a message to contact the issuing bank. I went home and decided to go ahead with a wire transfer. Couldn't do that either. My account was frozen. I called them and talked to three different people on the phone (International call). Finally I got an answer. There were some unusual transactions with my ATM card. What were the unusual transactions? Withdrawals from Thailand. At first I thought maybe there was a problem but when the lady told me that the Thailand transactions were unusual I got upset. I told her that if they would have bothered to check they would see that my address is IN Thailand and that I have been using that card in Thailand for the past three years. No messages, no phone calls, not even an email to warn me. IDIOTS!

[GuestHouse]

I've had this a couple of times with my bank accounts and credit cards but I always regard it as a sign that the bank are taking care of my accounts.

[lopburi3]

It seems from what you say it was indeed unusual activity as you say you were waiting for a better exchange rate so my guess is you usually don't use the card for cash that often. I have also had that hammer thrown at me and my card address is also Thailand. In my case it was a merchant charge of over $1,000 that triggered it. I was also mad as hops about it but that seems to be the name of the game these days - even if you are in the USA and anything unusual gets charged the software rejects it until you phone and explain in our world of fraud.

[Gary A]

I would have at least expected an email. They send me account balance emails nearly every day so why not a warning?

I've had this a couple of times with my bank accounts and credit cards but I always regard it as a sign that the bank are taking care of my accounts.

[lopburi3]

Probably a different department; but would you believe an email? I sure would not with the number of fraudulent emails that people get from banks that look real but take you to a rogue website where they try to get you to reveal your account information.

[Gary A]

Their email system is set up to notify you that you have a secure email and you must log onto the site to read it. I guess it was no really big deal but I was pissed off after standing in line and getting nothing except the "contact your bank" message.

Probably a different department; but would you believe an email? I sure would not with the number of fraudulent emails that people get from banks that look real but take you to a rogue website where they try to get you to reveal your account information.

[george]

I think you should be happy that that Citibank cares about you. The credit card fraud rate in Asia are enourmous, and they do this to protect your funds. Contact your Citibank office in advance next time you travel to another country than issuing country. That would help.

I travel a lot in Asia, and my Citicard gets blocked from time to time. A fax to them with ID normally works like a charm.

[lopburi3]

I know what you mean. That contact your bank can also come up when communications lines are down; as well as even nastier wording about fraudulent use from some bank ATM software here. That was one of the reasons I changed to using local atm card for spending money.

That email system is like my bank then - only used to advise of a bank message and then you log in to read it.

For any reader that has not been informed. Never, ever trust an email that directs you to a web site. If you believe your bank/credit card has sent it rather than click on the link log into your bank using your normal bookmark/passwords and look or call them at the number you have. They can make both the email and web site look exactly like your bank so don't fall for it.

[Gary A]

I think you should be happy that that Citibank cares about you. The credit card fraud rate in Asia are enourmous, and they do this to protect your funds. Contact your Citibank office in advance next time you travel to another country than issuing country. That would help.

I travel a lot in Asia, and my Citicard gets blocked from time to time. A fax to them with ID normally works like a charm.

I notified them over three years ago and I have been here ever since.

[sfokevin]

It's not that they care about you but themselves... Most fraudulent charges on ATM & credit cards are the responsibility of the Bank (They pay if there is a problem) So they err on the conservative side.

Edited May 17, 2006 by sfokevin

[klrsmith]

Be glad they are now taking steps to stem the flow of money from their customers accounts. Back about the middle of March, there were apparently several very large data thefts from some US retailers based in California, and the theft was not specific to Citibank.

The data that was taken included ATM/Debit cards and their associated PIN numbers (which should never be stored once checked for validity, but apparenly a lot of programmers are lazy about cleaning out their variables - but that's a whole other topic).

That data was then used to produce duplicate cards, which were used to withdraw money directly from ATM machines worldwide... in my case, ~$5000 USD over a 2 day period from ATM's located in Vilnius, Toronto, Kiev before I noticed the transactions when I logged in to pay some bills. I got the money back in about 2 weeks from the bank, but it was a hassle.

There were quite a few news stories in the US media, I've linked a couple below. That data theft they say was the worst bank fraud to date and apparently the tip of the iceburg...

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125053,00.asp

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11731365/

Regards,

Kevin

[Prakanong2005]

Since the dollar to baht exchange rate isn't very good I have been using my Citibank ATM card hoping the exchange rate will get better before making a wire transfer. Today I went to a bank and my ATM card gave me a message to contact the issuing bank. I went home and decided to go ahead with a wire transfer. Couldn't do that either. My account was frozen. I called them and talked to three different people on the phone (International call). Finally I got an answer. There were some unusual transactions with my ATM card. What were the unusual transactions? Withdrawals from Thailand. At first I thought maybe there was a problem but when the lady told me that the Thailand transactions were unusual I got upset. I told her that if they would have bothered to check they would see that my address is IN Thailand and that I have been using that card in Thailand for the past three years. No messages, no phone calls, not even an email to warn me. IDIOTS!

My pal had 100,000USD removed from his account Singapore Citibank in late 2004 so I would be glad if I was you they are being thorough.

He got it back but he had to be economical with the truth and not reveal he was phished.

Edited May 19, 2006 by Prakanong2005