I woke up early on Saturday to the sound of text alerts arriving.  A bit groggy and without my glasses, I saw a text asking about my cash withdrawal in Indonesia.  Wait what?   Now I was awake, glasses on and reading text messages, emails and listening to a voicemail from the bank about my ATM usage.  Confused a bit as I was in Philadelphia as was my ATM bank card.  Having just returned from a two week holiday in Europe, I recalled that I used my ATM card only once, in London, the prior Saturday.  So my Saturday wasn’t going to begin happy as I set out to call to the bank’s fraud department to sort this out. So my sad stories and a few financial safety tips for your credit, debit and ATM cards are below.

 

ATM Skimming in London?

I had used my ATM card in London at the Barclays ATM located across from the Borough Market entrance in Southwark.  It was a crowded Saturday in the area filled with tourists and locals enjoying the food market stalls.  I needed some cash as a few vendors were cash only (damn donuts, fruit and candy my friend and I were craving), while others were “tap” only credit/debit card which I don’t have as of yet.  I had used this ATM machine in the past and am always careful to find a bank branch with ATM outside, hide my PIN when entering and ensure no one is around me when I use the machine. Since there is no uniform ATM setup it’s hard to differentiate when something doesn’t look right by bank, country or machine type.  I didn’t see anything odd at the time and there were many folks using this machine before and after me.

So I called the bank to confirm the last transaction I did (in London on x date for y amount) and deny subsequent transactions in Indonesia.  I still had my ATM card in my wallet so I can only think that the ATM machine had a skimmer on it that I didn’t see.  Upside is that the bank only approved one transaction of $25 and denied all other attempts.  I would never use an ATM for a $25 given the machine and bank fees involved but thieves always do a few test transactions to see what can be approved.  Once approved, they go on a spending spree until someone notices and stops them.  So thankfully, my alerts and my bank account noticed quickly and my account will be made whole.  It’s not always as easy as this as I experienced a few years ago.

Credit Cards Stolen at the Movies – The Ordeal

One night over the (bank) holiday weekend, I went to the movies unaware of the gang of thieves in the area targeting movie theaters. Apparently thieves were crawling on the floor of the theatre (icky sticky floors and gross!) and my handbag was on the floor in between my date and myself.  I didn’t notice my bag moving in the darkened theatre as I was consumed by the action film ahead. My wallet was removed from my purse and the credit/debit cards stolen.  The thief then put my wallet back in my purse and moved my purse back in between us.  When we were leaving, I did think it was weird my wallet was on the top of my bag as I usually keep it on the left side but again figured I jostled my purse somehow. It wasn’t until the gas station the next day that I realized I had no credit cards or debit card in my wallet to pay for gas.  Funny enough, the cash, all ten dollars, was still in my wallet.

So thus began an ordeal that lead to the police because the bank had approved withdrawals of more than $5,000!  It was a freak event that was the holiday weekend as I had received my paycheck, business travel reimbursement and had moved money prior to the holiday to pay my mortgage and other bills. Normally the account would have less than $500 in it but that weekend, it was flush. The thieves hit the jackpot and started their spending spree with test transactions at Target and Home Depot (most will start here or WalMart and Lowe’s or combo), cigarettes at gas stations (easy to sell on the street), shoes and plus size clothing at the mall before the ultimate gutsy move – cash advances at the Atlantic City casinos.  They managed at least one $3,000 cash withdrawal at the casino and then the bank blocked the rest.

By the time the weekend was done, folks with my credit card numbers and information had checked into a local Marriott and amassed enough charges to warrant a police felony report.  I had to initiate a credit freeze across reporting agencies, cancel credit and debit cards, reset a number of accounts, temporarily halt all automated payments and a few other things that were frankly a pain in the ass for me to deal with.  The bank and credit card companies directed me to call the local police as they would need a police report. My local police arrived to take a report, however, the theft occurred in a different town so I needed to drive to that police station to give a report in person. The police officers were not surprised by my experience while I was totally ignorant of how all syndicates operate.

Credit Cards Stolen – The Resolution

Luckily, the bank restored all funds as I reported it quickly (I was at home at the time) but the damage in my mind was done – I never wanted anyone to have easy access to my money again.  I requested an ATM only card (the bank does offer these despite them saying otherwise).  I also set up a flurry of text and email notifications on my ATM card, my checking account and all credit cards. As for the credit cards, the damage there was substantial so there were many forms to complete, get notarized, payment accounts to be suspended and modified once the new cards arrived. It took a few months to clear it all up.  Since each credit agency is required to supply a free credit report once a year, I requested a report each quarter with a new agency just to monitor things.

Protect Your Travel Cards (Credit, Debit, ATM)

What can you do to protect yourself from ATM skimming or even theft of credit cards when traveling or even at home?  As far as detecting the skimming devices, I don’t think you can do much except not use any ATM that looks odd or out of place (i.e. – I don’t use the ATM padlocked to the street pole in the parking lot).  As you read above, I used an ATM in a heavily trafficked area (Borough Market in Southwark) with a local bank branch (Barclays) and yet still was caught up in this.  But you can be cautious, add layers of protection and not make it so easy for thieves – here are my travel tips below to help you be a bit safer when traveling with credit/debit/ATM cards.

Before Travel – Financial Safety Tips

• Bank Alerts –  Take the time to set up notification options (text, phone, email) on each account and associated debit, credit and ATM card(s).
• Credit card Alerts – You can set up alerts for a variety of reasons. If you know you rarely spend over $200, $500 or $1,000 at one time, set up a threshold level to get alerts when the threshold is breached. Given the amount of international travel I do, I also have set up notifications for ALL foreign transactions in any amount.
• Cash Advance Option (Credit Cards) – I’ve removed this feature from all of my credit cards. I also called to remove all those checks in the mail you can write yourself as a cash advance on the credit card.
• Bring a low credit line credit card (one with no fx fees on it) with you in case it is stolen there isn’t much damage to be done or fixed. Your day to day credit card generally has higher credit line and is tied to a variety of auto pay accounts (i.e. – cable, phone, utilities, etc.) which are a pain to change and update if your credit card is stolen.
• Leave the debit card home if you can. If you do need to take it with you – move the majority of monies in the account to a different account (i.e. –savings) while away and keep only budgeted funds plus emergency option in the account.

During Travel – Keep Travel Cards Safe

• When traveling if you have alerts set up then the emails, texts, voicemails should easily cover many situations. If you do have financial apps, make sure to open them over a secure connection (VPN) not on the free wifi offered in the cafes, etc.
• Don’t carry all credit/debit cards and cash with you. If you travel in a couple, split up the cards/cash so that not everything is with one person.  As for using the hotel safe, everyone has different opinion on that.  I do use the safe or the boxes at the front desk depending on the location.
• When using the ATM, get only the cash you need.
• Many vendors in Europe have hand held credit card devices so that your credit card is always in your view (or hand). In the U.S. the point of sale machines (POS) are generally not hand held (we are so behind in the times) so your credit card will be taken away from the restaurant table and swiped out of your view.
• Women wear a cross body purse with the zipper closest to you. For men, don’t put your wallet in back pocket.
• Don’t put your purse on the floor because someone can drop their coat nearby and easily scoop up your purse.
• Don’t put your purse (or backpack) on the back of your chair as it’s out of your view and I’ve heard too many stories of theft.
• Be aware of the pick pocket signs and alerts in high traffic tourist cities. When standing in crowds be vigilant of surroundings.

After Travel – Keep Finances Safe

• Check your credit card and bank accounts on a regular basis once returning from a trip. Don’t wait for the monthly statement to arrive.  Be pro-active and question any odd transactions immediately.
• I came home with my ATM card so had no reason to think it was stolen. Thankfully the alerts I set up worked as they should to alert me immediately.
• Monitor your credit report frequently as a general financial tip whether traveling or not.

So hopefully you never experience any of the issues I have at home or away but if you do don’t worry, the banks and credit card companies have good folks in their fraud department working to help mitigate the stress and worry by resolving as quickly as they can. They also continue to deploy AI to scan spending patterns and routines to know when something in your account(s) seems odd.  With that, the messages will appear “Did you spend x” please reply Yes or No or call us to discuss.  It’s in their best interest to help their customers travel with less worry. Keeping your financial information safe in this age of daily hacks is tough but hopefully my financial safety tips are helpful to you – if nothing else a bit of peace of mind.

Have you experienced credit/debit card theft at home or abroad?  What was your experience like and what financial safety tips would you offer to others?