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Thread: Banking / Overseas Travel & Fraud

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    Default Banking / Overseas Travel & Fraud

    I've just returned from an overseas holiday in Thailand.
    I have a few credit cards but only one that I use when I'm overseas.
    My primary credit card (carried overseas but not used) was used to purchase airfares and accommodation, it was then unused till the day we returned for OS. It was used at Sydney Airport to pay domestic overweight charges and at Melbourne airport to pay for 2 weeks parking in the long term car park.

    Two days later when checking my cards I noticed my primary had gone over limit, further investigation showed that on the day we returned from Thailand my card was hit by a Hotel in the USA.
    I was taken for $3500.00

    I contacted my banks fraud department and some 5 days later all monies and charges / costs were refunded to my account.

    This raised a couple of questions with me.

    1. Where were my cards details obtained?? (Both transaction prior to leaving were from well regarded internet sites (Hotels.com and Jetstar)
    2. Do the bank fraud departments ever really get the money back??

    One thing my wife and I did notice was that we arrived early fro our return flight from Phuket, we sat in the terminal and had a whole row of seats to ourselves, like most travelling overseas our phones were on and my wifi was ON but I had not attempted to use the airports free wifi, my wallet (containing all cards) was in my pocket and the wallet is supposedly RFID protected.
    A couple, they looked like locals, came and sat close to us.
    She carrying a couple of (carry on type) bags and he carrying only a phone.
    Instead of sitting at the end of the row (leaving perhaps 6 seats between us, they moved down, well into the row, not close enough to make us uncomfortable but close enough to notice and take note.

    He was very loud, it seemed as though he was attempting to transfer funds but not having any success, in the end he asked for her phone, played with it for perhaps 2 or 3 mins, gave it back to her and without a word to his partner, gave her phone back, stood up and walked away.
    She picked up all their gear and followed him.

    We didn't give it another thought - until of course we got back home.

    Any thoughts ??

    cheers
    In hindsight I should have posted my Facebook status as: "I've blown the head gasket on my 1997 XR3i" rather than "I've just buggered a 14 year old escort".
    The police still haven't seen the funny side, my lap top's been confiscated and the wife has gone off to her mum's.



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    Sounds like you RFID-protected wallet may not be working too well.

    Does you wife also carry a credit card.... RFID-protected?

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    Yes she does.
    Her cards, also unused while overseas, don't appear to have been compromised.
    I tested the RFID capabilities of my wallet at a friends retail shop, and it seemed to pass with flying colours.
    In hindsight I should have posted my Facebook status as: "I've blown the head gasket on my 1997 XR3i" rather than "I've just buggered a 14 year old escort".
    The police still haven't seen the funny side, my lap top's been confiscated and the wife has gone off to her mum's.

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    2. Do the bank fraud departments ever really get the money back??
    yes they do, they actually just reverse the transaction based on your testimony.
    I also was issued a new card immediately & the old one cancelled so it couldn't be used by the fraudster again.

    Then the fun part, the Hotel in the USA that is now the victim of the fraud will be looking to recoup their money, first person they will look at is the Card owner & or any other name they have associated with the billing account address..

    How do I know? It happened to me after a trip thru Sydney Airport. In 2009, I suspected the car rental counter person (not being racist; he was a suspicious acting Indian); he scanned the card & photocopied my drivers licence with all relevant ID details.
    $1600 worth of bills were racked up in AU & NZ, all reversed by VISA so I got my money back, however about 2 months later I started getting unpaid accounts posted to me, which soon became overdue accounts from the retailers who had the transactions reversed.

    I got Legal Aid advice that I was not responsible for any debt as it is the Vendors responsibility to correctly identify the card user & to just write to all account billers explaining that they had been a victim of fraud & that I took no part in the transactions. Also to keep a copy of all written communication in both directions in case it went to court.
    Last letters I got were from a debt collection agency, who I wrote to explaining the legalities of the situation, that was about 2011, haven't heard from anyone since.
    Cheers, Tiny
    "You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
    The information is out there; you just have to let it in."

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tiny View Post
    haven't heard from anyone since.
    I've had a CC problem when O/S 10 years ago. I thought it had all been fixed....

    A credit check done for an asset purchase down the line showed that recovery action at some stage had been listed to recover a debt associated with this, which I then had to remedy.

    here.
    Never stand under a shadow that's getting bigger

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    Quote Originally Posted by Antennaman View Post
    I've had a CC problem when O/S 10 years ago. I thought it had all been fixed....

    A credit check done for an asset purchase down the line showed that recovery action at some stage had been listed to recover a debt associated with this, which I then had to remedy.

    here.
    That's correct, forgot to mention that Legal Aid also told me if I ended up on the bad debtors list (credit report), if I needed, they could assist me in having that cleared up.

    EDIT: Interesting info in that link Antennaman, thank you.
    I haven't had need to find out about my credit status as I have no need to borrow money & according to that Credit Report Information link, if any bad debt was listed it would only stay in the report for 5-7 years, just about covered that time already for me, so I'm not going to worry about it as I have no need for any loans that I can perceive in the present or future.
    certainly something seymour might need to look into though.
    Last edited by Tiny; 03-09-17 at 02:10 PM.
    Cheers, Tiny
    "You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
    The information is out there; you just have to let it in."

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    if your card got skimmed the fraudsters may not use the details straight away - so your card may have been skimmed say 2 months ago and its just coincidence that they hit your card on your return. Its a big coincidence though.
    we had one case a couple of years back - my missus had a $2000 charge on her card from Emirates , used to buy a London airfare .The bank reversed the transaction straight away , and i hope that the scammer was arrested at the airport !!

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    What bank are your cards with ?

    I am with the Commonwealth Bank & there is now a range of card setting options you can turn on & off & limits you can place on your cards & accounts from internet banking or your Phone Bank app too

    For example I turned off the "contactless Payment option" (pay wave) on my card a week ago & I tried it out on Saturday night at a club & sure enough "Pay wave" is turned off & the transaction was declined (great I thought to my self...)

    I also got a message from my bank to tell me that my "contactless payment" had been declined because I have that option turned off .....

    there are also lots of other options to turn on or off or set limits on your cards or accounts

    like in card settings, ATM cash advances Allow/Lock, Contactless Card payments, Allow/Lock, In-store international payments, Allow/Lock, Online international payments, Allow/Lock, Limit per transaction, Set

    I Also have an American Express card I got sent to me that I did not want & I set all the above options to Lock so no one can use it, (in case it gets stolen or lost)

    Also on your accounts you can set Transfer & BPAY daily limits for your accounts

    & you can change the settings on your phone app or your banks online website when you want .....

    If you think this is just way to inconvenient & like the "Pay Wave" option turned on ..... like you said you got your money back after some running around


    However the question is does card skimming techniques still get your details at all ? ..... to use at a later date ? .... or for something else ? ....... if the above options are turned off ?
    Last edited by OSIRUS; 04-09-17 at 01:44 PM.
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    I'm not sure how card theft works but I wouldn't think it had anything to do with the couple in the airport.
    To be taken for 3.5k at a hotel in USA wouldn't they have needed physical access to your card at some stage?
    How can someone spend 3.5k without knowing the CCV?

    I'm guessing someone has copied the card and CCV and made a duplicate.

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    I'm with Westpac and am really happy with the outcome but those options mentioned by Osirus aren't available as far as I know,
    but I will give them a ring tomorrow and follow up.

    I'm inclined to agree with you Whiteox but for the life of me can't think of an instance where the card was out of my sight - there were however a few internet purchases recently made on that card (Accommodation and Flights)
    In hindsight I should have posted my Facebook status as: "I've blown the head gasket on my 1997 XR3i" rather than "I've just buggered a 14 year old escort".
    The police still haven't seen the funny side, my lap top's been confiscated and the wife has gone off to her mum's.

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