I was having trouble using my card for an Amazon.com purchase this week, and I logged onto internet banking to send an e-mail to my bank when I discovered that there were over US $550 in charges on my card, used in southern Thailand, and not by me! I called my bank and they said that the card was frozen shortly after those transactions, but that there were numerous attempts at cash advances and more purchases after it was frozen. Thankfully, the red flags went up and they caught it early…
I was in Malaysia this past summer and used my card 4 times…3 times at top hotels and one time at a travel agency in the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. It looks like someone from one of those places got a hold of my card number and went travelling in Thailand! When travelling, I only use my credit card at top hotels and reputable institutions, but in this case, it mattered little.
I will be in Thailand this CNY, and am leaving the card at home…I don’t care if the hotels “need” an imprint of my card at check-in, they will just have to do without…
It’s an American HSBC card. They cancelled the card and are issuing me a new card with a new acct. number. They said all of the fraudulant charges will be wiped off the old card. I haven’t seen the refund yet, but it has only been a couple of days.
I used my credit card at a petrol station in KL and my bank notified me that they suspect my card was used fraudently subsequently. It’s pretty common and has happened to a few of my friends before.
Yeah, but luckily I wasn’t abroad. It depends on the kind of card but VISA usually can provide you with a replacement within 24 hours (working hours, so that means 3 days). Usually they will charge you the annual subscription fee again and give you back the stolen money. Be careful who you give your foreign card to and better use cash or traveller cheques (but make sure the hotel where you want to stay accepts them in advance).
Shortly after I moved to Taiwan the VISA service sent me a letter and said my card might be blocked cause someone could use it for getting cash. It was myself getting some cash advance. But since they saw Taiwan on the card they went suspecious. I always thought they don’t care…
Another option might be to withdraw cash and pay with it. It might turn out cheaper than the conversion fees on some cards and I think you get a bigger smile from a seller when he see’s cash. It seems that people that accept cash have to pay less tax, somehow, in Asia
Nothing to do with tax, they smile because they don’t need to pay a fee (certain percentage of the purchase price) to the CC company that applies with every transaction.
I believe that it’s not the local bank (where you got the CC from) that will refund any fraudulent charges but VISA itself.
I used a Malaysian-issued VISA card to rent a car in Australia and after I returned to KL found they not only charged me for the rental but also for an accident that I never had. First I contacted them but to no avail - a quick call to VISA sorted this out and they reversed the transaction.
[quote=“Indiana”]
Has this ever happened to any of you?[/quote]
Yes, on an Australia credit card whilst travelling in Malaysia. It happened on the only time I ever used the card. (incl. transactions seemingly from Thailand, Korea and perhaps another place).
It also happened to my wife on a Taiwan credit card in Malaysia, and to my manager on an Australian credit card in, you guessed it, Malaysia as well…
Good that it worked out for you Indiana. I recently had my cousin vist me and she was telling me all the stories, including a few of her own, about how bad credit card fraud has gotten in the states. Consider yourself really luckly that they just wiped it off, because what i’ve been hearing is that it takes time a loooong time in the states to get it all cleared.
[quote=“Namahottie”]Good that it worked out for you Indiana. I recently had my cousin vist me and she was telling me all the stories, including a few of her own, about how bad credit card fraud has gotten in the states. Consider yourself really luckly that they just wiped it off, because what I’ve been hearing is that it takes time a loooong time in the states to get it all cleared.
Thanks for the heads up about Malaysia [/quote]
Yeah, it all got cleared up just fine.
Just went to Thailand and refused to use my credit card there. Many of he better hotels ask for it as a security upon check-in, but I just say that I don’t have a credit card with me. I had to fork over a “deposit” to a couple of hotels though, which was refunded upon check-out. I actually felt better about doing it this way than with a credit card.
Even though my credit card company was good about dealing with the fraud situation, I would rather not risk it happening again on foreign soil…it’s too much of a pain in the neck to deal with it from abroad…all the international phone calls, having to get a new replacement card, etc. :aiyo:
HSBC just called to ask if I was attempting to purchase around US$300 worth of goods from a supermarket in KL. I replied hastily that I was sat at my cubicle in HK.
Sooo, apparently some bastard has swiped my data and attempted to run up some loot. The bank also asked if I had bought US$300 in flights online of late. Nope. Not particularly concerned, as the bank managed to catch them out. I hope this doesn’t mean I should start to like HSBC.
Odd. Why the US$300?
Hard to say where my card could have been copied, as in the past month it was used in Thailand, Shanghai and HK.
HSBC is really good at catching credit fraud. Really.
I purchased tickets on Cebu Pacific Airlines recently (wish me luck, first time I’m trying this airline and flying tomorrow!!!) and they called me twice on Sunday (I didn’t pick up the phone) and they tried again on Monday to verify that INDEED I spent $$ in PH pesos. Now THAT’s customer service and excellent credit card fraud control!
A few of my colleagues have also been notified (HSBC & Citibank credit card holders) by their respective banks when there is a ‘strange’ spending habit. These international banks are good. To be honest, I haven’t received a single call on any of my TW bank issued credit cards…
Hmm, Malaysia seems to be coming up more and more as a credit card fraud dive.
A friend of mine told me how his bank called him up asking about some transactions in KL that were being attempted while he was using the card also in NZ. Turned out someone swiped his CC info while he was in KL for the F1, and the thief waited exactly 1 year to use the info when the F1 was back in KL the following year - assuming that he’d be back in KL so it would be easier to get away with it. Luckily he wasn’t and the bank sniffed a rat.
Something to be aware of, that it might take a significant time before it happens after swiping.
Now some of Taiwan’s banks call their customers to make sure if they buy something .
The price is exceed how much they set up.
That’s the way to protect customers and banks.
This exact thing happened to me. ~$500 in fraud charges from a farmers market in Thailand (I think it was 5 withdrawals in 3 minutes for $91 each time). I noticed it sometime in late April.
We hadn’t used the credit card since coming from the US four months previous (ie no international swiping of the #), so it was immediately obvious that there was fraud on the card - those transactions were the only “purchases”. I assume the $91 intervals must have been just below what the credit card would red flag as fraud.
This is kinda off-topic and kinda still on topic as it relates to fraud…
It seems relatively easy to have purchases you didn’t make taken off your credit card… but what about sorting out identity theft? What’s the rigamarole for that one? How does one prove they didn’t take out loans, or whatever it is that has screwed their credit rating? I’ve read about this happening quite a bit in North America. Someone gets a hold of your SSN and can do all sorts of things like apply for credit cards, loans, etc…and default on them messing up your credit rating.
I only recall one call from my CC company to confirm a purchase during the past 5 years or so, else it doesn’t seem to matter how much I spent or where I use / have used the CC (locally, overseas and online).
The only other evidence of any security by HSBC was the time they cancelled my card. I’d just arrived at around midnight in Bangkok, had no cash on me excpet a little Macau Mop, and was trying to draw money from an ATM at the airport before jumping in a taxi to catch Miss Huang who was asleep at a hotel. Not a brazz razoo. I was completely screwed. I blew the shit out of the bank when I finally got through to them.
