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Fraud! card cloned in Bavaro
My partner got gas at the Shell station on the highway near the airport. He attempted to use a credit card to pay. The attendant kept swiping the card in the machine saying it wasn't working. He asked to try a different card. Same thing. Didn't work. My partner finally ended up paying in cash. The very next day BOTH cards had the same 3 transactions attempted on them in Hig?ey. Visa fraud services blocked the transactions but we had to get both cards replaced. Amazing that the cards had been cloned that quickly.
It never ends.... seems to be the price of living in the DR.
It never ends.... seems to be the price of living in the DR.
that sounds like all 3 sweeps went thru and the gas station company did the machines daily closure the next day, so the transactions show up under the date of the next day and as they are as a business registered in Higuey the locations shows as Higuey. no fraud, but a stupid Gas Station Guy who should not be allowed to use the machine due missing brain. nobody cloned your card there, it was a stupid Man.
sad that you as the customer had the hassles of replacing 2 cards of course.
Mike
Sorry I wasn't clear. The swipes from the gas station did not show up at all. The transactions from Hig?ey were from electronics stores and were for different amounts. One of them was for US$1800. Luckily they were all blocked.
o.k.,
now we are talking different stuff.
my fist understanding was that the same sweeps from before showed up then.
just forget my post above
Mike
now we are talking different stuff.
my fist understanding was that the same sweeps from before showed up then.
just forget my post above
Mike
Would strongly advise you not to use a foreign credit card in Gas stations in the DR. Here in Santiago there's a band of young pump attendants who specialize in cloning foreign cc's and then processing them thjrough dozens of gas stations. Absolutely no checks take place in gas stations and they all know the station's limit.
Yeah... we are generally pretty careful. We've used cards at that station since they opened and made the mistake of assuming they were safe. Guess we had just been lucky all along.
on the other side, as opposed to debit cards, with your foreign credit card you are insured, you will get every stolen money back, til today i did not even need to get my card replaced for such, the provider looks into the case, sees that fraud been taken place and refunds taken monies, mostly they do even see the fraud before monies are taklen from your account, so not even a reimbursement necessary.
debit cards are different and with local/DR Credit Cards it also can be a hassle to deal with the local banks once money been credited/taken.
anyways, very most DR credit cards are not real credit cards, as you need to have money deposited with the bank to get a card, so its not a real Credit frame you have, as you need to have that money with them first before you could use it with their Credit Card. maybe it changed todays, i did not ask about their credit cards since years due that non existing credit thingy, as their credit cards back in the day been in reality nothing more than a debit card, just more hassle to use.
so for credit cards i use only my foreign cards, and they are perfectly insured and did not xost me a penny til today(the oldest is 33 years in use now and traveled the whole globe several times), while for Debit cards i use the ones from my local DR bank accounts, never had a problem at any ATM or in any supermarket etc etc, using them very often, but i also choose carefully Where i use them, i would not stick it into many ATM's of the area and i would not use them in a supermarket/business where i do not havethe full trust as a regular customer to be treated accordingly.
Mike
debit cards are different and with local/DR Credit Cards it also can be a hassle to deal with the local banks once money been credited/taken.
anyways, very most DR credit cards are not real credit cards, as you need to have money deposited with the bank to get a card, so its not a real Credit frame you have, as you need to have that money with them first before you could use it with their Credit Card. maybe it changed todays, i did not ask about their credit cards since years due that non existing credit thingy, as their credit cards back in the day been in reality nothing more than a debit card, just more hassle to use.
so for credit cards i use only my foreign cards, and they are perfectly insured and did not xost me a penny til today(the oldest is 33 years in use now and traveled the whole globe several times), while for Debit cards i use the ones from my local DR bank accounts, never had a problem at any ATM or in any supermarket etc etc, using them very often, but i also choose carefully Where i use them, i would not stick it into many ATM's of the area and i would not use them in a supermarket/business where i do not havethe full trust as a regular customer to be treated accordingly.
Mike
One day my friend and I were waiting to use the scotia bank atm at las brisas. 2 guys were in the booth, with at least, I kid you not, 3 stacks of atm cards over 3-4 inches high. They were putting them in one by one taking out money. They saw we were waiting so came outside and offered us to use the machine. Ummmmmm no thanks, we turned around and left. We being 2 women, decided to exit the scene asap.
hi robbie, i understand that it looked suspicious to you, but don't worry, it was nothing bad, you see that at almost all ATM's every 15th/16th and 30th/1st of the month, payday.
those guys with the many cards are working for Creditors/fiadores, so on payday they take the money for the loans from their clinets cards/accounts, as each loanshark has hundreds of clients, they send people with many cards each to different ATM's to take their money.
it is always best to avoid banks and ATM's on 15th/16th and 30th/31st/1st of the month, as banks are fulland long lines at the ATM's.
Mike
Robbie - you friends with bluenose? She told me the same story.. you are right to be suspicious, always be cautious, as it is better to be safe than sorry!
I know that a lot of people have used both the ATM at the Carabella as well as the one outside the Barcel? Dominican Beach. Personally I won't. I will only go to one outside a bank and as it is only a short hop from Los Corales to Friusa, I would rather spend the extra RD Pesos and get it from my own bank than be robbed by these annoying thieves!
I won't use my foreign CC here either, only those relating to my DR account. And yes, you have Mike you still have to put money into an account to have a credit card here. Nothing changes, and they hang on it at a very low interest rate too, lol! But that is why they are called a bank!
Having said that I have cards with Banco Caribe and they have been fantastic. Whenever I have used my cc in a store, they have rung me to confirm the purchase before they authorize it. And I mean immediately. Once I was in CEPM paying bills for a number of the apartments I look after and I have to say that I was still in there when they rang me to confirm the process, amazingly good service, so am I happy bunny!
I won't use my foreign CC here either, only those relating to my DR account. And yes, you have Mike you still have to put money into an account to have a credit card here. Nothing changes, and they hang on it at a very low interest rate too, lol! But that is why they are called a bank!
Having said that I have cards with Banco Caribe and they have been fantastic. Whenever I have used my cc in a store, they have rung me to confirm the purchase before they authorize it. And I mean immediately. Once I was in CEPM paying bills for a number of the apartments I look after and I have to say that I was still in there when they rang me to confirm the process, amazingly good service, so am I happy bunny!
yes, the notifications work well with the banks here.
the local card i use most is a visa debit with a cuenta cooriente at Banco BHD.
when i use it, for example at a ATM, the phone rings with the incoming text message stating date/hour/location where i used the card and the amount withdrawed even before i get a chance to open the car's door to drive away. in case it would not have been me taking money 30 seconds ago, i could report that at the same momen, but luckily such never happened to that card, runs fine since all those years i have and use it.
aaah,
so the local credit card thingy is still the same. you want a credit frame of 10.000.- US$ on a Credit Card, means you have to deposit double of that amount/US$20.000.- with the bank, of which you can use only 10.000.- by credit card while the rest is untouchable for the customer. ridiculous, as such is no real "credit" card, as you do not have any credit with the bank, the opposite, you can use only half of your money, while on a account with a simple debit card you could use all of it.
so i stick with my ole fashioned system. one big pesos saving account which is accessible online, and a pesos checking account with a local debit card, on that account i transfer online what i think i will need on the road/for shopping etc etc the next days, so it could never get compromised for big sums, but no need to have money jailed as it would be with a credit card.
the foreign currencies stay on their DR accounts for each currency which are savings accounts.
maybe for the next century they change something on that, lol.
over all i am very happy with procedures and services at the dominican banks, i prefer them over most of european banks i dealt with, it's much friendlier here and once you are known as a regular customer at the different branches the service is very flexibel when something out of the ordinary is needed.
and the emergency Credit Card with it's real credit allowance will stay with the bank from germany, i used it often for many years, but less since i started to get used to the local debit cards. always had a great exchange rate with the foreign Master Card when withdrawing pesos from my Euros account, tho.
may the online/hacker thieves burn in hell and stay away from us
Mike
the local card i use most is a visa debit with a cuenta cooriente at Banco BHD.
when i use it, for example at a ATM, the phone rings with the incoming text message stating date/hour/location where i used the card and the amount withdrawed even before i get a chance to open the car's door to drive away. in case it would not have been me taking money 30 seconds ago, i could report that at the same momen, but luckily such never happened to that card, runs fine since all those years i have and use it.
aaah,
so the local credit card thingy is still the same. you want a credit frame of 10.000.- US$ on a Credit Card, means you have to deposit double of that amount/US$20.000.- with the bank, of which you can use only 10.000.- by credit card while the rest is untouchable for the customer. ridiculous, as such is no real "credit" card, as you do not have any credit with the bank, the opposite, you can use only half of your money, while on a account with a simple debit card you could use all of it.
so i stick with my ole fashioned system. one big pesos saving account which is accessible online, and a pesos checking account with a local debit card, on that account i transfer online what i think i will need on the road/for shopping etc etc the next days, so it could never get compromised for big sums, but no need to have money jailed as it would be with a credit card.
the foreign currencies stay on their DR accounts for each currency which are savings accounts.
maybe for the next century they change something on that, lol.
over all i am very happy with procedures and services at the dominican banks, i prefer them over most of european banks i dealt with, it's much friendlier here and once you are known as a regular customer at the different branches the service is very flexibel when something out of the ordinary is needed.
and the emergency Credit Card with it's real credit allowance will stay with the bank from germany, i used it often for many years, but less since i started to get used to the local debit cards. always had a great exchange rate with the foreign Master Card when withdrawing pesos from my Euros account, tho.
may the online/hacker thieves burn in hell and stay away from us
Mike
I had my card skimmed at the Carabella as well back in March 2013, I had a back up account with another bank so I was able to function but lesson learned. sad thing is that as aretired cop I should have been more aware. If you see video cameras inside the booth pointed at the machine etc then do not use it. They also use velcro to puty thier reader on top of the banks so feel and test the edges to see if you can pry stuff off. I use the machine at the bank by super polla in PC and or the one inside the bank at the upscale mall where the Hard rock cafe is. Even in canada this still happens, so I check and double check now!