ATM Fraud

innisfree

sobaga wrote: »

I realise that there are Romanian people who work and are OK, but unfortunately they are in minority

I beg to differ. Most people think of the Roma gypsys in Dublin as being Romanian. They are not. However, the majority of the ones in Dublin have grown up Romania, this is true. The Romanian's have as much trouble with them over there as we do here. They've just decided to move on to other countries.

There are plenty of hard working Romanian's walking the streets in Dublin that people would assume are Polish or Lithuanian. I would say they're far in the majority. There's this unfortunate association of Dublin that Romanian immigrants = Roma gypsys.

It's also unfortunate that it seems to be becoming all too frequent that it's Roma beggers trying to scam people at ATMs with the Big Issue trick. They're culture is getting far too bogged down with theft, despite them being highly religious people.

pampers1

hi there, I'm just reading about this now. I've had my laser card used in two different transactions one was with Aer Arrann a flight from Dublin and then four star pizza... it only came to about 300 euro but still. it was 300 that i didn't have. I rang aer arrann and they gave me the name and address of the person who the flight was booked under. I also rang four star pizza wondering was it an online order that was made but they couldn't tell me because of confidentiality laws so i presume the girl in Aer Arrann had made a mistake. Anyways I went to the Gardai with the information I had and was basically told that this person would never be found and to quote "these things are a pain in the a*se". I went to the bank then thinking that I wouldn't be refunded unless I had reported it to the Gardai but that wasn't the case at all. I basically just told them which transactions weren't mine and i was refunded the money a couple of days later. My laser was cancelled and I got a new one. Simple as that. No wonder theyr'e all getting away with it so handy. If the banks can just give you back the money without as much as a question.

New Home

A friend of mine told me that last Monday she discovered that nearly €700 had been taken out of her account... and a few days later the same thing happened to her sister! She's based in Co. Galway, and the stolen cash (in both hers and her sister's case) was withdrawn from an ATM in Rathmines. Her bank told her that if the Fraud Squad established that a crime had actually taken place her money would be refunded to her.

They also told her that her card might have been skimmed months ago and that the criminals only decided to use it now, and that, based on the investigations that had been made, Castlebar seems to be the area where the cards were copied.

Also, I've been told that a few days ago a skimming machine was found on an ATM in a shopping centre in Knocnacarra in Galway.

After hearing that, I've started checking my account twice a day!

exiot

Went to an ATM on Saturday night to get some money to go boozing when "You have insufficent funds" comes up.
Ring up the bank on Tuesday, they contact my local branch and are informed that a lot of people in Ennis have suffered from skimming. The bank gave me a page to bring down to the Gardai, brought it down to them and now awaiting a call from them to give a statement or what not..

Its a pain in the arse, Ive learnt my lesson. Cover the keypad!

sing_dumb

Always remember, that the SCAMMERS are far, far more clever, inventive and determined than you are. They will clean out your Accounts whether they contain E2 or E2million.
But what you CAN do is....
ALWAYS watch your Accounts like a hawk, and IMMEDIATELY report any suspicious activity/un-recognised transactions to your Bank. Bear in mind...that ANY fraudulent Transactions on your accounts will be considered YOURS....until the exact minute you contact your Bank.
Always try to use an ATM that is INDOORS...ie...inside a Bank, or inside a garage or shop, as these are generally well-monitored, and hard to interfere with.
NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER reply to e-mails or pop-ups requesting your online Banking/Credit Card details. Anyone who does...deserves everything that they get. And...all Banks think so too. Remember...that NO Bank...EVER communicates with it's customers by e-mail, unless requested to, by YOU!!! And, that's only for IT or browser/access problems, and even then, only under extreme duress!!
Remove ALL SPYWARE/ADWARE from your PC, and regularly update your Anti-Virus. If you are scammed, and your PC security is proven to be lax, then it's tough titty, say ADIOS to your money, it's being well-spent in China/Nigeria or Romania, at your expense!!! Get over it.
When using ATM's, it's OK to be paranoid about entering your details, and DO NOT use an ATM that you have even the slightest suspicion about, or, about the people hanging around it.

If you are scammed, it's awful, and in 99.9% of cases, it is deemed to be YOUR problem, NOT the Bank's. Even if you successfully challenge the Bank, it can take up to two years to recover your funds, partially or fully.
Generally speaking, it takes 90 days for most Banks to even investigate the scam. Be aware, that EVERY DAY, scammers launch 120 new attacks on the security of your accounts, and there is NO chance they won't take, to clean you out.

Davy

Heard in work skiming was going on at the atm at mount street. don't have the details, but best off to avoid.

5t1mes

New Home wrote: »

Also, I've been told that a few days ago a skimming machine was found on an ATM in a shopping centre in Knocnacarra in Galway.
QUOTE]

I also heard this about the atm beside Joyce's shopping centre
and its the second time this machine has been targeted

The Hill Billy

Folks - It isn't just debit & credit cards that these guys are using. You need to keep a close eye even on accounts that don't have cards associated with them.

I have an account overseas from when I was working abroad a good few years ago. I left cash in it for a rainy day. The account had an ATM-only card (not a debit card) so couln't be used for any electronic purchases, etc. I've not made any withdrawals from it in 6 years (via ATM or otherwise) & the ATM card expired in 2 years ago.

Lo & behold in the latest statement there are a load of debits (totalling nearly a grand) from a dating website, a gaming website & a mobile phone company (all in the same country as the bank). There's no way anyone could have gotten access to the account details other than from the bank itself.

I'm thinking that someone in the bank thought that the account was dormant & that they'd help themselves & nobody would notice. Note: I only copped now that I never received a new ATM card after the old one expired & also that I didn't get Feb/Mar statement for this year.

I've reported this to the bank & they've confirmed that they've 'blocked' the account. Still waiting to hear if I'll get all the cash back - particularly as there were apparently unauthorised withdrawals in Feb/Mar that I would have been aware of & reported earlier if I had received the statement.

Lesson: Check all of your account statements, even those that you think are safe from traditional skimmers.

seamus

Hill Billy wrote: »

Lo & behold in the latest statement there are a load of debits (totalling nearly a grand) from a dating website, a gaming website & a mobile phone company (all in the same country as the bank). There's no way anyone could have gotten access to the account details other than from the bank itself.

It probably depends on the system in place in that country.

With the direct debit system in place in this country, it's possible for someone to set up a direct debit from any of the utility suppliers using your account details. The system is such that your signature is no longer required - the suppliers are "trusted" by the banks to do this.

The only real safeguard is that the supplier must have a name and address for the person who's setting up the direct debit - so it's not an easy thing to set up a direct debit and then scarper.

I'd well believe that other countries may have more "open" systems, where all you have to do is supply a name and account number and tick an "I agree" box and suddenly a direct debit is set up.

The Hill Billy

I've been so long out of there that I haven't a clue what's involved in setting up a DD. Still, they would have at least needed to know the account number & the branch with which it was associated. Only a bank employee or someone who intercepted a statement in the mail would have access to that info.

The Hill Billy

seamus wrote: »

I'd well believe that other countries may have more "open" systems, where all you have to do is supply a name and account number and tick an "I agree" box and suddenly a direct debit is set up.

I've just been reliably informed that all you need to do in this place is provide the correct combination of Account Number & Branch Code - not even a name or address - & away you go.

BuffyBot

Most likely the post was intercepted by the sound of it

Glenbhoy

My wife appears to have fallen victim to the evil card skimmers recently, either that or she has an amazing double life, and the gift of bilocaton, as apparently she has been withdrawing money in Milan and (shockingly) Bucharest all week!! We've been taken for a grand, and that was despite fairly frequent monitoring of the account. Been in contact with the bank and hopefully we'll get a full refund, but I'll keep you all updated.

Chucky the tree

So in romania was trying to use my card on saturday aswell. Didnt have my pin so didnt get anything.

Would your wive be in town alot glenbhoy? There's only a few place I'd use in town so trying to work out which one it was. My first guess is the AIB on grafton street down the bottom(The only time I didnt go inside as the queue was too big).

The Hill Billy

Hill Billy wrote: »

Folks - It isn't just debit & credit cards that these guys are using. You need to keep a close eye even on accounts that don't have cards associated with them.

I have an account overseas from when I was working abroad a good few years ago. I left cash in it for a rainy day. The account had an ATM-only card (not a debit card) so couln't be used for any electronic purchases, etc. I've not made any withdrawals from it in 6 years (via ATM or otherwise) & the ATM card expired in 2 years ago.

Lo & behold in the latest statement there are a load of debits (totalling nearly a grand) from a dating website, a gaming website & a mobile phone company (all in the same country as the bank). There's no way anyone could have gotten access to the account details other than from the bank itself.

I'm thinking that someone in the bank thought that the account was dormant & that they'd help themselves & nobody would notice. Note: I only copped now that I never received a new ATM card after the old one expired & also that I didn't get Feb/Mar statement for this year.

I've reported this to the bank & they've confirmed that they've 'blocked' the account. Still waiting to hear if I'll get all the cash back - particularly as there were apparently unauthorised withdrawals in Feb/Mar that I would have been aware of & reported earlier if I had received the statement.

Lesson: Check all of your account statements, even those that you think are safe from traditional skimmers.

Just an update on this...
Apparently the problem was internal to the bank & they merely applied someone else's direct debits to my account in error. The bank's customer service director couriered me a letter with the details & a bottle of wine by way of apology. (After asking my local wine shop owner about it I found out that they were very sorry indeed. )

Do-more

My wife was in Tesco's Mullingar this evening and had her handbag stolen, seems to have been professionals, one older lady bumped into her to create a distraction while another took the bag, she didn't even notice until our 4 year old told her that "the lady took your bag". Anyway got on the phone straight away and started cancelling laser and credit cards. By the time that we were on to AIB to stop a company credit card (within 10 mins) they had already made 2 withdrawals totalling €620 from the local AIB ATM. :mad:

Now the really crazy thing is that she has never had the PIN for this card. I know that the PIN is embedded on the chip so I can only presume that they have the technology to be able to read the PIN off the card, can anyone confirm this?

It appears that no other card was compromised although Bank of Ireland would not tell her if there were any transactions on her card today. When she checked her transaction history on 365 phone it gave the last account transaction as being on Friday. I went in afterwards and inputed her 365 PIN wrong until it was blocked so that it couldn't be used again.

January

Doesn't it only block the PIN for 24 hours though??

finvik

Thats unbelievable! really the fraud has become so technological advanced. that is simply unbeliveable.
vik

Epic Tissue

Hill Billy wrote: »

Just an update on this...
Apparently the problem was internal to the bank & they merely applied someone else's direct debits to my account in error. The bank's customer service director couriered me a letter with the details & a bottle of wine by way of apology. (After asking my local wine shop owner about it I found out that they were very sorry indeed. )

That's good to hear This thread is scary.. *runs to check accounts*

faigs

Logged into my Banking 365 this morning to discover some withdrawals were made in Brazil on the 27th totalling €530. Reported to the bank, Gardai etc but some more transactions could have been made on the 28th and 29th which have yet to show up on the account.

I have never let my card out of my sight when using it and I don't know how they could be withdrawing with a card or how they got my pin. Does this kind of thing usually turn out well or has anyone any similiar experiences? I hope I get refunded!

OfflerCrocGod

I have all my money in a saving account that I use to store my day to day cash and only move money into it when I need to take money out with the card. If they skim it there won't be anything in the account - incovinient for most people but it's better then being cleared out for €1000. It's instant transfer of money between accounts of the same bank so I recommend it.

danjo-xx

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

I have all my money in a saving account that I use to store my day to day cash and only move money into it when I need to take money out with the card. If they skim it there won't be anything in the account - incovinient for most people but it's better then being cleared out for €1000. It's instant transfer of money between accounts of the same bank so I recommend it.

That is very good advice, I've been kind of doing the same thing, but was keeping up to about €1200 in day to day account but when topping it up from another bank takes 3/4 days and longer if its near a weekend.

Runs off to open savings a/c in my day to day a/c's bank:) lovely grammer:D

GerardKeating

faigs wrote: »

I have never let my card out of my sight when using it and I don't know how they could be withdrawing with a card or how they got my pin. Does this kind of thing usually turn out well or has anyone any similiar experiences? I hope I get refunded!

Did you ever user your card in Galway

You card must have been skimmed somewhere, they are getting very good at this, even Point of Sale machine in supermarkets aint safe any more.

homerhop

Had my card skimmed this year. Buggers have been taking small sums ranging from 100 to 150 on a regular basis for the past 8 months totalling up to €3500. I know its my fault for not going through my statements and checking each withdrawal. My point to the bank was all withdrawals show up on the statement just as sort codes and a list of figures will not catch your eye. Cant see why they don’t have the atm location shown the same as a laser card transaction shows the point of purchase. In fairness to Bank of Ireland they went through all the transactions and were able to tell me the location of all except for ones used at Ulster bank atm machines. I have to go to the gardai and give an official statement tomorrow, he asked me to get a location for all the dubious transactions. When I explained I had them all except for the Ulster bank ones he advised me to go to the Ulster bank and they would be able to tell me the sort code locations I was afraid of. Very unhelpful lot in that bank. Didn’t want to even help, straight out reply was it is my banks fault, I explained the guard dealing with it had said that they could inform me where the codes were for but they just didn’t want to know. Now that what really annoys me, is it not in the interest of all banking companies to pull together and try root these folks out. I had id with me and hell all they had to do was call the local BOI to confirm my story. Well as it stands I have to wait a week or two before I will know if I get refunded. I deal with banks in carlow/athy area and all the money withdrawn were form pass machines in fermoy,mallow.
Moral of the story for me is get an advice slip with every transaction you make no matter the amount of money you withdraw and check them against your bank statements.

Bigeamo

Guys,

I have been told that permanent tsb introduces Skim Proof ATM's about a year ago. If anybody tries to attach a device ar screen or anything to a ptsb ATM, it automatically shuts down. So no matter which bank you are with it's safest to use ptsb machines.

tiberium

Banks in Ireland should follow some of the other banks in Europe.
In a few countries they introduced SMS service for transactions.

You can get an SMS into your mobile if a transaction was made above a specific limit (like 50 EUR or user specified) or the daily transactions above a user specified limit (hence protecting withdrawals in small amounts)

Usually banks has a very good deal with the mobile service providers (a few cents per SMS).
I would pay this extra to know my money is safe.
(especially that withdrawals are free from my BOI account at this moment)

Let's hope banks will recognize this as a defence against these criminals.

BuffyBot

tiberium wrote: »

Banks in Ireland should follow some of the other banks in Europe.
In a few countries they introduced SMS service for transactions.

You can get an SMS into your mobile if a transaction was made above a specific limit (like 50 EUR or user specified) or the daily transactions above a user specified limit (hence protecting withdrawals in small amounts)

Usually banks has a very good deal with the mobile service providers (a few cents per SMS).
I would pay this extra to know my money is safe.
(especially that withdrawals are free from my BOI account at this moment)

Let's hope banks will recognize this as a defence against these criminals.

NIB have been offering this for at least 18 months

Pacifico

tiberium wrote: »

Banks in Ireland should follow some of the other banks in Europe.
In a few countries they introduced SMS service for transactions.

You can get an SMS into your mobile if a transaction was made above a specific limit (like 50 EUR or user specified) or the daily transactions above a user specified limit (hence protecting withdrawals in small amounts)

Usually banks has a very good deal with the mobile service providers (a few cents per SMS).
I would pay this extra to know my money is safe.
(especially that withdrawals are free from my BOI account at this moment)

Let's hope banks will recognize this as a defence against these criminals.

PTSB also offer this service

BuffyBot

Off topic posts deleted.

Kenno90

god now i'm never going to use an atm again, thanks guys you now made me paranoid :pac: