11/26 It only took 3 months to have a Credit Card compromised!
We wondered before we left Fort Collins how long would it take for one of our cards to be compromised, either through a data breach from our issuer or from someone “skimming” our card. As it turns out, it took less than 3 months. It appears that our card was “skimmed” in Cape Town South Africa.
What is skimming you ask? Here’s the definition from Investopedia: An electronic method of capturing a victim’s personal information used by identity thieves. The skimmer is a small device that scans a credit card and stores the information contained in the magnetic strip. Skimming can take place during a legitimate transaction at a business. A skimmer can be placed on an ATM, gas pumps, or a waiter or waitress can have a device on their person.
We figured out that we were compromised at the Johannesburg Airport when we had our debit card declined when we tried to buy lunch snack food at a convenience store for the equivalent of $10 and it was declined. We had used the card in Cape Town for the past 3 or 4 days without issue. We were on our way to the Seychelles so we had to wait to call our bank until we got to Victoria, Seychelles.
When we arrived at the hotel in Victoria, Seychelles, around 10 P.M. local time, Mark had a voice mail and it was time to call our bank – First National Bank. We called using Skype (There’s another story about using Google Voice, and not really being Google Voice.) and Mark spoke with a nice lady who wanted to know if we were traveling in South Africa. Mark, sounding a bit annoyed, said “Yes, I told First National in August all the countries we were visiting during our 9 months”.
The lady said, “OK. So the charge for $2,500 for cellular network is legit?” That would be a “NO”.
She asked if the 2 charges at the home improvement store for $1,200 & $300 were legit. That was another “NO” and then Mark thanked First National for declining the charges.
The nice lady brought on a personal banker, Wade, who asked some of the same questions. We asked if First National knew if the card was skimmed and, if so, where? Wade said they weren’t sure if it was skimmed, but the card had been marked as fraud.
Next up was how to get a replacement card to us. After some talking with 1NB, checking with First National management, and talking to our favorite person at the next chain hotel we would be staying at in the Seychelles, Le Meridien, First National gave the go-ahead to send us a new card via FedEx. We are keeping our fingers crossed it will work.
We want to give a big shout out to First National Bank for detecting the fraud and for working with us to get us a new card in the Seychelles!
- Skimming tips: We always check an ATM or gas pump prior to inserting a debit card/credit card to check for a skimmer. Check the slot with your fingers and see if it’s one piece or not. We check regardless if we are in the US or traveling the world. These are the favorite targets for thieves. Not much you can do if a waiter or waitress is carrying a skimmer on them.
- Using an ATM … cover the keyboard when entering a PIN because the bad guys need the PIN in this case.
- In the Seychelles, as well as in most of Europe, the cards are scanned right at the table in restaurants. If U.S. credit card companies would actually go to true Chip and Pin (get rid of the magnetic strip and require a PIN be used for ALL credit card transactions) many of the skimming problems could be eliminated.