Please be careful...debit fraud

I thought I was a pretty careful person. Just got home from a 7 day on the Magic to Key West and the Bahamas.

I started checking my email the morning of debarkation and discovered that while we were sailing, someone used my debit card info to do a little shopping to the tune of about $2000. This was NOT carnivals fault and it was NOT my fault.

We did not use my card at all on our trip. We used a credit card for our sail and sign account and used cash in our ports. I did how ever have my wallet with debit card in my backpack when we visited our ports. It never occurred to me to remove the card from my wallet.

I don't know how or where my card was "skimmed". The charges posted to my account were from Texas to Pennsylvania, New York, Boston and California. Match dot com, Amtrak, Ralph Lauren, Uber Technologies, Bravo telecommunications, Paypal. All sorts of random stuff.

My bank, Wells Fargo has already replaced most of the money taken from my account. I just want to warn everyone to be careful with your travel plans and any info you share. Tough lesson and a huge pain in my rear end to straighten out. It ended my wonderful vacation on a sour note.

Please everyone just be careful. The officer who took my police report told me it was just a matter of time before virtually EVERYONE is a victim of this kind of fraud. :(

Probably has nothing to do with the port, but was probably stolen when used at home with a merchant. Gas stations, retail stores, anything. I would imagine it was "skimmed" at home, if you didn't use it at all on the cruise.

Wow! Scary! Sorry that happened to you. I only use my debit when I need cash back (almost always at Publix), but even then will proceed with caution. I like both the protection and rewards points of my credit card.

We had our Discover card compromised one time on a cruise. We narrowed it down to Carnival because that's the only place we used our card and that was to guarantee our S&S. When we got home we got the call from Discover, someone used our card to make phone calls to foreign countries. I think the thieves are way more sophisticated and clever nowadays.

We had this happen at home. Last year someone installed skimmers at gas stations. After a good portion of my friends were hit by this I am pretty careful when going to ATM's, gas stations etc. I "jiggle" where you insert your card. Lots of times they install the readers right over the CC slots.

Just be careful. We're using mainly a CC now instead of a debit card for everything.

I hate debit cards....just write a check...same thing...less risk!

I had my credit card skimmed in January whilst on holiday. First I new of it was two days after we got back and the bank called to ask if I was aware the card has been used to purchase airfares and a cruise in London! They were excellent and blocked the transactions immediately but I was very ticked that someone would have the gall to book a cruise on my card! Of all the things!

Call me crazy but i find it sort of wierd that everyone would post when they are going on thier next cruise, join a roll call that may have a link with a spreadsheet with your name and where you live. Now think facebook, see a picture that you have posted of yourself search the name and more than likely there is more information, if you post a picture of yourself with the city and state you live in. Not to hard for someone to be so cunning to figure out your home addy these days. You have told them when you are not going to be home.

it is giving the buglars all the information they need, it is only a matter of time before someone figures other details.

to the OP it is so simple to scim a card these days, it is ashame we have live like these days but as the police said i do believe it is only going to get worse.

we have to be really carefull these days .. it is getting really hard to trust

We rarely use our debit cards except to pull cash out of an ATM. Too risky. You are exposing your own money if it gets compromised since a debit card is a direct connection to your bank accounts. A credit card is much, much safer. You are using the credit card company's money until your statement must be paid. If your credit card get's compromised, the most you are liable for is $50, and in the few cases that has happened to us, even that was waived.

I purchased IDStronghold dot com credit card and passport sleeves for our cards. The cards are a little inconvenient to get in and out of your wallet but they make me feel safe as I watch very carefully where I use my cards. Sorry this happened to you.:)

Does your debit card have an RFID chip? They can be read from a distance - the card doesn't even have to leave your wallet.

Does your debit card have an RFID chip? They can be read from a distance - the card doesn't even have to leave your wallet.

This is what's happening in my neck of the woods. A lot of grocery stores are getting skimmed this way.

We rarely use our debit cards except to pull cash out of an ATM. Too risky. You are exposing your own money if it gets compromised since a debit card is a direct connection to your bank accounts. A credit card is much, much safer. You are using the credit card company's money until your statement must be paid. If your credit card get's compromised, the most you are liable for is $50, and in the few cases that has happened to us, even that was waived.

Yours is our thinking too. My DH uses his debit card only to get cash from an ATM. I do not like anything about debit cards and refuse to even get one.

My MasterCard was compromised once. Someone, somehow was able to purchase electronics in TX (haven't been there in 60 years!) at a store and it was posted to my account. The credit card company caught it, immediately credited my account for the full amount of the purchase, and issued me a new card. I like the protection that a credit card offers; I can always dispute charges.

Did you use your card on the way to the airport locally? Taxi, parking, food before you left? It most likely got skimmed right before you left your own city. You're a good target if they think you won't have access to your email or banking online for a few days.

My husbands card has been compromised twice now. He no longer uses it for late night fast food purchases. We suspect that's where his got skimmed.

... while we were sailing, someone used my debit card info to do a little shopping to the tune of about $2000... All sorts of random stuff...

Most likely your card was skimmed at home. (Very recently tiny card skimmers and cams were found on ticket vending machines at a major NYC subway station.) Somebody also seemed to know when you would be away and therefore not checking your bank balances. They just enjoyed themselves before the spigot got turned off.

RFID sleeves help. It also helps not to broadcast time away from home. I'm amazed at how willingly people will give personal information to a self appointed "organizer" on roll calls. Ditto for Facebook. Right now somebody in another forum is just chomping at the bit to tell the Facebook world of his upcoming vacation plans. I don't get it but that's just me.

I've had my cards hacked twice. Once it was my AMEX card while I was on a business trip to San Francisco. Two weeks after I got home, AMEX called me and asked me if I was in Bejing - there were quite a few charges made in 2 days, mixed in with one charge to my grocery store. I probably got skimmed or the number captured at one of the Chinese restaurants I visited in SF.

The second time, it was my VISA card that got hit. I was in Jordan at the time. Kind of weird - there was a cheap charge for a porn site (probably to see if the card number worked), then a bunch of FedEX charges done with my home address as the return address. When I got home from vacation, some of these FedEX envelopes were returned to me as undeliverable. Inside were checks from a trucking company in Arkansas to various women. Figured it was a Truck Stop prostitution ring.

Both times, the financial institutions caught it, cancelled stuff, and got my money/credit back.

Don't sweat it - it will probably happen to everyone sometime.

I hate debit cards....just write a check...same thing...less risk!

And lets assume you were traveling in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, etc. How would you cash that check? The reality is that debit/check/ATM cards have become the primary means to obtain cash nearly anywhere in the world. Cashing check or using Travelers Checks are obsolete and near useless when away from you own neck of the woods and bank. In fact, my primary bank is a hugecredit union that does not even cash checks because they have no cash at their locations. The only way for its members to get cash is via a debit card. Another local bank now charges a fee to cash a check...where there is no fee to use their debit cards. We live in Mexico a couple of months a year and the only easy way to get cash is to use ATMs. Cashing a check is near impossible and even trying to exchange currency (assuming you have dollars) is now a hassle because there are restrictions on cash exchanges imposed by the Mexican government.

So, if you find yourself in Paris, Madrid, Rome, etc. and need cash to pay for dinner just see how well you do when you try to cash a check.

While we do understand your dislike of Debit cards, DW and I now have to carry 3 different debit cards (drawn on 3 different banks) when we travel so we have access to larger amounts of cash.

Hank

I had one card compromised when I used it at a hardware store. Their whole system was hacked. Bank called to verify I was in Georgia and making a purchase. That happened in June and then my other two cards were compromised during the Target hacking. So far nothing has happened on those. One card was changed by the bank automatically. The other one has a very low $5 balance on it and does not have backup funds. I found out that your card number can be compromised and it won't be until months later that someone might try to use it.

The cards do not even have to leave from where they are issued from.

Sis had a card rerouted from the issuer and it was used to purchase all kinds of stuff. This was back in the early 2000's.

We have a card we got thru Carnival but its from Barclay Bank. Twice I have gotten calls about it. Did we just buy a $6,000 car in NJ?(We live in NC) No! Were we in the original Walmart in Alabama? No! At the Walmart the person was still at the register and the card was denied. Both times we were sent an new card which we got two days later. And, these charges never appeared on our bill.

Once we were in Staples and bought two new towers and our card was denied. They called our home to verify the purchase but we were in the store! I called and gave them my cell to verify but they still called our house about Walmart!

Once we had charges on our American Express from Miami that weren't ours. The ONLY time we used the card was when we checked in for a cruise so it had to be stolen there. American Express dealt with the police, canceled the charges and sent new card.

When we cruise my husband takes one charge card he puts in his pocket with a bit of cash & his ship's card. He never takes his wallet out of the safe on a cruise. I see men with wallet on the ship. Why do they bother with them?

I hate debit cards....just write a check...same thing...less risk!

what's a "check":)?

what's a "check":)?

The same as a cheque, for those of us in other parts of the world ;)

Sure, a cheque is less risk for you, but significantly more risk for the receiver, which is why more and more places are refusing to accept cheques, and I don't blame them. I use some cheques for small solo businesses-people with whom I have an established relationship (like my massage therapist), but I can't think of a single retail business I know of that still accepts cheques. I know if I opened my own business I would not accept any cheques - cash, debit, or credit cards only. The risk of accepting cheques (NSF) is too high.

I hate debit cards....just write a check...same thing...less risk!

Why not just tell the merchant to send a bill to your home address - about as likely a payment method to be accepted.

I thought I was a pretty careful person. Just got home from a 7 day on the Magic to Key West and the Bahamas.

 

I started checking my email the morning of debarkation and discovered that while we were sailing, someone used my debit card info to do a little shopping to the tune of about $2000. This was NOT carnivals fault and it was NOT my fault.

 

We did not use my card at all on our trip. We used a credit card for our sail and sign account and used cash in our ports. I did how ever have my wallet with debit card in my backpack when we visited our ports. It never occurred to me to remove the card from my wallet.

 

I don't know how or where my card was "skimmed". The charges posted to my account were from Texas to Pennsylvania, New York, Boston and California. Match dot com, Amtrak, Ralph Lauren, Uber Technologies, Bravo telecommunications, Paypal. All sorts of random stuff.

 

My bank, Wells Fargo has already replaced most of the money taken from my account. I just want to warn everyone to be careful with your travel plans and any info you share. Tough lesson and a huge pain in my rear end to straighten out. It ended my wonderful vacation on a sour note.

 

Please everyone just be careful. The officer who took my police report told me it was just a matter of time before virtually EVERYONE is a victim of this kind of fraud. :(

Sorry that happened to you. Thank goodness you will be able to get your money back. It is unfortunate that we have to be extra vigilant to protect ourselves these days. I keep my credit cards in a sleeve that I ordered on Amazon. I ordered them after I learned that if a credit card has a little symbol that looks like a WiFi signal, the card's information can be skimmed by someone standing a few feet away.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CMAA9X4/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm pretty sure the skimming happened before I ever left home. I have learned my lesson. We'll be using checks to pay our bills from now on and I will in no circumstances be posting about my excitement for an upcoming vacation.

I haven't asked my bank to send me a new debit card. I can use cash or checks for what ever shopping I need to do. My banker did suggest we use credit cards instead of debit cards when ever possible.

We're fortunate that this was more of an inconvenience than a disaster. There was a time in life when this would have been the end of the world because we lived pay check to pay check. I have to find the silver lining.

On the upside.....we had an amazing cruise!