Kalkan Turkey Forum - EnjoyKalkan.com
Kalkan Discussion => Money & Finance => Topic started by: DawnT on May 06, 2008, 11:41:52 PM
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Hi Everyone
Just thought that I would post this warning to all. I have just come back from 2 recent trips to Kalkan to furnish our new apartment. I managed to use our Debit card on quite a few occasions (as you do!!), but have today have had the horrible phone call from the bank to inform me that our card has been cloned!!!
The bank haven''t been able to tell me where or when this has happened, but it was used at various shops, restaurants and to withdraw cash from both AK bank and Yapi Kredit. The card is now being used in Germany at various cashpoint machines!! My advice to all, is just be careful when using cards and never let the card out of sight at restaurants. Trying to explain to my husband that I haven''t spent all the money on handbags or jewellery has been a tough job today!!!
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Hi Dawn
what a frightening thought. I''ve heard of cloned cards but don''t understand how one could be used at a cash point as you need a pin number for that. Anyone know how this could happen? I always use my debit card for cash while in Kalkan ???
Hope you aren''t liable for any of the transactions Dawn and your bank sorts it out for you
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this is very annoying news..it just goes to show No where is safe.I think people will be nervous about upsetting hosts after a meal and an evening out if the card gets taken away while settling a bill..it''s what people that do this rely on..i think if i was in a place i go regularly and know the staff i would be happy to sit and wait.If however,it was my first time in a place and they wished to take my card away i would have no qualms about insisting i''m with it!! Dawn you have my full sympathy..friends of ours on a trip to Istanbul with us were pickpocketed..they are "streetwise" but were still got! although the cards etc were stopped it was still an inconvenience >:(
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Many thanks for the support! We just happen to be very "streetwise" as well (having been brought up in the Eastend of London), but unfortunately this has happened. I like many others are very trusting of the all the people in Kalkan, but this can happen anywhere in the world even at some of the best hotels/restaurants etc, luckily we will get a refund, but it''s just sooo annoying. How they figured out the Pin number is beyond me!!
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Dawn, sorry to hear this.
Regards getting the PIN number... apparently (and frighteningly so) it''s fairly easy. One just needs a stripe reader hooked up to a PC running appropriate software. Note I haven''t done this myself, this comes from one of my extended family (on a theoretical basis, I''m assured).
BL''s right, nowhere''s safe these days. I consider myself fairly streetwise (for an old git) and still I''ve been done/had/scammed in UK, Zimbabwe and even here in Switzerland. Obviously the Swiss scam was the most efficient and least painful... When visiting foreign climes these days, I carry a dummy wallet containing a couple of expired credit cards, 10 US dollars and a five pound note. Whatever else would need a surgeon to locate/extract.
Let''s be careful out there.
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Ooh, so sorry to hear this very bad news. Let''s hope this is an isolated incident.
I can''t verify this but I''ve been told both in Mexico and in Spain that ''cloners'' use dummy card machines that copy both the card details and the pin number when you put it in the machine. This is one reason why we never use debit cards as they require putting in the pin number. However, maybe from now on we''ll pay everything in cash!
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i live in the south of England(Fareham) recently towns across the south have ben hit by card cloning gangs..they are mainly east european (some caught)and have been active in Portsmouth,Southampton and places in between,the cleverer ones are even installing a minature camera in the area above the card panel..this is done in seconds with sticky back!!thus they have your pin,the other method is shoulder surfing and distraction..i won''t use a machine outside a bank and only use ones inside now...it''s the modern world i''m afraid!! ::)
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Vieux.con
There is no way a pin can be read of the back of a card ,as it isn''t held on the card itself. I saw an article a while ago that gave the most common ways of getting hold of you PIN in order of popularity. From memory these were
- looking over your shoulder
- video camera
- fake cashpoint
- asking you for it ("to check that it is your card")
- doctored handheld reader (that stores details of the card/pins)
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another prime example of doctored machines were a gang working in garages(national chain of forecourts)every so often the card reader was changed and a bogus one used which skimmed all the details..the following day the employee doesn''t turn up for work......if after all this techno theft you escape with your identity ,cards,cash intact..our towns are full of feral youths only glad to relieve you of wallets ,phones etc >:(
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What an awful thing to have to experience, Dawn.
It is sad the way we have to be on our guard so much these days..at cashpoints, in shops, on line etc.
I don''t think it matters how ''street wise'' we are, theres always going to be new ways found to rob us of our hard earned cash. >:(
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Agree a terrible and stressful thing to happen Dawn, makes me wonder if it is worth looking at pre-paid credit cards whilst abroad so at least your losses can be somewhat limited... I have found a comparison site at http://www.what-prepaid-card.co.uk/features/compare-cards-prepaid.html - some it seems do not charge for foreign transactions which may even put standard credit cards to shame!
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My card was cloned a couple of years ago. We had been in Kalkan to furnish our apartment and used the card to pay for a variety of things. It was used in Brussels to run up a debt of about £800 and the fraud people at the bank said Turkey was a likely place for it to have been cloned. We never let it out of our sight when it was used. I got it all repaid but since then I will only use the card at an ATM & pay cash for everything.
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That''s exactly what we do, Kalkan Regular, both here and abroad these days. Although in the US, when you use cash you''re almost frowned upon...and in Ikea in the UK they have to call the supervisor to check if you pay for your goods in cash over a certain threshold - think it''s £200.....made us feel like money launderers ;) ;)
Cash also reminds you exactly how much you are paying for those "must-have" items....very sobering ::)
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I''ve found out today that the debit card on my business account has been used for ''buying'' £1000 worth of travel money. I have never used this card in a shop or cashpoint but it has been used to pay for goods online or over the phone. When I spoke to the bank they confirmed the company involved in the transaction has appeared a lot this week in fraudulent purchases. I know that you get a refund on fraudulent purchases but it''s the inconvenience that is caused in the meantime. This is the 3rd time on three different accounts that my cards have been cloned or the numbers used and athough I have tried to be as careful as you can be I don''t think any credit or debit cards are fraud proof. :o
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This sort of thing can happen anywhere. My sister had her card cloned after eating out in Brighton. The card was used to purchase white goods over the internet to the tune of £3,000. Fortunately the bank were suspicious as this was not a normal buying habit and cancelled her card and refunded the money very quickly. However it just goes to prove you have to be very careful these days.
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"card not present" fraud over the phone seems to be the riskiest. Usually rely on my card for eating out in Kalkan but this year will be careful to keep it in sight - one or two restaurants have disappeared out the back with the card, but been lucky? so far as have always felt safe from this type of scam in Kalkan.
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If you have a good idea how much you will spend transfer some cash from you cc to a bank account with a maestro or switch card and use that, then if there is a problem there will be no money to spend, and if you need more you can always transfer more to the account
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have to agree with John. We always notify our bank of where we are going and for how long.
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Thanks, once again for all the support and advice. From now on it''s cash all the way for us.