Fraudulent Charges on Credit Cards

[trilingual]

In the crash we lost some posts on fraudulent credit card charges and how to contact your credit card while traveling.

 

In the FAQ section you'll find the toll-free numbers in Brazil and Argentina for contacting your Visa or MasterCard issuer back home. You should be able to use those numbers at any pay phone, hotel phone, or private phone. You may have problems using them on certain cell phones or at long-distance calling booths at cybercafes or "locutorios."

 

If you're traveling in other countries, you can find a complete list of numbers by going to the Visa or MasterCard websites. By looking under "how to report a lost card" or "contacting customer service" on those sites, you should get to their complete lists of toll-free numbers.

[Guest Tomcal_]

On the back of your MC or Visa there is a number you can call collect. I did it this last trip as I had forgot to call them before I left for Rio. Each Trip I call visa/master and tell them what dates I am arriving and leaving. Any charges after 9:00 pm of my departure date are not allowed. Usually if your number is stolen, it takes about 5 days for the a fradualant card to be made up with your number and someone elses name on it. It happened on my second trip to rio in 2002, but since I started giving the dates in advance to the credit card company, I have not had a problem.

When it did happen, the credit card company called me and asked if the charges where mine, I told them no and they immediately took them off.

[trilingual]

It IS a good idea to let your credit card company know in advance you'll be traveling abroad to avoid having the card unexpectedly blocked to avoid fraudulent usage.

 

Although you can call collect to the number on the card, using the Visa or MasterCard toll-free numbers is easier, if they have such numbers in the country you're visiting. If they don't, you'll have to call collect. The easiest way I've found to do that from outside the U.S. is to use AT&T's USADirect number for the country you're calling from. Just wait patiently for the prompts. Eventually you'll get one giving you the option of making a collect call. Just follow the instructions. DON'T HANG UP if your call initially gets a recorded announcement from the party you're calling. A live operator will come on the line to wait until a live person answers back in the U.S.

[Big Daddy]

Got a bit of a surprise on Thrusday when Bank of America charged my account with an additional $999.92 of fraudulent charges. This is after I had already reported over $1900 in late May. The first time they credited my account right away. Now I am being told it will be up to 10 days. I asked the call center why my account continues to be raided, even after reporting it to B of A. All they could do is mumble about time frame. Now they want me to close my account. My question to them was are they bright enough to credit a new account, with the money they are holding up from an old account. They assured me they were, but I have my doubts.

[Guest msclonly]

Where these charges from the Brazil trip?

[Big Daddy]

They all occurred between May 13th and May 17th, while I was still in Rio. The merchant making the charges appears to be some type of mail order or television sales company. I have closed my account and now am waiting to see what Bank Of America is doing about it. While I had other cards with me for an emrency (lucky I did because my account was drined by the 16th of May), I only used it at the sanunas. I may have used it at Corrujinha's one night when I was short of realis. The fraud did not come from Spa 73 as I did not use it there. My guess is was compromised either at Estacao or Point 202.

[Guest msclonly]

Just to be clear, it was being used as a DEBIT card?

[Big Daddy]

It had to be used as a credit card, as they do not have my pin number.

[trilingual]

If it was used as a credit card that will be helpful, because at some point, if there's a continuing dispute, you can demand to see the actual charge slips with your signature on them. Obviously, they'll be forged. Or there'll be no signature at all, and the bank really won't have a leg to stand on.

 

It's a pain in the ass, but unfortunately this happens (and not just in Brazil, naturally -- I never ran into this in Brazil, myself, but I did have problems once from a rather upscale restaurant in Lisbon!).

 

Good luck getting it all resolved and the money reinstated to your account!

[Guest msclonly]

I just thought it should be easier to recover from, when you know where the charges were made, as opposed to cash advances or deductions from an account.

 

I don't feel a need for debit cards, but not sure why other it just seems easier to withdraw from by fraud.

 

Charges you can disbute, and able to trace.