Warning about ATM machines at Banco Do Brasil...

[ohgwm226]

I attempted to get cash from an ATM machine at Banco Do Brasil branch on Ave. Copacabana not far from Siquera Campus in Rio using my bank debit card. I got an error message : System Malfunction. I gave up without getting any cash. To my utter surprise, when I checked my account on-line 3 days later,the maximum allowed daily withdrawl from my account was charged to my account every day. No other charges were posted. I called my bank in USA to block the debit card. I was told that criminals use certain devices to copy the info of your card from the ATM machine immediately after you use your card.

However the fact that the machine gave me an error message, but recorded the transaction as completed, and that no one tried to use copy of my card to charge anything else, and that all fraudlant daily withdrawls were presumably done from Banco do Brasil ATM machine make me thing that this was an inside job from a bank worker who rigged the machine.

So, be warned. Do not use Debit cards in Banc Do Brasil ATM machines..

 

OHGWM226

 

 

OHGWM226

[Guest dreynsol]

I can relate to your story that I have used my debit card at Banco Do Brasil to withdraw money and it seems that they deduct the money from my account whether the transaction is successful or not.

 

In my case though, they issued a credit within the next day or two.

 

The majority of the cases that they rejected my transaction was due to the fact that I did not notify my bank I would be making withdrawals in Brasil.

 

Good luck in getting this resolved.

 

- Drey

[Guest ihpguy]

I have never had a problem using the ATM's at HSBC locations. The locations in Copacabana near Rua Santa Clara, Ipanema on Avenida De Paiva, Cinelandia on the south side of Praca Floriano, in Catete on Rua de Catete just south of the metro have never not worked and more imortant always had money, never been empty, something that has happened at my own bank, Bradesco, where I keep Reais for the automatic debits on the utilities for my home. And where they unfortunately give me a worse exchange rate than what I get from HSBC branches in Rio. The branch on Rua da Assamblaia just east of Avendia Rio Branco is the branch I normally go to since it is near the boat, and I have never had problems there. Around the corner, at the branch on Rio Branco, almost directly behind the Confeteria Colombo, the keys on the machines frequently do not work or are out of money. And this bramch has very long lines. If you are in Centro, and it is also very close to the metro stop Carioca, head to the branch on the north side of Assemblaia between Rio Branco and Rua da Quitanda. As of February 18th, they still were not charging a withdrawal fee. And right across the street is a travel agency/cambio with a good exchange rate better than the banks and no exchange fee. Just prefer not to carry sufficient cash with me for my total visit.

[trilingual]

On occasion I've had Brazilian ATMs go through the entire withdrawal transaction only to find that they're out of cash. I just used another machine, but on my bank statement I would see 2 withdrawals for the same amount, with one of them cancelled out by a credit. Usually that shows up on the online bank statement the next day. I've never had to ask them to do that, they seem to do it automatically, so I guess they have a way of knowing if a transaction wasn't actually completed.

 

Although Bradesco machines have lower limits and are sometimes out of cash they don't charge an extra fee for use and neither does HSBC. Citibank charges for withdrawals on other banks' cards.

[ohgwm226]

In my case, I still do not think that this was a true machine running out of cash/error/malfunction. The money was not only deducted from my account, and never re-credited, but also further withdrawals were made daily for 3 days to the maximum allowed amount. This stopped only when I called my bank in USA, and asked them to block the debit card. My bank is investigating the incident, and promised to refund all withdrawn amount (Total of about $3000).

 

OHGWM226

[trilingual]

What happened to ohgwm clearly wasn't an ATM malfunction. There have been reports in the papers here about clever thieves who manage to replace an ATMs card reader with a device of their own that records all of the account information (including the password) so that the thieves can then clean out the accounts. Although this can't be an easy thing to accomplish, there have been several instances and it sounds like ohgwm ran into such a scam. I haven't seen many reports of this happening, and I don't think many of the cases were in the Zona Sul in Rio, but travelers should be aware that something like this could happen and monitor their accounts online while they're traveling to avoid unpleasant surprises. With the number of cybercafes available there's no reason not to spend 10 or 15 minutes every couple of days being sure that nobody is fiddling with your money! A word to the wise. . .

[ohgwm226]

I agree with Tilingual for the need to monitor your account frequently on-line when travelling. I discovered the problem the first day the money was deducted from my account, but then I assumed it was only an ATM malfunction. When I checked my account 2 days later I discovered that daily deductions were continued, so it was clear to me it was not ATM dysfunction, but a scam/fraud.

According to my bank, criminals use a device to read the info of you card from the ATM machine immediately after you used it, including your PIN. The bank was not surprised with what happened, and I was told they had such incidents before. I used ATM's inside the bank branch. I wonder if this was an inside job/scam planned by some-one who works for the bank, and has easy access to the machines. Who knows?.

 

OHGWM226