Volume 13, Issue 10
What’s Inside:
1 - 15 February 2014
30 BAHT
Is Your Money Safe?
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omplaints about ATM skimmers continue unabated, whilst it is becoming clear that refunding your stolen cash can be problematical. It is by no means standard practice for Thai banks to make a full restitution. One Pattaya expat, who had 100,000 baht stolen from his account, was reimbursed only 50 percent and then had to sign an undertaking with his bank not to claim again if something similar were to occur. Skimming means the secret obtaining of PIN numbers and ID information from the back of the magnetic strip on the back of ATM and credit cards. The earliest method was for a stranger to stand near the intended-victim during an ATM transaction to record private details. Then came fake pads and, more recently, tiny cameras in the ATM booth which are very difficult to spot and are often painted the same colour as the booth itself. Police say that the main problem is the everevolving technology and the fact that skimmers are often ahead of the banks’ security precautions. A fraud squad spokesman said, “Some fake numeric pads used to cover the genuine pad at ATMs are now undetectable. There is also increasing use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which means that the skimmer may be miles away from the ATM. Some skimming machines can even relay the stolen ID data to a mobile phone anywhere in the world.” His advice to ATM users is first to jiggle the card reader and to choose another machine if it moves to the touch. Other suggestions are to cover the transaction with your hands and to avoid using ATMs on weekends when there are only minimal bank personnel to look into any complaints. Another popular strategy is to keep only a small amount of cash in an ATMrelated account and to transfer cash to it as necessary from a secondary account which does not have ATM access. At least 20 foreigners have been arrested in Pattaya alone over the past year after being found with fake cards
and skimming paraphernalia. Most have been foreigners from the Middle East and Eastern Europe. They are mostly junior crooks, working for big bosses who may be thousands of miles away and receiving a proportion of the ill-gotten gains. A Barclays bank fraud expert said, “The stolen data may be from cards issued anywhere in the world. Skimming devices are currently being sold on line for a few dollars.”
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