Credit Card Fraud

[Charlielyn]

Last night I went on line to check out my VISA balance after my recent trip to Puerto Plata. I noticed 2 fraudulent charges on my statement. I have contacted my bank and have had my card cancelled.

There were 2 charges, each 1 day apart, at local gas stations. I do not buy gas or shop at gas stations. Someone filled up a large vehicle each time. $2000 pesos and $1900 pesos.

I used my credit card twice at the hotel that I was staying at - Blue Bay Villas. Once to pay for the safety deposit box and once to pay for an evening pass for a British friend from Santo Domingo. Somehow they made a duplicate of my card and swiped it at the gas stations.

All other transactions were cash deals. I was always in possession of my credit card and have it right now, so it was not stolen. It was duplicated.

The bank is investigating these 2 transactions and I have cancelled my credit card.

If you have been travelling and using a credit card, may I suggest that you check your transactions carefully. You only have 30 days to respond to fraudulent charges.

[jalencastro]

wow this is ridiculous, I hope they catch the perpretator/s. Sad that we have to keep a close eye on our credit card use....

[leekiv]

Originally Posted by Charlielyn

Last night I went on line to check out my VISA balance after my recent trip to Puerto Plata. I noticed 2 fraudulent charges on my statement. I have contacted my bank and have had my card cancelled.

There were 2 charges, each 1 day apart, at local gas stations. I do not buy gas or shop at gas stations. Someone filled up a large vehicle each time. $2000 pesos and $1900 pesos.

I used my credit card twice at the hotel that I was staying at - Blue Bay Villas. Once to pay for the safety deposit box and once to pay for an evening pass for a British friend from Santo Domingo. Somehow they made a duplicate of my card and swiped it at the gas stations.

All other transactions were cash deals. I was always in possession of my credit card and have it right now, so it was not stolen. It was duplicated.

The bank is investigating these 2 transactions and I have cancelled my credit card.

If you have been travelling and using a credit card, may I suggest that you check your transactions carefully. You only have 30 days to respond to fraudulent charges.

or was the number just manually input. In that I mean can the bank tell you that it was swiped? Can they tell? Just curious and glad you caught it.Best of luck to you.

[rio2003]

Originally Posted by Charlielyn

Last night I went on line to check out my VISA balance after my recent trip to Puerto Plata. I noticed 2 fraudulent charges on my statement. I have contacted my bank and have had my card cancelled.

There were 2 charges, each 1 day apart, at local gas stations. I do not buy gas or shop at gas stations. Someone filled up a large vehicle each time. $2000 pesos and $1900 pesos.

I used my credit card twice at the hotel that I was staying at - Blue Bay Villas. Once to pay for the safety deposit box and once to pay for an evening pass for a British friend from Santo Domingo. Somehow they made a duplicate of my card and swiped it at the gas stations.

All other transactions were cash deals. I was always in possession of my credit card and have it right now, so it was not stolen. It was duplicated.

The bank is investigating these 2 transactions and I have cancelled my credit card.

If you have been travelling and using a credit card, may I suggest that you check your transactions carefully. You only have 30 days to respond to fraudulent charges.

Wow,
Well spotted Charlielyn and how timely is this in view of the recent threads on potential fraud at ATM machines and also the poster asking about using a credit card to pay for things in Puerto Plata?
Villas Doradas is a fairly small hotel (compared to the others in Playa Dorada) let's hope that they catch whoever is up to no good, and quick!
Are you still out there? Enjoy the rest of your trip...

Rio

[SKY]

This is old news. Use your credit cards at your own risk here, or in most Latin countries. Myself, no chance of ever using one here. NONE.

[Robert]

I use a credit card all the time in the DR and have never had a problem. I must have done 500+ transtions here.

Credit card fraud and identity theft is everywhere, it's not unique to the DR.
Just like at the USA, it's a massive problem, but people still use their CC's everyday.

[korejdk]

Last week I used my debit card at Playero in Sosua, and the transaction was duplicated. Although my bank took care of it immediately, I doubt that I'll ever use any card in the DR again.

[SKY]

It seem to me that the people that live here all the time, like Robert do not have these problems. This is only conjecture, but the non residents stick out like a sore thumb here, and possibly the people doing the scamming would rather pick on someone that is gone quickly.

Just an educated guess.

[rio2003]

Originally Posted by Robert

Credit card fraud and identity theft is everywhere, it's not unique to the DR.

That is very true, but in the US and UK measures are being bought in all the time in an effort to try to combat this and outwit the fraudsters. The old method of a manual swipe and handwriting of the docket is just about obsolete here now but is still very widely used in the DR. I was surprised to see this used when I rented a jeep in January and notified the bank immediately of the amount and that not a peso more could or should be charged.

Rio

[montreal]

I know people who have done this (definitely not friends!). It happens to AI tourists all the time. Easy targets I guess.

Employees of places where you use your card take your number down (including resorts and gift shops). These are petty thieves and I doubt they have the knowledge to duplicate cards. Then they go to the gas station (or any store, although gas stations seem to be the most common) where their friend works and pass fraudulent transactions (often WITHOUT ever buying gas). They pocket the cash. This happens all the time in the DR. Some people have 10,000 pesos charges on their cards (too much to be a gas fill-up). Others just have many small charges.

Usually banks are very quick at pinpointing these discrepancies and advise the cardholder almost immediately. At least, because many people do not check their statements ; )

Good thing you caught it Charlielyn! It is a hassle to have to cancel your card...