BajaNomad - BANCOMER ATM ENSENADA STOLE MY DEBIT CARD # & PIN

BANCOMER ATM ENSENADA STOLE MY DEBIT CARD # & PIN

seapeople - 1-10-2011 at 10:11 AM

Just a warning to everybody out there. I used the ATM in the Bancomer in the Walmart shopping center in Ensenada on December 26th. When I got home, I found someone had been making a bunch of purchases in Ensenada using my card # and PIN. :mad:

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, I didn't leave or lose my card. But the investigation by my bank says both the card # and the PIN were used. BEWARE of the Bancomer ATM!

DENNIS - 1-10-2011 at 10:17 AM

Thanks. I use that ATM a lot. I used to anyway. No Mas.
I've been otherwise swindled by ATMs here five times...no money...wrong amount. I've always got it back from my bank, Chase, with a minimum of nonsense. Hope you have the same luck.

What kind of stuff did they buy with your card?

DENNIS - 1-10-2011 at 10:23 AM

Ya know....it just occured to me that perhaps travelers to Mexico from the states should have more than one card to the same account so, in the event this or anything else happens, they will still have access to their much needed money.

Bajajorge - 1-10-2011 at 10:24 AM

The Bancomer ATMs around San Felipe used to be famous for not returning the ATM cards after transactions. They have since installed newer models and it seems to have cured the problem at the moment. Haven't heard any horror stories recently.

makana.gabriel - 1-10-2011 at 10:47 AM

What Dennis said is a very good idea. I lost a wallet once traveling in Jalisco but fortunately I had made a duplicate wallet with credit cards etc and hid it under my spare tire. This was many years ago and I don't know what I would have done without it.

Bob and Susan - 1-10-2011 at 11:23 AM

was your usa bank citibank?

toneart - 1-10-2011 at 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
Ya know....it just occured to me that perhaps travelers to Mexico from the states should have more than one card to the same account so, in the event this or anything else happens, they will still have access to their much needed money.

Dennis,
I would think than when the theft is discovered, your bank would cancel your ATM card, so a duplicate would not be valid. It would be better to have two different accounts (different banks?) for that purpose.

For those who live fairly close to the border, you would just have to make the trip to your U.S. bank to get a new card.

I don't know how efficiently they could get a new card to members who are further south. Maybe other Nomads could offer their experience in getting new cards in BCS.

Mexitron - 1-10-2011 at 12:35 PM

I asked my bank for a duplicate card since my cards get scratched up so fast (being a mason/landscaper the cement and dust finds its way into everything). They wouldn't issue a second card though since the new cards have unique encoded gizmos or something...however if you have a joint account then your significant other would have another card.

Where????

bajaguy - 1-10-2011 at 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by seapeople
Just a warning to everybody out there. I used the ATM in the Bancomer in the Walmart shopping center in Ensenada...... BEWARE of the Bancomer ATM!

Was this IN the Wal-Mart???? or some other location/store

Santiago - 1-10-2011 at 01:41 PM

Is this the Wal-Mart & Home Depot spot on the west side of Hiway 1? Ditto bajaguy's ?

DENNIS - 1-10-2011 at 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Santiago
Is this the Wal-Mart & Home Depot spot on the west side of Hiway 1? Ditto bajaguy's ?

That has to be it. They're the only ones here.

I should have read the lead post more carefully. I thought his reference was to the WalMart store, but it appears to have happened in the bank. I didn't even know there's a Bancomer there. Doesn't mean there isn't. I just don't pay attention.

Dec.26 was a Sunday so the ATM must be outside.

Location

bajaguy - 1-10-2011 at 01:58 PM

yeah, I mis-read also.....sounds like it was the bank

Bajahowodd - 1-10-2011 at 02:12 PM

Is there even a branch or an ATM there? Looks to me like there's an ATM in Costco.

http://www.bancomer.com.mx/minisitios/sucursales/resultados....

Could the card have been used by seapeople anywhere else for a purchase, perhaps?

DENNIS - 1-10-2011 at 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Is there even a branch or an ATM there? Looks to me like there's an ATM in Costco.

http://www.bancomer.com.mx/minisitios/sucursales/resultados....

Could the card have been used by seapeople anywhere else for a purchase, perhaps?

Maybe Anthony's. His mind is suppressing the entire evening.

There is a bank there that I know of, but it isn't Bancomer. I forget what it is.
There could be a Bancomer in there somewhere.

Bancomer is the "eating bank" as you know.......ban-comer

Banco Serfin is the surfing bank.

There's specialty banks for just about everything. :biggrin:

DENNIS - 1-10-2011 at 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Looks to me like there's an ATM in Costco.

Those are the best ATMs in town. They never run out of money.
Monday morning is the very worst time to use the local ATMs. After a busy weekend, they will run dry and strange things can happen.

msteve1014 - 1-10-2011 at 05:31 PM

I think it is the atm that is in a little glass room, don't remember if it is attached to a whole bank.I am always there WAY before a bank would open. It is very close to Mc Donalds.That room has never been locked in all the times I have used it, but has the card lock set up on the door.

DavidE - 1-10-2011 at 06:33 PM

Get new cards and try them out before you leave home. NOTIFY YOUR BANK that you'll be in Mexico. I have an online account and I can verify account activity almost monute-by-minute.

The "get new cards" recommendation came from an ATM technician who claimed 80% of Mexican ATM card rejections are due to a damaged or worn magnetic stripe on the back.

oladulce - 1-11-2011 at 08:06 AM

Standing in the parking lot facing McDonalds- to the right is ScotiaBank, and moving clockwise the major businesses are TelCel , then Bancomer, or vice versa. There's always a lot of traffic going in and out of that Bancomer branch when I've been at the Scotia atm so I bet it was a lucrative rip off.

güero - 1-11-2011 at 09:06 AM

There is a large branch of Bancomer in the shopping center. An employee there speaks english. Her name is Liliana, phone # 646-173-3891, ext 10.

goldhuntress - 1-11-2011 at 09:29 AM

After reading another post about this same kind of problem, and also hearing about similar incidents on my local news and getting a fraudulent charge on my card after buying books on Amazon.com before Xmas, I started wondering about the skimmers, especially what do they look like. So here's what I googled. http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/01/would-you-have-spotted-th...
http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/

Also, you can buy one online and start your career as a criminal/thief for as little as $300.

ArvadaGeorge - 1-11-2011 at 10:19 AM

I used that ATM on 12-28-10 and it worked fine.

DENNIS - 1-11-2011 at 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ArvadaGeorge
I used that ATM on 12-28-10 and it worked fine.

Seeing the links for the "Skimmer", I can begin to see how one could be put in place over a holiday weekend, such as Christmas. It looks like easy installation and removal.
If that's the case, Bancomer must have had numerous complaints. I wonder if anyone has talked with them. Don't know why they would unless they had an account there, but I'm just wondering.

shari - 1-11-2011 at 12:27 PM

you can get a replacement credit or bank card Fed-Ex'ed to any bank here in mexico...it's best to meet someone at the bank and put it in their name and have them hold it for you.

DENNIS - 1-11-2011 at 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shari
you can get a replacement credit or bank card Fed-Ex'ed to any bank here in mexico...it's best to meet someone at the bank and put it in their name and have them hold it for you.

Is FedEx down here? I've seen DHL and UPS, but not FedEx.

toneart - 1-11-2011 at 12:43 PM

Quote:

Thank you Shari! You are the only one that read my post in this string and answered for folks living in Baja Sur.

I also said that one would need for the the compromised ATM card to be canceled and then replaced with a new card with different card and pin number. Simply having and using a duplicate wouldn't work because the bad guys have the original. :light:

bajalou - 1-11-2011 at 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Is FedEx down here? I've seen DHL and UPS, but not FedEx.

I think they share delivery services.

DENNIS - 1-11-2011 at 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalou
I think they share delivery services.

OhOh..That's not good. I prefer competition. It keeps the prices down.

bajalou - 1-11-2011 at 01:56 PM

In some parts of the world there just isn't enough business to have a delivery fleet. Pooling with other carriers keeps costs down. Here in the old country, a lot of UPS toes to the post office and USPS does the local delivery. Not all by any means. I've had both UPS and the post office deliver to me the same day, and both parcels started on UPS.

goldhuntress - 1-11-2011 at 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lencho

Quote:

Originally posted by goldhuntress
...and getting a fraudulent charge on my card after buying books on Amazon.com before Xmas

Do you think that an Internet transaction to Amazon resulted in compromise of your credit card information? If that's true, there's a serious security breach somewhere. Did you perchance do that from a potentially-compromised computer?

--Larry

I made the transaction from my laptop at home. It was a credit card I got through Amazon(Chase Bank) a few months earlier and only used on Amazon. It is connected directly to my Amazon account, I use the one click shopping feature so maybe that's not a very good practice but nothing actually pointed to that, it's widely done. The charge was $280 to Nigertexasholdem. The Chase Rep rattled off a few ways it can happen but didn't have a definitive answer.
In the reading I've done about the ATM skimmers, there are hidden cameras involved so they can see your pin number as you put it in so be sure to block all views even if no one is around. Even if they get the card number they can't use it without the pin.

Bajahowodd - 1-11-2011 at 02:39 PM

I guess my question is whether you had used the card elsewhere at any time close to your Amazon transaction?

I had my card cloned a couple of years ago at a restaurant in Ensenada. It was about ten days later when it came to my attention, as an alert security rep at Nordstrom in Orange County contacted my bank. It was a woman using the card. She used it five times that day, both in Newport Beach and Westminster.

Just saying that it may have had nothing to do with your online transaction, unless you had not used the card elsewhere for a period of time.

goldhuntress - 1-11-2011 at 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
I guess my question is whether you had used the card elsewhere at any time close to your Amazon transaction?

No, never. It's been in my safe since I got it. I use another card for everything else.

DENNIS - 1-11-2011 at 02:54 PM

Something similar happened to me with Amazon. I made a purchase and as noted on my online banking, another debit for 145 dollars came right after the Amazon withdrawal.
I had no idea what it was and called my bank. They immediatlyresearched the issue and found a number on the unknown debit that related it to Amazon. The bank refunded the withdrawal.

It gets worse. I have a mail service here pick up my mail in San Ysidro, signing for package deliveries, and bringing it all down here. In my delivery, there was a padded envelope with no return address whatsoever. I opened it and it contained a few of those foam packing peanuts and a small, blank piece of paper.
Shortly thereafter, the refunded money in my account was again withdrawn. I complained....the bank looked into it and found that the order was delivered and signed for.
I'm out 145 bucks.

msteve1014 - 1-11-2011 at 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by toneart

Quote:

Thank you Shari! You are the only one that read my post in this string and answered for folks living in Baja Sur.

We all read your post. Maybe Shari is the first one to have the answer. :light:

wilderone - 1-12-2011 at 09:29 AM

"The Chase Rep rattled off a few ways it can happen but didn't have a definitive answer. In the reading I've done about the ATM skimmers, there are hidden cameras involved so they can see your pin number as you put it in so be sure to block all views even if no one is around."

When I found unauthorized purchases on my bank card, the bank's security company called me and asked me about them, citing suspicious transactions. That's the type of proactive service you need. The purchases were made in the UK. The security guy told me many times, bank insiders sell account info. Perpetrators make new cards and use them quickly until the theft is discovered.
So skimming gizmos, insiders selling info, hackers tapping into account info, cloning cards, brazen use of info vis a vis point of sale transactions - we are victims in many ways. Most times we're covered by the bank's fraud practices, but still hurts overall economy with bank and merchant losses - and the thieves are worldwide.
My mom doesn't even have an ATM card - I think she's on to something.

toneart - 1-12-2011 at 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by msteve1014

Quote:

Originally posted by toneart

Quote:

Thank you Shari! You are the only one that read my post in this string and answered for folks living in Baja Sur.

We all read your post. Maybe Shari is the first one to have the answer. :light:

Oops! Thank you for pointing that out. I just practicing, tryin' to gain respect by being cranky in my advancing years. :light:

seapeople - 1-17-2011 at 03:48 PM

To All:
The Bancomer is not IN the walmart, but on the south side of the shopping center. It's building is just west of highway 1 and borders the access road south on the south end of the shopping center. The ATM machines (2) are located inside a glass walled room in the front of the bank. The ATM did not eat my card. It dispensed the appropriate cash, gave me a reciept and returned my card. The information from the card and my PIN were"Skimmed" (new term for me in regards to this). They purchased miscelaneous crap ending with $600 in furniture. I belong to a credit union and they have been taking care of me. They immediately cancelled both the card I use and my wifes copy of the same card. They also immediately credited my account with the amounts deducted. It looks like I may get stuck with a few small fees, but that's about it.
It is interesting to read about how easy it is to set up a skimming business.

Bajahowodd - 1-17-2011 at 05:59 PM

The sad fact about this is that the combination of the wide proliferation of this crime, combined with federal law restricting a cardholder's obligation, just drives up other fees the banks charge. I really don't see a quick fix to the problem unless and until a much more sophisticated security system is employed. Considering that DMVs are now taking fingerprints, some form of this technology may ultimately be employed at the point of sale, but I just don't know how that might be incorporated into sales over the internet.

DENNIS - 1-17-2011 at 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
onsidering that DMVs are now taking fingerprints, some form of this technology may ultimately be employed at the point of sale, but I just don't know how that might be incorporated into sales over the internet.

How about something like this:

http://www.aoptix.com/iris-recognition/?gclid=CJSnm9XIwqYCFR...

durrelllrobert - 1-19-2011 at 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by msteve1014
I think it is the atm that is in a little glass room, don't remember if it is attached to a whole bank.I am always there WAY before a bank would open. It is very close to Mc Donalds.That room has never been locked in all the times I have used it, but has the card lock set up on the door.

that would be the Santander bank. there are a total of 5 banks at the Macro Plaza now.

durrelllrobert - 1-19-2011 at 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Is there even a branch or an ATM there? Looks to me like there's an ATM in Costco.

there is a total of 5 banks at the Costco/Wallmart Macro Plaza.

msteve1014 - 1-19-2011 at 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by durrelllrobert

Quote:

that would be the Santander bank. there are a total of 5 banks at the Macro Plaza now.

No, it would be the bancomer bank. I bank with wells fargo up here, and use bancomer down there.