Debit/credit card skimming-warning

I’m not sure what Schwab told you, but the chances of someone actually scanning your credit card at the airport and getting the information they needed to do debit withdrawals, including your pin is so incredibly rare as to be basically nonexistent

https://www.rfidjournal.com/ask-the-experts/how-easily-can-data-be-stolen-from-rfid-credit-cards/

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/rfid-wallets-purses/

RFID blocking would not have prevented this because someone has hit your account. I would suggest that Schwab needs to look at themselves.

Did you tell Schwab you were leaving the country with their card?

Carol, thanks for the information. I’m not sure what to think. We have not used the card since September. It was not out of my husband’s wallet since September, was not used at the airport, he took it out for the first time a couple days ago, in an attempt to withdraw cash.

Yes, I notified Schwab we were traveling. Interestingly, the day the first withdrawal was made.

If the funds were not skimmed, then perhaps the account was compromised in September in Venice??

It is very odd that the first withdrawal was the day we left for this trip.

Yes, we had heard the RFID technology was not worthwhile, but hadn’t had recent updates.

We are both retired, but both of us have MBAs in Finance, that just to say we don’t think of ourselves as novices, though we’ve been retired a few years, now.

I think my biggest takeaway for fellow travelers is to have multiple accounts to draw from while traveling.

If Schwab figures anything out, and it appears that there was an issue in their end, we may request them to repay our fees we are incurring.

I’m interested in the thoughts of others. I also want to say this is not a plea for help. We will be fine with our remaining resources.

You notified Schwab and the account is immediately hit. I’d say Schwab has a problem. The chances are much better I’m they have a rogue employee than you got scanned.

When you get home, make sure the address on your account has not been changed. I have that happened to me one time. My address suddenly got moved to Indiana

Carol, yes, interesting coincidence? Or maybe fraudulent activity. When I called to inform them of impending travel, I didn’t have my husband’s card, so I only gave my number. However, certainly the person on the other end of the call has access to all our info.

I can confirm what Carol wrote. It’s highly unlikely that someone got the details they needed by walking past you with a device. Just try it out for yourself the next time you make a payment. Start by holding your wallet with your card inside at arm’s length from the payment terminal and slowly move it towards the payment terminal. Even if your wallet doesn’t have RFID protection, the payment terminal will either not be able to read your card or only when you press your wallet right against the payment terminal.

jules, I set up text and push alerts for EVERY single credit/debit card I have and I'm notified of any transaction over $50. I think you have to do that these days. it's a pain but otherwise you run the risk of experiencing what you did.

I see part of this. You only told them your card number as your husband was not there. Unfortunately, and stupid as it seems, that is not sufficient for them to attach the alert to his card also. During my prior days as a married couple both travel accounts, one of which was Schwab, each had two ATM cards, different numbers. And we both had to get on the phone for updates to both.

jules, I set up text and push alerts for EVERY single credit/debit
card I have and I'm notified of any transaction over $50. I think you
have to do that these days. it's a pain but otherwise you run the risk
of experiencing what you did.

Ditto

I have been ditto-ing Mardee a lot lately.

Jules, sorry this happened to you. It’s a good reminder to everyone to travel with more than on bank’s credit card and debit card and to set alerts on all cards. What is Schwab going to do about the fraudulent withdrawals?

Fidelity has cash management accounts, debit cards with no fee, no foreign transaction fee, atm fee reimbursement. Their Visa card is the same. The ATM card is for a small travel account. I don’t carry the ATM cards for the savings account or bank account. Three credit cards are from brokerage and banks. I do take enough cash to pay for any hotel that wants cash; I just find it easier.
Not to get into the money belt debate, except for daily use credit card, I carry all cards, cash and passport in my money belt.

I do use RFID card holders. Not because I believe in the need for RFID, but because I can note each holder with the type of card and the PIN number, coded as (bank) CC/ATM and pin “brother’s birthday” as an example. I’m getting forgetful plus it’s quicker than to look up my pin notes.
Kathy

I had a card number compromised in Mexico, just noting it takes time, a week or more, from the time of theft of info to first fraudulent use.

I have been ditto-ing Mardee a lot lately.

Ha ha ha, that made me laugh so hard!!! Thanks, Mr. E!!!

Having a card compromised, is like getting a communicable disease, you always think you know how it happened, but you usually are wrong. Over the years, I have had cards compromised with no logical or sane method apparent. The oddest one was on a card that I received (a store based card, able to be used at a number of retailers) that was never even activated (Both they and I confirmed that). Many are done by brute force attacks, trying thousands of credit card numbers and other data in small transactions, until one of them "hits", then they exploit that card.

Unfortunately, information gets out there in many more ways than we want to know about, and rarely are they by "skimming". Might also note that this is more a "US problem"; Europe's incidence of card fraud is miniscule by US standards, but then they aggressively initiate things like the EMV Chip, use of PINs or contactless, 3DS and other verification methods for online purchases, and a greater onus on the people accepting transactions to verify.

Fortunately, the US has generous fraud protection, I have never been out a dime in the several incidences I have had over the years, though unfortunately, about your only protection is vigilance, and frequent checks of your account.

Jules, sorry this happened to you. I agree with your takeaway point that we all need to have multiple accounts to draw from both debit for ATMs and credit. I have an Edward Jones debit card that I only use on vacation. About a month before I travel I use it somewhere locally - usually the grocery store - just to make sure it's still active. My other debit card I use all the time so I know it's good.

My last CC compromise was my AMEX card. I have it flagged for a notification if the card is not used in person so when my phone started going off in the middle of the night here at home I wondered what was up. When I checked in the AM...yep a bunch of AMEX charges. I knew I was not sleep-shopping, hahaha!

In my last few trips, I've hardly used cash at all but I've not had lodging that required a cash payment.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip! Thanks for checking in!

Curious- how will you get or see text alerts on withdrawals if you are using eSim on your phone?

Curious- how will you get or see text alerts on withdrawals if you are using eSim on your phone?

I use T-mobile's international plan so texts are no problem for me, but you can usually set them up so that you get email alerts or push notifications, instead of texts.

Or for the time you are on your trip, just make it a point to check your accounts every evening when you're in your hotel room.

Good news, Schwab has reimbursed us and money is back in the account. That was in less than 24 hours. I can at least use my card. They said both of the fraudulent withdrawals had been marked as suspicious, which does beg the question of why they didn’t attempt to contact us.

Paul, my husband agrees with you. We’ll never know. It’s just strange, the card probably had been used 3 times, total, one time in Istanbul and twice in Venice. Otherwise, never out of his wallet.

We keep a very small balance with Schwab, thinking about it now, we love the idea of using a secondary account for travel cash and not our primary account with our checking and savings.

Susan, we don’t typically pay for cell service in Europe, but we always have wifi with our lodging so we’d get our messages at least once a day.

Thanks Pam for your kind words. We don’t use cash much at all on our travels, either. Italy the exception. Typically, we encounter a few retailers that want cash and also, small hotels/BnBs.

YEars back I had a HELOC with, I think Wells.Got nofied of questionable transaction 1000 miles away. We had never used the account nor entered the number anywhere. When I spoke to the bank they said it was via credit card, which is fascinating because we had never asked for a credit card with this, only checks. Inside job.

I'm slow to staying current on travel trends and technology. It comes with being retired and less connected. But this forum helps. I now know the difference between an ATM card and a debit card. So... my question... is the purpose of an ATM card to avoid someone making unauthorized purchases? My 2 debit cards, each tied to different banks, stay in my desk at home until I travel. Last year (3 trips) in Paris, London, and Puglia Italy, I only used 2 credit cards, my Visa CC that is a physical card, and my Goldman Sachs Apple Master Card with iPhone "tap & Pay". I do not have a physical card for the latter. I also used a debit card to get Euros/Pounds to leave the hotels' breakfast wait staff and housekeeping.
I'll be in Mexico in the near future. Are chip cards (tap to pay) widely used in Mexico? I will not be in any remote areas except for a pre-paid guided tour of Chichen Itza with beverages and lunch included. I do not want to hand over my physical CC for payment anywhere. I plan to get some Pesos at the airport upon arrival using my debit card.
My Apple CC was accepted last November for payment at a restaurant miles away in another US state for a "pick up" order. I get immediate notifications on my phone for charges made. I called Goldman Sachs. They assisted me with changing to "Advanced Fraud Protection". So the CVV security code changes with use.
Also - I "Ditto" Mardee a lot... just not actually as a posted comment. She is my trusted source for a wealth of knowledge.
Thank you all in advance for your advice.

Jules, so glad that Schwab reimbursed your money and it’s back in your account. I’m sorry you had to go through the hassle.

Am I understanding that Jules's husband's card info was "lifted/taken" fraudulently by someone connected to Schwab card services? That is what Goldman Sachs told me too... that someone connected to Goldman Sachs card services was the culprit of the fradulent use of my CC # and/or that the restaurant accepted the card number without the CVV.

PJ, we don’t know how my husband’s card became compromised. That someone at Schwab might have been involved is one of many possible scenarios. If the person sitting next to him at the airport gate couldn’t have “skimmed” it, and the fact that the card hadn’t been out of his wallet since September makes it hard to imagine how it could have happened.

I’ll call Schwab after the trip, but like Paul suggested, we may never know.

Goldman Sachs did not want to commit to an explanation. I was shocked that my card was used fraudulently miles away from me since I have no physical card. I must have my iphone to tap and pay at a merchant's card reader/terminal, or, in the case of an online purchase, I must use the "touch" function on my MAC computer for those on-line merchants that accept Apple Pay. Otherwise I use an alternate CC.
Glad that Schwab made things right and reimbursed you.
I wish you Happy Travels for these remaining 2 weeks!

I have a no foreign exchange fee CC which is used almost exclusively for international travel. With the exception of one domestic trip I did not travel at all in 2024. On my last statement there was a $0.06 charge from New Zealand on that card. I have never been to New Zealand and never bought anything online from New Zealand. All I can figure is someone somewhere sometime in 2023 got the number and sold it on the dark web. The $0.06 charge was a test to see if it worked and because it was only $0.06, it wasn't flagged and I never got an alert. So my compulsive checking of monthly statements paid off. And yes, the $0.06 charge was reversed and I have a new card.

Mardee, this is happening with embarrassing frequency .....

Ditto to:

I use T-mobile's international plan so texts are no problem for me,
but you can usually set them up so that you get email alerts or push
notifications, instead of texts.

...make sure the address on your account has not been changed.

Any firm of significant scale is now notifying the account holder via e-mail of ANY change to their user profile - that goes double for a financial institution such as Schwab.

Bet, depending on your e-mail provider, it may now be - unfortunately - necessary to check your spam or bulk mail folders every few days, as some anti-spam filters are diverting legitimate messages.

Because fraudulent users often test a lost or stolen card with smaller purchases -- or at least that used to be the wisdom -- I keep a low minimum charge (like $10 or $20) for alerts and I have alerts checked for all international transactions. I get them on email even when I am not traveling. A side benefit has been that when I have temporarily misplaced a card, I can give myself time to find it knowing that I can track if it is used while I'm looking.

For question someone asked about of how to get alerts, my primary card emails me for every purchase (I should set that up on my debit card) as well as notifying me through the app. Neither of those ways depend on my personal cell service since I travel with a data only eSIM.

Thanks for the heads-up reminder , jules!

For larger purchases online (like maybe replacement flight tickets when somehting goes wrong), my credit card is set up to text me a code that I have to enter in the payment website of the airline. I guess there are workarounds on that too. So, if you are usnig a travel sim, make sure you have all your two-part-authentication sites set up to either use an email or are disabled or work with the new number or what ever .... . Heck even my Google Account requires that I confirm a log in on using my US phone. But I could probably change that to a different phone. Im just not high tech like you guys. I want things to work in Europe exactly as they did in the US. I get nervous about not understanding something perfectly and having an issue.

I had my debit card skimmed at an ATM outside the visitor center in Victoria BC. I have a Schwab debit card.

The next day $3000 worth of electronics were purchased in New York City. Schwab immediately notified me of suspicious activity and froze the card until I contacted them. I had my money back within 24 hours and a new card in about 7 days.

Several years ago on our way overseas we had our CC compromised and $1000 was charged at a ToysRUs the day we were traveling to New York.. we were able to get a new card delivered to our hotel because we were staying a few days before leaving for England. After that experience we have two different CC cards and 2 different bank ATM cards. One of each for the two of us. We also have alerts set up though one of the CC no longer will text, but instead sends an email. So the other one is the one we mostly use for international places because I like that immediate notification “ ding” receiving a message. I will pay the AT &T international phone rate as part of my “ peace of mind” fee. Call me over cautious but after having our CC compromised several times about 10 years ago I will admit I am pretty paranoid when traveling..

The emergence of chip cards and tap function have greatly reduced magnetic card skimming scams.

For those of you who have the Schwab ATM card, you can set $ limits on how much cash can be withdrawn at a time or in a day, as well as how much can be purchased with the card. I set these limits over a decade ago when I first opened a Schwab checking account.