Be sure and check your bank balance daily upon return!!

[yetta]

We have been back from Jamaica for 2 weeks now. We had a great time as usual. ...BUT, just checked our bank balance on this snowy day. Yesterday and today, someone hacked our account with our debit card in Lucea...Texas...and again in JA...for over 1300.00 US. This has never happened to us before. We each have a debit card and I never used mine while in JA...my husband used his (even though they both are on the same account). It was his card number that was used on ALL of the withdrawals.

Obviously, I am not blaming Jamaica as this can occur anywhere. I am just reminding everyone to check daily upon return for one never knows. Thank Jah, that we were able to get in touch with the bank today before it closed early due to the severe snow storm that has hit. They are putting the funds back in our account. Obviously, we are happy about that...but what a pain in the ass! I was explaining to the gentleman at our bank that all of the ATM's we used were private and locked..which he was not aware of. The card was always locked up and never used anywhere except ATM's.

Again, I know this can happen anywhere in the world....I am only posting this to raise awareness upon return regarding your account. Blessings.

[541lion]

Yeah that happened to me after returning from Jamaica.. But the bank called me and it was easily fixed

[yetta]

Yeah that happened to me after returning from Jamaica.. But the bank called me and it was easily fixed

Maybe I just lucked out today when I checked the account. I sure hope they would have notified me since they had the dates that we were gone on record. But, the first withdrawal was yesterday with another 2 today...however, I can only imagine how much more they could have taken out if it weren't caught today. I am thankful that it was all dealt with today....10 minutes before the bank closed until Monday.

[sandman66]

I use only the Scotia ATM when travelling, the only reason I have a Scotia account is because they have ATMs all over the caribbean and Mexico. It is set up to only allow a set amount of withdrawal per day. I don't use "private" ATMs anywhere, home or away.
Not saying I won't get burned this way but at least I am doing my best to prevent it.

[yetta]

Oddly enough, 2 of the withdrawals were listed as Nova Scotia Bank. Who knows, sadly it is just the digital world we live in now. One was listed in Lucea. This was our first time NOT having Travelers Checks. I know that many folks think TC's are a hassle but we old F---ers...really liked having them. This year, there were NO banks in our city that carried them anymore. We never had any trouble cashing them. I wish they were still available for us locally. As my dad always said, "nothing as inevitable as change"....but it doesn't mean we have to like it. LOL

Our local bank also has a set amount of withdrawal. I guess that is why 2 were on yesterday, with a larger withdrawal this morning.

[captaind & Linston]

I had the same thing happen during the first week of the year. The ATM card we use is from Schwab brokerage.

Here's the scenario:

A withdrawal made on New Year's eve suddenly appeared twice on the the internet activity page.
Oddly, both had the same transaction number. However, one was an ATM withdrawal and the other showed as POS (point of sale) transaction.
It being the holiday I couldn't get in touch with Schwab until the following Monday.
When I spoke with them and their fraud/forensic department they were unaware of the issue but immediacy refunded the second (POS) transaction
I told them I needed to make another withdrawal and they told me to go ahead and they would monitor.
On Tuesday the same thing happened so I called again
At that time they told me that it was happening to all ATM transactions in the Caribbean and South America and was being investigated.
All ATM and CC purchases in the Carribbean and South America are processed at a facility in Brazil..
By Friday the problem had been solved and has not occurred again. They blamed it on a sofware glitch.

Interesting conjecture on my part:

1. I fund the Jamaica card on an "as needed" basis and it is not tied to any other source of funds and I transfer the funds by hand on the 'Net
2. In the interim I only have 10 bucks or so in that account. This can be done is seconds by way of the internet.
3. The first double withdrawal took the balance down to a negative number which is impossible without a secondary backup account
4. The "software glitch" explanation make no sense. I've been using this system for several years with no problem.
5. COMPUTER CODE CANNOT REWRITE ITSELF !
6. Possibly a code error due to the change in year? Remeber Y2K?
7. "All now" There has never been an explanation of these events
8. I think it was a hack at the processing facility but it's hard to figure who benefited.

That's what I know. Everything is back to normal

Cap

[Misti1]

Oddly enough, 2 of the withdrawals were listed as Nova Scotia Bank. Who knows, sadly it is just the digital world we live in now. One was listed in Lucea. This was our first time NOT having Travelers Checks. I know that many folks think TC's are a hassle but we old F---ers...really liked having them. This year, there were NO banks in our city that carried them anymore. We never had any trouble cashing them. I wish they were still available for us locally. As my dad always said, "nothing as inevitable as change"....but it doesn't mean we have to like it. LOL

Our local bank also has a set amount of withdrawal. I guess that is why 2 were on yesterday, with a larger withdrawal this morning.

First I am very very sorry about what happened. TC are one thing, but i you are here long term and trying to access your monthly deposited funds long term that is not the answer and the ATM card thing has hit me right where I live.

[Yesihunt2]

I had a hard time to even pay for my hotel deposit because my bank kept 'flagging' it..........I need to thank them for that.....Last year they flagged my account too since I had made a purchase in KC, then used ATM in Atlanta and the hotel in Jamaica in the afternoon. My bank was "right on it" and called me several times to make sure they were legit...

[Ras Walleye]

I wish us Yanks could open Scotia Bank accounts. It would make the whole money thing easier. Sadly you must be a Canadian citizen.

[Bnewb]

I wish us Yanks could open Scotia Bank accounts. It would make the whole money thing easier. Sadly you must be a Canadian citizen.

You can open a Scotia account as an American citizen.