How to reverse ATM fraud?

Because the alternative is that the criminals have some magical means of taking money from you. And the other thing is that you read all these accounts of people who think they are involved with ATM fraud when the answer is a lot simpler, that they just weren't watching out for themselves.

Why did the woman you wrote of stay at the ATM after somebody harassed her, obviously trying to do something funny. And why did she not put a hold on her account immediately?
 
It doesn't go against reason to assume that if you retrieve your own card (your account number and name on the card, so it's definitely yours), and that if you push cancel and no receipt is printed that your transaction has been cancelled. Particularly for someone not aware of the high level of fraud that happens in South Africa, it's not automatic to assume someone's out to get you. Besides, she did exercise some caution in waiting to see if someone else could use the machine before her, and she did wait until the man had left. She avoided drawing large amounts as she's aware it's possible she could get mugged, so it's necessary for her to draw every few days. She never put her account on hold as to her knowledge nothing had happened until she checked her account online later. Plus it wouldn't have been possible for her to put her account on hold immediately, as she'd first have to make return to her place of accomodation to contact her bank back home in Kuwait. At the end of the day, she did nothing wrong.
 
Dovi said:
It's beyond me as to why he interfered. Based on the fact that all the transactions which occurred after she drew were of the same amount that she chose to draw initially, I would assume it had something to do with trying to ensure she drew a high amount. Why're you going out of your way to make it seem like it was her fault, and not a well thought out plan? It's not exactly uncommon to hear of people having funds removed as a result of ATM fraud due to no fault of their own.
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He probably interfered to shoulder surf for her PIN?
 
R13... said:
He probably interfered to shoulder surf for her PIN?
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Quite probably, suppose if they had a skimmer to record the card info and he'd seen the PIN before hand he could quite happily leave after that. Anyway, the Gulf Bank have sorted it all out and are in the process of transferring funds back into her account. Luckily it was only a secondary account she uses for business travels due to the likelihood of something like this happening, so her savings are safe.
 
Wow... these scammers are going to have a field day with all the World Cup Tourists!
 
psichron said:
It seems more likely that she had two cards and the guy stole one, than if he made a copy of her card without her seeing it. How is that a "highly inaccurate" assumption?
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psichron said:
Because the alternative is that the criminals have some magical means of taking money from you. And the other thing is that you read all these accounts of people who think they are involved with ATM fraud when the answer is a lot simpler, that they just weren't watching out for themselves.

Why did the woman you wrote of stay at the ATM after somebody harassed her, obviously trying to do something funny. And why did she not put a hold on her account immediately?
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You probably work for either STB or FNB.

You better hope this never happens to you, because you are wrong if you think criminals need to have your card in their possesion to skim it and/or to make purchases on it.

limits seem to be set on the cards and not on the account or ATM machine. As i have 2 cards linked to my nedbank cheque account, both have different levels set. I have also managed to draw a large amount, well over the limit.
 
Yep limits on ATM withdrawals are applicable to each CARD
so these guys manage to skim your card getting them the magnetic strip info then they make multiple cards resulting in bypassing whatever "limit" you have set on 1 card.

I'm not so sure that Pin numbers aren't embedded in the magnetic strip along with everything else and is possibly obtained off the reader that can read those strips.
 
No, limits are linked to each CARD ID. Even if you make 1000 copies of a card, each copy still has the same card ID, so you can't go over the card ID's daily limit. The pin numbers are NOT embedded in the magnetric strip.
 
What you can do with a Mastercard/Visa card, which is what most banks hand out these days instead of ATM cards, is to do an "offline purchase". Those cards can be used either in online mode or offline mode. Online mode = you have to enter pin to make a transaction. Offline mode = You don't have to enter a pin.

This is why you don't have to enter a pin if you use a cheque card at a store, but you do have to sign the receipt. It is the store's responsibility to check that the signature on the back of your card matches the signature on the receipt. If they do not match, you can claim your money back because it means somebody else used your card.

ATM withdrawals are done in online mode, so you'd need a PIN to get actual cash using the card. Offline transactions are pretty easy to track.
 
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psichron said:
No, limits are linked to each CARD ID. Even if you make 1000 copies of a card, each copy still has the same card ID, so you can't go over the card ID's daily limit. The pin numbers are NOT embedded in the magnetric strip.
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OK thanks for clearing that one up.
 
For those who are interested and can understand Afrikaans, there is an article in today's Beeld about the card scams and how these guys do it.
I just can't find the online version of the article.
 
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Golden rule!!!!
If it is pin driven you will NOT get the money back from the bank.
 
Sorry for the bad resolution of the scans but the max allowed file size is only 150kb.

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It is safer to have a companion if you are going to withdraw money on your ATM. This could prevent some unwanted fraud in your ATM. Make sure that no one could see your pin.
 
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