andy

And Now- Heads up to ANYONE going to TURKEY...I also have an ATM from BBT.. They told me that if I use my ATM in turkey, it will AUTOMATICALLY shut my account down. He said there is HUGE CLONING of BOTH ATM and CC in Turkey....Since that is our first stop on a cruise, I am glad I was told this info....

They said to NEVER let my CC out of my site in Turkey..so I made this decision to get Euros in Greece and not take out one CC or ATM card in TURKEY....!!!

otherchelebi

I teach a graduate course called "Risk"
So i cannot say that it is perfectly safe to use debit or credit or ATM cards in any country.
I live in Turkey, and have responded to maybe 4000 posts on Trip Advisor and Fodor's. This is the first time i hear about the "huge cloning".
Interestingly, although i do not like ATMs because one ate my card in London in 1986 and i was left almost destitute before my trip to New York, and because it usually costs to use one in another country, most Destination Experts for Turkey and former visitors almost always recommend using them rather than carrying large amounts of cash.

Our daughters had their cards cloned once each, one in Chicago about four years ago and onein istanbul about seven years ago, before they had pin and chips.

Currently, almost all establishments in Turkey bring a pos machine to you to punch your pin anyway. However, if you still carry the archaic American CC or DC without a pin/chip, i recommend not to leave it out of your sight in any country.

The risk is there everywhere in the world when you use CCs without a pin, and when you allow strangers to "help" you when you use an ATM.

Warnings are always useful but installing paranoia in a travel forum may not be the best idea.
OC

Michael

andy,

You are simply repeating what someone else told you. You already mentioned it on another thread. You are now spreading panic without personal experience to back it up. In addition, you do not seem aware that Turkey's currency is not the euro. It won't help you to get euros in Greece if you plan to purchase items in Turkey.

lincasanova

Spreading panic? Installing paranoia?

OP....."Since that is our first stop on a cruise, I am glad I was told this info....

They said to NEVER let my CC out of my site in Turkey.."

otherchelebi

..."i recommend not to leave it out of your sight in any country. "

???

otherchelebi

Andy and Lin,

please check all details of your trips to Turkey with BBT bank and each other for trustworthy and useful information, since the responses of residents and previous travelers are not to be trusted.

Lin, you can leave your credit cards out of your sight anywhere you go outside Turkey and it will be OK. Did not want to confuse you by that remark. Just disregard it as you probably should disregard, Michael's, Michel's, Luisah's, Tracy's, Fra Diavola's, Mrs_Go's, Elaine's, isabel's, Ignutah's, and all other previous visitors who wrote trip reports.

Andy, Just to be on the safe side in Istanbul, only leave your cruise ship within a group, take the ship tour always, do not talk to any locals, and try to steer away from any close physical contact which may be unavoidable in a city of 15million inhabitants and possibly a few hundred thousand tourists if you go sightseeing. Do not buy anything to make sure you are not cheated. You do not need to sightsee in istanbul anyway since there are museums in other safer countries, a mosque is a mosque, and Athens and the Aegean islands have antique sites as well as old churches. So it may even make sense as a safety precaution to stay on board while in istanbul and other ports of Turkey.

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

adrienne

I think this is great advice from otherchelebi - spend your Euros on the boat - you'll get more value for them there.

colduphere

We all had Turkish baths while in Istanbul. We did not know what to do with our credit cards as we did not want to leave them out of our sight. So we held them tightly while naked. It would make a great VISA commercial.

adrienne

<< So we held them tightly while naked >>

The visual image so early in the morning!! LOL

otherchelebi

i remember seeing people holdig on to somethings while sitting in a Turkish bath. Now i know what they were. thank you for solving the mystery.

Next time you are in istanbul, i will arrange for someone else to hold on to your CCs while you enjoy the baths.

lincasanova

I find this OP's post FAR from spreading panic and compared his post to yours, othercelebi, to show so.. nor is it "installing paranoia on a travel forum" as you have suggested ... that's all.

I find the information a very good reminder to travelers: useful but not alarming.Par for the course anymore.

Sorry you didn't understand my intentions.

otherchelebi

lin, thank you for sharing your perspective with us.

it will be very useful for future visitors to Turkey, who should all accordingly heed Andy's bank's warnings posted as "information" on the forum rather than "hearsay"

And each to his own. when i write about Spain, italy, england, USA, Thailand, France, various kitchens, Canada, Mexico, turkmenistan, georgia, Kazakhstan, Japan because i have been to these countries, i only write what i have experienced, not what i heard someone who has never been there himself tell me.

And, i do not shout at people or try to alarm them with wrong information by capitalizing my letters.

I regret this post and apologize to all readers who thought there would be something worthwhile for them for their future visits to Turkey.

xyz123

There are sensible precautions to take anywhere you travel whether it be Turkey, Chicago or Timbucto.

Unfortunately one of the posts here is correct. American credit cards are indeed archaic but unfortunately the banks in the USA just don't want to do anything about it. Luckily, except of course in the USA, in most countries when using a credit card in a restaurant they now bring a portable terminal to the table and swipe in right in front of you (of course, that doesn't mean the terminal is not compromised in some way...with chip and pin it's a little harder but can be done). In ATM's, make sure you cover up when you enter your PIN and try to look closely at the slot to see if it has been tampered with.

But you know something, the vermin are 1 step ahead of you and me. Just today I read about some vermin living in Eastern Europe who opened up MC/visa merchant accounts and wontonly charged very small amounts to credit card numbers they somehow got at random (there are programs which will tell if a credit card number is valid).....If they send through charges of less than $10 on 1,k000,000 accounts, that's a cool $10,000,000. The vast majority of people will look at a credit card statement, see a charge of $9 and figure they must have charged something they didn't remember as many merchants use corporate names on the statements. Results, they made off with a lot of money and much of this money is now in banks in Eastern Europe.

The point is these vermin are one step ahead of us all and yes you do not precautions wherever possible but you know something, if they steal my credit card number, and it has happened to me a couple of times, it is not that difficult to deal with and handle. The hardest part is informing the growing number of merchants, and I can hardly remember them all, who automatically debit my credit card. But as long as they don't steal anything else other than the credit card number, it can be handled.

andy

Sorry I printed what BBT , my bank that I had an ATM card told me...it was NOT hearsay. I was told if I used my ATM in Turkey, that my account would be shut down...this was expressly told to me by BBT- my bank.

I then took out a TD BANK atm card- they knew nothing about this ( but then again , the girl helping was rather young and new to the banking field.

Sorry if I offended all u jaded travelers.. I just wanted to give a heads up from what I was told by my bank .

We're each on our own and will protect ourselves accordingly.