I just received a notice from our bank that due to the increasing amount of fraudulent transactions coming in from overseas countries, they have decided to block ALL international/foreign countries debit card usage. They are not blocking credit cards, only debit cards. Has anyone else encounted this problem?

First I've heard of this. I disabled the VISA portion of my debit card a couple of years ago to prevent someone from fraudulently using it to wipe out my checking account.

They might be blocking debit cards used as VISA or M/C. I'm sure debit cards using an ATM/pin should be OK.

Where do you live and which is your bank?

This is the first I've heard of such an action.

NO, never heard of this. I travel to Europe once a month and have never had a problem with fraud on my debit card. However, I have had to cancel THREE VISA cards in the past two years because of fraudulent activity (once, it was in excess of $20,000!). Also, not all of that activity was in Europe - the largest fraud was at home.

There has been several scams with ATMs, both in Europe & NA. In one, a face plate is installed on the ATM and it records your card details and pin. However, its never happened to me.

Talk to your bank and ask them if there is a way around this for you for a specified period in specific countries. Otherwise, I think its time to switch banks.

I sincerely hope this is not the beginning of a trend, but can't think it is, as the banks make a fair bit of money on withdrawal charges. Anyone fancy going back to using traveller's cheques ?

Hi Charlotte, actually I received a letter a couple of years ago from my stock brokerage company advising that all clients ATM/Debits cards were blocked for use in Italy until further notice due to a high rate of fraud. I was sure glad I was not in Italy when this letter was received. Later, perhaps 3 or 4 weeks later, I received a replacement ATM/Debit card with a new number along with a notification that the Italy blockage had been lifted.

Don't you wonder if the banks ever CHECK their ATM machines to see if they may have been tampered with?

A faceplate??? It must have been very well-crafted and installed to fool the bank folks.

In the Toronto area Dukey, they had a massive scam at the gas stations when you use your debit card to pay for gas at the pump. Can't remember the specific details of how they did it, but it was very sophisticated and high-tech!

The criminal classes are always one step ahead of our imagination.

I have checked with our bank (in Florida) and they say this may be a temporary measure but they do not know for how long. I am in the process of getting a new debit card from another bank (Suntrust) in case my original card will not work. The origianl card is from a Credit Union and evidently they have had a lot of problems with overseas use of debit cards. They have included all of Europe not only Italy. Hopefully by May,when I plan to go to Italy, they will have this worked out and I will be able to use a debit card. It would be terrible to have to go back to Traveler's Checks. Thanks for all the replys.

Dukey

Here in the UK they target the ATM's that are not in banks, the ones outside shops or on the street. The advice here to avoid fraud is to use machines inside banks as these are not tampered with.

Yes the plates are well crafted and do fool people. http://flickr.com/photos/bowbrick/48...n/set-1046388/

Well I would be looking for a new bank. I can understand (MAYBE) a temporary block but this sounds extreme!