Just returned from France and could not use our ATM 6/12 through 6/16
 

This is just a heads up we have a mastercard ATM. Tried using it the whole time in Paris and could not receive euro. We did have money from a previous trip in March this year and used credit cards for the rest. Plus we charged at dinners and our friends paid us with their euro. We contacted our bank when we were in Paris and they said some scam was going on so to protect us they would not let us withdraw money! I called my bank when I got back home and got the same answer. So I guess I will try an ATM only card next time and visa Atm. Supposedly mastercard has the most scams. So please help me for my next trip because it was not a comfortable feeling not having any cash in Europe!!

Did you call your bank before your trip to let them know that you would be traveling and would be using atms
in Europe? Sometimes banks or cc issuers freeze accounts if suddenly the use of their card doesn't fit the account holder's past patterns. So, it's best to alert the company before you go so they won't be suspicious.

Thanks Elaine, yes I did call before leaving the states and I was told everthing was fine. The problem occured when this supposed scam was occuring. I do not have full confidence in their excuse why I could not use my ATM the whole time in Paris. So please give me some suggestions what to do to protect myself next time. Anyone else have problems with their ATM that time frame??

Plus I have been to Europe 3x this year, I have used this card in Austria and Germany and France earlier this year.

I didn't realize you'd already done so much traveling.
I'd ask for a detailed explanation, perhaps write to them, explain the terrible inconveniences, etc
I have a mastercard debit card, have used it all this month as a debit card for both atms and purchases without incident. My regular mastercard credit card has also been fine.

Thank you, this seems very suspicous to me. I did not think there was any scam and I am very angry for the hassle it caused on our trip. So please anyone else in France at the same time and tell me your experiences. I will ask for a detailed explanation.

I guess I should make myself a little clearer, I will ask for a detailed explanation from my bank.

Please fodorites keep the suggestions coming!

There was a security breach at a MasterCard processor. It happened in May, but was only revealed this week.

<b>http://money.cnn.com /2005/06/17/news/master_card/index.htm?cnn=yes</b>

Robespierre, please paste that site again, I cannot access it. I do not want to be stranded in Europe with no money again so please post again. Thank you, patti

Hi pjsparlor, Robespiere just posted what I was going to post. This may have been the problem.

Also, some months ago my brokerage account sent everyone a new ATM/Debit card (MasterCard) and advised that in Italy customers would only be able to use the ATM portion of the card as they had a freeze on the debit portion due to a high incidence of fraud. Now apparently the freeze on using the debit portion has been lifted.

The problem you had is one that causes me to always have a backup. I always take 2 ATM cards attached to two different bank checking accounts plus all my credit cards plus about $200.00 in US money. Even though the exchange rate is bad at least I have some cash on me and can redeposit it when I get home if I don't use it. I also get about $100.00 Euro in cash. The BoyScout motto &quot;Be Prepared&quot;. I never depend on just one way to get money. And if worse comes to worse than I would get an advance on one of my credit cards even though that is expensive to do. Thankfully I have never had to however but one never knows.

Hope you will let us know what you find out. And also hope that inspite of the problem you have a wonderful trip.

And of course I meant I hope you had a wonderful trip, sigh, I must learn to use the edit button!

I was in France June 5-13 and could not use my Master Card at several kiosks in Paris, usually in a train station. (Yes, I called in advance to alert the credit card company I was traveling.) My Master Card was declined by a train ticket clerk in Amsterdam, I have no clue why as there was plenty of credit limit left on it.

But I never had any trouble with my Visa at an ATM or anywhere else.

Thanks for all the replys, I am going to switch to Visa ATM. It is so weird since I just got a new ATM sent to me for my March trip to Paris. I had no problem then. Oh well, never made all the way to being a girl scout so maybe I need to adopt the boy scout motto too, be prepared!!

When you see a URL with a space in it, try removing the space. Here, I redid it.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?T2371294B

Evidently there were millions of Visa numbers involved, too. So switching cards won't buy you much.

Hi all, just remember, have 2 different ATM cards attached to 2 different bank checking accounts (along with a 4 diget PIN) for each.
With all the hacking into various companies you really need a backup. And always have cash with you besides at least 2 credit cards.

Robespierre's last post is interesting IMO. I never, and I mean never, count on using just ATM's. Power outages, hackers etc. etc. I don't especially like living life on the edge, especially when I am out of the US.

Patti - I was in France at that time &amp; I had only a slight problem using a Wells Fargo VISA ATM card. In Gordes I could not get any money. I could not understand what it said in French - I tried 2 times &amp; used 2 different amounts and neither time worked. Went to a different ATM the next day &amp; had no problem getting what I wanted. I used a different VISA card for charges and had no problem. Now that I think about it I did have a problem in Avignon and could not get $$ but we decided because it was early on Monday morning in the heavily touristed area near the Papal Palace &amp; we figured the machine was out of cash. A couple hours later I went to a different ATM &amp; got money easily.
Karen

I had problems a few days ago trying to use my Mastercard on the BA.com site, specifically regarding the card's security code. I went in to my bank's local branch and spoke to the manager, who put in a call to card services. I was told there were some &quot;communications&quot; problems with MasterCard being resolved--I suspect they linked back to the security problems that have affected 40 million MasterCard holders (at least).

I had problems with the ATM in Paris on June 13th as well. I went to four banks and 10 different ATM stations. The bank managers were all puzzled and no one could help us. It was a good thing I had some Am Ex travellers cheques as a back up. It was very disconcerting to not be able to access cash machines when travelling in a foreign country.

We've had our account shut down in a foreign country (Austria) due to it being out of our usual charging area, even though I had called MC in advance to apprise them we'd be there. It is always a little embarrassing because you find out with no explanation when you're trying to pay for something (like our apt rental in this case). Fortunately, we were able to call the collect # for overseas service and get it lifted. I had to sort out how to make a collect call, though, and I didn't need the aggravation. I wish there was some other way. We did have other cards, though, as back-up.

At certain times of the day in Europe you may not be able to access your account in the US because the bank is in shut down/reconcile mode. That could be the reason it is OK the next day.
If your bank said they were shutting down your card, you could have demanded they send you a new card IMMEDIATELY--by overnight service.
When you say ATM only, was the card you were using a credit card?

Reading all this makes me glad that I NEVER use ATM cards.
I always go with 1000-3000 euros(depending on trip), several credit cards, and $2000-$3000 in US travel checks (100% free) in case of an emergency.
I always notify credit card companies of dates of travel etc.
This has ALWAYS worked perfectly for me. Never had any kind of problem.