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Hi Jaromir,

Suspicious dates...  On which account, your Vietnamese ones or the ones from your countries of origins?  Were the amounts correct?  That is because it takes banks time to process your transactions, along with the differences in time zones, the posted dates might be off a little.

My friends and I don't have much problem using the ATMs here.  Just make sure you use ones from the major banks and look around a little as you enter and/or leave the boothes.  But, that is to prevent those drugies from sneaking up on you and demand your money, with their used needles.

Howie

I don't know how sophisticated thieves are in VN but in the US you have to beware of card readers attached to ATMs where you enter your card and little cameras attached to watch you enter your pin.

Agreed. not sure about Vietnam but card skimming is very common. Happens in Singapore a few years ago and last month in Malaysia, 400 Singaporean had about $500,000 withdrawn illegally from their account.

Fortunately, the Bank assumed liability and paid them back. All Singapore ATM machines (I thought!) are now installed with anti-skimming device. Doubt they have this in ATM machines in VN. At least I did not notice. It's something that budge out from the card reader to prevent another person to install addition device on it to read your card first. They will also install a small camera somewhere to capture your PIN no.

So far, the suspicion is that the skimming is done in Singapore and they use the information on fake card to withdraw the money from Malaysia ATMs. Not sure if skimming device is involved in Malaysia ATM though.

The Singapore bank has advise Singaporean not to use their card overseas but if they do, to inform the bank. See link for details of incident.



The problem in this case, is not which bank but the ATM machine that you are using. Keep an eye on the card reader if it does not look right don't use it!

thank you for the advice. Regarding card readers and cameras, I´m aware of that since this is quite a big deal in central Europe as well.
Hopefully there´s nothing new out there that we are unaware of.

I use two accounts with my ATM banking.

One is savings account which can only be accessed through the InterNet and the other is a banking account which has an ATM card associated with it.

The banking is kept empty except for a few scheckels and before I withdraw money, I move an appropriate amount across through the InterNet.

Additionally, I never withdraw the maximum amount. I have a [er time limit of VND8,000,000 but instead I only withdraw VND790,000.

I understand an ATM card thief usually goes for the maximum amount, so by taking the same reduced amount each time I have an argument to make if the bank challenges any claim I might make.

On one occasion an ATM under-counted my money and I was short VND100,000. I held the money up in front of the camera and counted them off. I also showed the security guard.

Next day they called and said I was right, their machine had VND100,000 too much!

In TP HCM I usually use the same branch ATMs. I only use ATMs if there is a security guard present.

And pack your money away, out of sight of the front door if possible, before leaving the bank. There are so many pairs of eyes watching in VN!

I heard a lot of stories about credit card fraud as well. Has anyone here had any experiences or know how to protect ourselves against that?

Use your card as a last resort.  And make sure you understand the exchange rate.  About 20.000 = $1US, or whatever your currency is.  If you go for a massage, do not trust the locks they give you.

Do you think it's safer to keep your wallet at home and just take a handful of small bills when you go out?

Only if you can secure it in a very good place.  Otherwise, take it with you but put it in a place a pickpocket would have a hard time getting to.

Never carry a single dong (if you still have an old one) more around, than you can afford  to loose or you plan to spend. Pickpocketing seems to be the  old and new fashion profession

simonpierpoint wrote:

I heard a lot of stories about credit card fraud as well. Has anyone here had any experiences or know how to protect ourselves against that?

Yes, that does happen, plenty of tourists can tell you a story about.
Either they went with the wallet/handbag and PIN CODE in it. Some dodgy hotel staff might also try, not heared of that yet from someone.

Yeah it took me a few minutes to realise the time difference was probably making my bank account look a little weird. The amount spent so far seemed right to me, just the dates were all screwy. Slightly annoying, but just try to keep a mental note of what you took out and when.

Buzzer wrote:

Yeah it took me a few minutes to realise the time difference was probably making my bank account look a little weird. The amount spent so far seemed right to me, just the dates were all screwy. Slightly annoying, but just try to keep a mental note of what you took out and when.

That might be the actual booking dates,when it was debited from your account and not the dates/times, you withdrawn the moneys.

Only use ATMs from major banks such as Citibank or HSBC, take the same precautions as you would in your home country, and you shouldn't have to worry about any of the issues cited here. I use Citibank whenever possible, and have noticed recently that they've added additional ATM locations throughout the city. (My home bank is NOT Citibank.)

I am not sure about credit cards. But for ATM, i have not got any problem of lack of withdrawal cash for about ten years. You should use the Atm machines of the card maker. It will be sooner to refund you if any failed transaction. In case of  failed transactions, it is better to make a call of exclaim to the bank.

Some ATM's here return your card AFTER you get your money, and it doesnt log out. It remains with a question like "Do you want to continue? Yes No".
I find this really scary because sometimes you can't read what's on the screen and I'm so used to getting my card first and then the money, so twice I have walked away without my card.. Silly I know, but none the less...