Skimmed

Photo of skimmers who were caught - and they're caught a lot here. Usually read they're from Russia or Eastern Europe.

There were some dubious charges on my card from an ATM in Ubud where we'd spent a few days. That is the ATM I used there but I only was there once and it was date four days after I'd left - post dates are two days late but I didn't recall ever seeing four. One withdrawal for about $70 and the one for $14. I walked over to the Prama Hotel and talked to a woman at the BNI Bank inside. I showed her those withdrawals and said that clearly the first one was for a million rupiah and the second for 200,000. It's that small withdrawel that caught my eye. Unlikely I did that. I did make some $1,200,000 withdrawals from that ATM so maybe those two are one, the second one a corrective addition? I made three. Maybe it was four and this report came in later? Nope she said - those are two separate withdrawals two days after the other three.  Well, I wasn't there. Ah - my card was skimmed there. They had some gizmo in the machine and a camera caught my pin numbers cause I didn't cover with my hand. I see - the first withdrawal was to check my balance and the second to take what they could from it - there was only a couple of bucks left. But why use the same ATM? She didn't know.  I went online, transferred a bunch of money from savings to checking and immediately withdrew it, made a call and canceled the card. Didn't make a fraud report to the US bank - too much trouble for eighty-four bucks - would have to go get a police report and to make sure they did it right and didn't charge me, have my landlord take me there on his motor scooter. We'd done that once. I'd read and heard discouraging reports about people trying to get the necessary official police report as proof for banks and insurance companies - and being asked for money or being given a run around.  But Ketut and I were treated well and efficiently - and we all three had multi-colored string around our right wrists that come from a Hindu purification ritual. I left a 50,000 rupiah tip with the officer (which is fine to do even though there was a big sign behind him saying there is no charge for anything he'd do). That was all neat but didn't want to do it again.