Beware of Fraud in Internet Cafes When Traveling

While traveling recently, I had a rude shock at the ATM. Due to insufficient funds, the bank wouldn’t allow me to withdraw money. I walked to another bank and tried my ATM card again. Again it was rejected. Now I was worried. Some ATMs seemed to have trouble with my bank card, but I had never been rejected by two banks in a row. And when a third ATM wouldn’t disperse money, I knew something was seriously wrong.

I returned to the hotel where I was staying and used their computer to log on to my bank’s website. From there I could access my accounts, and I discovered that my checking account had been siphoned dry. I sat there, almost dazed looking at the screen. I was in the middle of Patagonia, and I had been the victim of fraud. I still had several weeks of vacation left - how would I get by? And how would I get back to the United States? How did it happen?

After I had gotten my breath back, I started to think. I reviewed my account history and put some pieces together. I soon understood how my account information had been stolen. Several weeks before, I had made a transaction via PayPal. I had done this in an internet café, on a computer that must have had a keystroke recorder program installed on it. My passwords had been stolen and my PayPal account had been accessed by a third party. Worst of all, my PayPal account was directly linked to my bank account, and the perpetrator had simply drained my bank account into my own PayPal account and then sent the money to himself.