Expat shoppers beware

Expat shoppers beware

I have discovered that a gang of enterprising criminals have
figured out how to extract credit and debit card information from
expat shoppers. They target cards that are issued by overseas
banks. They make bogus cards from the information they steal and
sell them. Typically the bogus card is used for one big shopping
spree and then ditched.

I my case, my Mastercard account was charged a total of
US$2000 of merchandise from two stores in Medan, North Sumatra,
in April. Unfortunately, I have never been to Medan. Often the
shopping spree is done outside Indonesia -- Hong Kong, Taiwan, or
Australia, for example. I discovered three friends living in
Jakarta were also victims. When I called the American Embassy to
report it, they sighed and said many Americans had already been
hit.

The shopping sprees on debit cards are particularly painful
because large sums can be charged -- in one case $13,000. The
information is stolen from your card either by stealing your
tossed out carbons (always destroy them first) or directly from
stores where the card was used. There is even a gadget that
allows the criminal to swipe the card the same way the store does
and record all the data to make a fake credit card. This can be
done under the counter while you are paying for your purchase.

I visited the Metro Jaya Regional Police on Jl. Sudirman and
was interviewed by the banking unit of their economic
investigations department. Few expats bother to report this crime
to them. On occasion, criminals are caught in Jakarta using fake
cards of people who do not live in Indonesia. The police suspect
an international ring or "mafia" styled gang are involved.

Indonesians get hit frequently with ATM card fraud in Jakarta.
But the police seem too reluctant to admit that credit card
information is actually stolen from expat shoppers in Jakarta and
mutter about Bali.

But given the large number of expats in Jakarta who have been
hit, I see no reason to blame other municipalities. There are
smart criminals in Jakarta, surely. Looking at my shopping
patterns compared to other victims, I see that there are only a
few stores that we all use frequently. Busy supermarkets that
cater to expats. So be careful, expats, when you go shopping and
think about using cash instead of credit cards at the
supermarkets.

CYNTHIA MACKIE

Jakarta