Satellitemark
Regular.
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2020
- Messages
- 305
- Reaction score
- 148
First of all apologies if you are aware of this ,I've cost you a couple of minutes !
This is a cut and paste of a post I made on another forum, but bear with it because the scam / rip off has spread to internet purchases and that could affect everyone who buys online from abroad.
Always try to use a ATM machine built into a building wall.
Now the tricky / dodgy stuff they do (including some of the banks !)
If they offer to convert to sterling for you always decline, it won't even be as good as a standard UK bank will give you let alone what Starling / Revolut will give you.
An example was last night my son went to get 300 Lev and what they offered him was £30 less than he got letting Starling handle the currency conversion.
You may have to decline more than once and beware that they often move the decline button position to trick you.
Another trick the same machine caught me on was adding a transaction fee of 5.75 bgn at the very last second as you answer if you want a receipt, even though I had used the same machine three times before to pull the same amount without being charged before.
The key is to be slow and read every screen before you press any buttons and don't wizz through it because you are in a hurry or even there is a que behind you, they count on you to make a mistake and pay the price .
I've added a picture of the worst offending machine type and they are peppered throughout Europe , but be aware that even reputable bank ATM's often try the currency conversion scam.
Additional info.
I have found that many Bulgarian ATM's have a glass ceiling limit of 400bgn despite our cards having £300 limits (starling) the way around this is to do 2 withdrawal transactions , for example a withdrawal of 400bgn followed by one for 240bgn with give you the closest amount of Lev to £300 at current exchange rates.
More additional information
This exchange rate scam has spread, for a while now in some shops / restaurants / hotels etc if paying by card you may get asked if you want to pay in sterling, this is the same scam just in a different place.
Today I discovered a new variation on this scam, while buying some goods on line from Italy and paying in Euro on my Starling card like a savvy shopper the payment merchant ( page that you get sent to, to enter your card details and make the payment ) offered me the choice to pay in sterling for the transaction, in fact it had pre ticked the box for me and I had to untick it to avoid being ripped off.
May I say loud and clear under no circumstances accept a transaction in sterling even if you don't have a Starling or Revolut card your own UK bank is not going to charge you what these bandits will cost you.
Mark
This is a cut and paste of a post I made on another forum, but bear with it because the scam / rip off has spread to internet purchases and that could affect everyone who buys online from abroad.
Always try to use a ATM machine built into a building wall.
Now the tricky / dodgy stuff they do (including some of the banks !)
If they offer to convert to sterling for you always decline, it won't even be as good as a standard UK bank will give you let alone what Starling / Revolut will give you.
An example was last night my son went to get 300 Lev and what they offered him was £30 less than he got letting Starling handle the currency conversion.
You may have to decline more than once and beware that they often move the decline button position to trick you.
Another trick the same machine caught me on was adding a transaction fee of 5.75 bgn at the very last second as you answer if you want a receipt, even though I had used the same machine three times before to pull the same amount without being charged before.
The key is to be slow and read every screen before you press any buttons and don't wizz through it because you are in a hurry or even there is a que behind you, they count on you to make a mistake and pay the price .
I've added a picture of the worst offending machine type and they are peppered throughout Europe , but be aware that even reputable bank ATM's often try the currency conversion scam.
Additional info.
I have found that many Bulgarian ATM's have a glass ceiling limit of 400bgn despite our cards having £300 limits (starling) the way around this is to do 2 withdrawal transactions , for example a withdrawal of 400bgn followed by one for 240bgn with give you the closest amount of Lev to £300 at current exchange rates.
More additional information
This exchange rate scam has spread, for a while now in some shops / restaurants / hotels etc if paying by card you may get asked if you want to pay in sterling, this is the same scam just in a different place.
Today I discovered a new variation on this scam, while buying some goods on line from Italy and paying in Euro on my Starling card like a savvy shopper the payment merchant ( page that you get sent to, to enter your card details and make the payment ) offered me the choice to pay in sterling for the transaction, in fact it had pre ticked the box for me and I had to untick it to avoid being ripped off.
May I say loud and clear under no circumstances accept a transaction in sterling even if you don't have a Starling or Revolut card your own UK bank is not going to charge you what these bandits will cost you.
Mark
