On holiday in Vienna last week, I used an ATM outside of a bank called Deniz Bank. It turns out that this is a subsidiary of Sberbank of Russia. The details from my debit card were copied and in the next 48 hours, six attempts were made to defraud with fictitious payments to car rental/parking companies in UK and USA. Fortunately my bank have stopped all of the payments. The ATM was in a street with few pedestrians. So, especially for those going to Russia in 2018, it may be advisable to withdraw cash from an ATM inside a bank or over the counter from a bank cashier. This will minimise the risk of copies of your card being made while in an ATM. Also pay for goods and services with cash rather than a card.
THE SAME INTERFACES ARE USED OVER HERE ... CHECK THE SLOT BEFORE INSERTING CARD . PRETTY MUCH ALL atm's have a similar normal lay out ... a friend of mine went to draw money from a machine in Stockwood, gave it the good old pull tug thump with palm of hand it came off .. instantly ..almost ... a gentleman approached him and he ran off round the corner finally chucking it into the middle of the road to escape the ever gaining pursuant ... alerted police and instantly they advised his card holder and a central? number .. 2 weeks later he got a thankyou letter. this machine has had a couple of thwarted attempts to my knowledge since ..3 years? ish
Wonder what part of the world they came from, anyway it must be thrilling to have such wonderful visitors.
Sorry to hear of your problems cidered and it is unfortunately a part of this increasingly sick world in which we live.
yes do not wear a beard as they may bomb your hotel via drone strike or missile, according to them fired from a friendly country....
