Crime, Safety, and the Police

[Hargow20]

I feel relatively safe in Tijuana. But I always look to see who is behind me in the Zona. It is also important to keep abreast of the crime trends in Tijuana. Just remember when crime goes up the ratero's muggings and police shakedown's become more common.

Statistics are not good but I still feel safe in Adelita, Hong Kong, Av. Revolucion, Motel La Mansion. Here is a link to the article from "San Diego Reader" https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/...h-all-history/#.

[DramaFree11]

Statistics are not good but I still feel safe in Adelita, Hong Kong, Av. Revolucion, Motel La Mansion. Here is a link to the article from "San Diego Reader" https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/...h-all-history/.

Good advice, very sad what is happening, but unfortunately the case in most major cities in America and Mexico. Take a cap a night, and be aware of your surroundings you should be fine.

[StRobert]

Statistics are not good but I still feel safe in Adelita, Hong Kong, Av. Revolucion, Motel La Mansion. Here is a link to the article from "San Diego Reader" https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/...h-all-history/#.

[Dcrist0527]

They are all "required" to. Not all of them do, which is a significant liability for them.

One other point to clarify regarding online purchases. The safeguard there is that annoying CVV on the back of your card. All online vendors are "required" to validate that number. The reason: that number is not contained on the magnetic strip. In theory, it proves you have the card & not a clone.

95% of the places I use a crd in the us, use a chip reader.

[Basketball101]

Wells Fargo do it too.

Chip or not, usage online is easy with just the human readable information on the card. Even card present transactions: see below.

The US's reluctance to move to chip and PIN, as used in most other western countries by then, was the supposed lack of benefits to security. How it's been implemented (chip and signature, not chip and PIN) explains that logic. I can't remember where I read this but supposedly the fraud rate dropped by 90% in Europe with the introduction of chip and PIN, whereas the US fraud rate only dropped 10% with chip and signature. That low figure is not helped by the fact most US places will accept a swipe instead of a chip read if the chip doesn't work. In other words, clone a card, stick a dummy chip in it, fail to read the chip when you pay, retailer lets you sign instead. I believe in Europe many retailers would decline to accept payment in this case, rather than risk a chargeback.

95% of the places I use a crd in the us, use a chip reader.

[Dcrist0527]

The US's reluctance to move to chip and PIN, as used in most other western countries by then, was the supposed lack of benefits to security. How it's been implemented (chip and signature, not chip and PIN) explains that logic. I can't remember where I read this but supposedly the fraud rate dropped by 90% in Europe with the introduction of chip and PIN, whereas the US fraud rate only dropped 10% with chip and signature. That low figure is not helped by the fact most US places will accept a swipe instead of a chip read if the chip doesn't work. In other words, clone a card, stick a dummy chip in it, fail to read the chip when you pay, retailer lets you sign instead. I believe in Europe many retailers would decline to accept payment in this case, rather than risk a chargeback.

This is good info, Simmer. And almost accurate. Yes, fraud declined 90% in Europe. And it has declined far more than 10% in the US. I can't speak to all outfits, but card cloning and similar fraud is down over 50%.

But to answer the earlier question about how the chip card was cloned: it likely was not. Or at least the chip was almost certainly not cloned. But as Simmer's article mentioned, and as I mentioned earlier, the problem is with the vendors. Because it is new technology (at least in the US), it is misunderstood and misused. Card holders purposely destroy the chip. But if a vendor accepts a card with a non-functional chip, they are entirely on the hook. So what almost certainly happened was they put some non-functional chip in a cloned card and the vendor subverted the chip process.

In defense of the vendors, they don't understand the process. And there is a high percentage of card holders breaking the chip intentionally, again not understanding the purpose. Once we are smarter about it in the US, we'll get closer to 90%.

Safe to say, the bad guys will find a way to beat this too. But right now, it is not cost effective and they are on to other fraud types.

[Once Sailor]

My ATM card has unlimited ATM withdrawls from any bank's ATM at no extra cost, I got it mostly to monger outside US.

I made the mistake of leaving cash in there between the visits.

I had forgotten about chip and pin card till this was mentioned, my ATM card is new with chip and pin, and yet it got copied.

The chip is expected to be very secure, I worked on related technology in past. Now I am surprised and wondering how someone managed to copy it.

The chip card is a lot more secure. BUT. Is there a magnetic strip on the back of your card? Unless you use your card exclusively in a chip reading machine, a lot of ATM's / gas pumps still have the old strip reading mechanism in them. That is how thieves steal your info.

[Simmer]

Using your phone instead of a card at an ATM. Sounds like it is available here. I just saw it in a Chase Bank commercial.

Wells Fargo do it too.

The chip is expected to be very secure, I worked on related technology in past. Now I am surprised and wondering how someone managed to copy it.

Chip or not, usage online is easy with just the human readable information on the card. Even card present transactions: see below.

The US's reluctance to move to chip and PIN, as used in most other western countries by then, was the supposed lack of benefits to security. How it's been implemented (chip and signature, not chip and PIN) explains that logic. I can't remember where I read this but supposedly the fraud rate dropped by 90% in Europe with the introduction of chip and PIN, whereas the US fraud rate only dropped 10% with chip and signature. That low figure is not helped by the fact most US places will accept a swipe instead of a chip read if the chip doesn't work. In other words, clone a card, stick a dummy chip in it, fail to read the chip when you pay, retailer lets you sign instead. I believe in Europe many retailers would decline to accept payment in this case, rather than risk a chargeback.

[Artisttyp]

Using your phone instead of a card at an ATM. Sounds like it is available here. I just saw it in a Chase Bank commercial.

Never heard of this until now. Thanks for the tip:

No Wallet, No Worries: Your Smartphone Is Now Your ATM Card.

BRAVE NEW BANK This NerdWallet series delves into what's new in retail banking and what's in it for you. We explore some of the surprising things in store for products, tech and security and look at how they'll affect consumers.

While walking her dog one evening in San Francisco, Melinda Hickman suddenly realized two things. She needed to get cash to pay her house cleaner the next morning — and her bank card was back at home in her wallet. Unfazed, Hickman signed in to the Wells Fargo app on her smartphone. After a few taps, the app generated an eight-digit code. At a nearby ATM, she punched in the code and her PIN and was able to withdraw the money.

"It was simple and convenient," she recalls. And because no swipe was involved, the transaction was more secure than a standard withdrawal.

Convenience and security are two big reasons banks believe consumers will embrace cardless ATM access. Indeed, 2017 is shaping up to be the year cardless ATMs catch on. Since March, when Wells Fargo debuted app-based authentication at all of its 13,000 ATMs in the United States, customers like Hickman have carried out more than 1 million cardless transactions.

Payments-research firm Crone Consulting recently estimated that by fall 2017,25% of the nation's 425,000 ATMs would accommodate cardless access. Some examples:

Bank of America plans to have all of its ATMs equipped for cardless access by the end of 2017.

Chase tested a pilot version of cardless access last year. Its system suffered some security lapses. This year, having tightened up account access, the bank is trying again with 600 machines in certain Florida, California and Ohio cities.

Smaller banks, including BMO Harris, Bank of Hawaii, Illinois-based Wintrust Financial and Boston-area Salem Five, have been providing this ATM option successfully for the past few years.

» MORE: New changes, new options in banking.

How cardless ATMs work.

During ordinary ATM transactions, you establish your identity with your PIN and the data stored on your card's magnetic stripe. With cardless withdrawals, your phone takes on that task, which it can do in one of two ways:

More in this series.

What you're missing out on.

Bank the traditional way?

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Your app can do that.

A closer look at security.

Can your banking app be hacked?

They read your emotions.

Banking robots.

App-generated code: Some codes, such as Wells Fargo's, are numerical. Others, such as those used by BMO Harris and Bank of Hawaii, are two-dimensional bar codes, also known as QR codes. At the ATM, you enter the numerical code or scan the QR code, proving your identity and authenticating your upcoming transaction. In many cases, you'll have to enter your PIN as well.

Near-field communication: This involves tapping your phone against a sensor attached to the ATM. A chip in your phone emits a signal by which the NFC-enabled ATM confirms your identity. (Apple Pay, Android Pay and similar digital wallet apps use NFC.) You then select the virtual debit card info stored in your app or digital wallet, enter your PIN and conduct your transaction.

Capital One uses NFC for its CashTapp system at brick-and-mortar locations in Boston; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Austin, Texas; and Richmond, Virginia. Bank of America's cardless ATMs use NFC as well. Wells Fargo has announced it will add NFC capability to all its ATMs this year; more than 40% already have NFC enabled.

Security is the motivation.

Why the push for cardless ATMs? Convenience is a big factor, though you do lose the flexibility of being able to use every ATM, as you can with a card. More significantly, app-enabled ATM access lessens the risk of having your card data stolen.

Card data are most commonly pilfered with skimmers, hidden devices that read and store account information when someone swipes a card at an ATM. When those data are combined with PINs that have been recorded with pinhole cameras or fake keypads, fraudsters can create and use counterfeit cards for those accounts.

Skimming accounts for more than 98% of ATM fraud losses, according to security firm TMD Security. The Secret Service estimates that consumers and banks lose $8 billion to skimming each year. In 2016, FICO reported, the number of compromised ATMs and point-of-sale card readers rose by 30%.

Consumers are aware of the danger. In one recent survey, 34% of ATM users in the USA Said they were "very concerned" about card skimmers. In a different poll, 28% of American cash machine users said they wanted ATM authentication to be more secure.

What you can do to be safer.

Cardless access definitely helps, but it's not the only answer. A few crooks have already managed to hack the new system. As reported by computer security expert Brian Krebs, at least some of last year's Chase account breaches occurred after thieves stole login details for the victims' accounts, then altered the accounts' authentication details to gain access.

"Layers of security need to be added to make it harder for the thieves, but users should also practice good identity hygiene," says Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego. The ITRC recommends adding more authentication factors to your app, such as a fingerprint or second passcode; using antivirus software on your phone; and avoiding links in texts from unfamiliar sources.

The goal is to ensure that if you don't swipe your card, fraudsters can't swipe your data.

[MongerHunger]

How do you get enough pesos to bring in? Or do you just bring USD? I ask because the Cambios at the border have a 50 dollar limit for exchanging dollars into pesos, that's nothing. I had to go to three Cambios to get enough pesos to pay for my needs for one day. I ended up using the ATM in the Cascadas lobby at the next days of my trip.

At the border I have use the cambios right by tbe McDonald's, another one right across the trolley tracks in the small building, another that was in the little grocery store that now seems to be boarded up and they never limited me on an exchange. All transactions were over $50 USD.

[Baxter Slade]

In some Asian countries, you can withdraw cash from ATM without using a card. You use your phone to generate a one time code or QR code to withdraw. In China, you don't even need cash, just use your phone to transfer money. Last time I even got refund the same way because I was not happy with the service.

Using your phone instead of a card at an ATM. Sounds like it is available here. I just saw it in a Chase Bank commercial.

[Nounce]

In some Asian countries, you can withdraw cash from ATM without using a card. You use your phone to generate a one time code or QR code to withdraw. In China, you don't even need cash, just use your phone to transfer money. Last time I even got refund the same way because I was not happy with the service.

[LovesToSploog]

I am the opposite. Since my stays in Tijuana are from 1 to 4 weeks, several times a year, I do not like carrying that much cash. So I opened a Santander US savings account. Need to maintain a $100 balance to avoid fees. I usually only have enough in it between trips to avoid the fees. I "top" up on the amount of money I will be using for my trip. Using the debit card, I can make 6 withdrawals a month free from fees at any Santander bank ATM in Mexico. I also get the money at the bank exchange rate, which is better than any money exchange in SD or Tijuana. I also have my alerts really low, so I usually get a transaction alert email anytime my card is used. Seems to work for me. There are other banks in the US that offer the same or close to this type of service. Might be worth looking into, if you plan on a few visits.

Charles Schwab checking account will let you open an account where you can use it at any ATM, no minimum balances either. Since they don't have a bank they reimburse ATM fees at the end of the month. There are no foreign exchange fees and they have good exchange rate, just a FYI.

[HornyIndo]

My ATM card has unlimited ATM withdrawls from any bank's ATM at no extra cost, I got it mostly to monger outside US.

I made the mistake of leaving cash in there between the visits.

I had forgotten about chip and pin card till this was mentioned, my ATM card is new with chip and pin, and yet it got copied.

The chip is expected to be very secure, I worked on related technology in past. Now I am surprised and wondering how someone managed to copy it.

[Once Sailor]

I am the opposite. Since my stays in Tijuana are from 1 to 4 weeks, several times a year, I do not like carrying that much cash. So I opened a Santander US savings account. Need to maintain a $100 balance to avoid fees. I usually only have enough in it between trips to avoid the fees. I "top" up on the amount of money I will be using for my trip. Using the debit card, I can make 6 withdrawals a month free from fees at any Santander bank ATM in Mexico. I also get the money at the bank exchange rate, which is better than any money exchange in SD or Tijuana. I also have my alerts really low, so I usually get a transaction alert email anytime my card is used. Seems to work for me. There are other banks in the US that offer the same or close to this type of service. Might be worth looking into, if you plan on a few visits.