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Yes, I started doing this as soon as I got a debit card after two of my friends were beat up to surrender their pin numbers. One of my friends was held for 7 ho

by yeureka 13y ago

Yes, I started doing this as soon as I got a debit card after two of my friends were beat up to surrender their pin numbers. One of my friends was held for 7 hours in a tunnel by a thug while his pal was busy taking as much cash as possible and when the limit was reached he started buying expensive, easy to sell goods. He lost all of his money. I learned my lesson from his very traumatic experience.

kaoD 13y ago
Shit, that's scary. I've never had any traumatic experiences like these, but I always picture myself seeking revenge. How did your friend cope with the anger?
- yeureka 13y ago
  This was back in the middle 90's. Here's the full story: My friend was working out of town in a suburb of Lisbon and had to take a train everyday in the reverse flow ( commuters were coming in to the center, he was going out ) so the train was pretty empty one day and he was alone in the carriage. Two guys walk in, sit next to him and one of them produces a dirty syringe, says he has HIV and that the my friend better cooperate or else. They escort him out on the next station and go into the tunnel where the syringe guy held him for all that time. For the next few days he was completely paranoid and he had a friend in the police who tried to find the robbers but unfortunately they couldn't. "All is money" at the time ( he was 19 ) was around $3000 in today's money, and the bank didn't help ( it wasn't a credit card ). He had no form of insurance either. He was always a very shy and inward person and that episode made him much more so. But the years have passed and now he is quite normal and has become a really good 3D artist. I haven't met him since I left Portugal but I guess he doesn't like to talk about this episode. Another friend of mine was beaten up when he refused to give his pin and two other friends just gave it without resistance. This is why I always have just enough money for daily expenses on the card bank account. It means I have to constantly top up that account which could be another security problem but at least if I am confronted with a violent situation I'll just give my stuff away and minimize my risk of physical damage. [EDIT] Actually I was just on his website looking at his recent work and maybe he was more affected than what I imagined.
frenchman_in_ny 13y ago
"my friends were beat up to surrender their pin numbers. One of my friends was held for 7 hours [...] He lost all of his money." That's horrible. Not to try to minimize, but something doesn't sound right, though (in the US). Risk of loss on debit cards should be up to $50, if you notify your bank within the first 48 hours, under the Federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card#United_States
- InclinedPlane 13y ago
  It's not a debit card transaction, it's an ATM withdrawal.
GigabyteCoin 13y ago
I met some partygoers in Budapest once who told of a similar tale. They went into the wrong bar apparently, and upon leaving were told that they forgot to pay the cover charge. Which was $100 a head apparently. So they grabbed one of the men and literally started beating him in front of the partygoers until they all emptied their debit cards into the ATM at the door of the club.
hnriot 13y ago
It took 7 hours for the thugs to reach the daily ATM maximum limit? How do you buy expensive goods with an ATM card? That sounds completely bogus to me.
- yeureka 13y ago
  Mobile phones where not so common at the time ( circa 1995, Portugal), so the guy holding him couldn't tell how much money was in the bank account and how long his "partner" would take to empty it. Large transactions are more difficult to pull than smaller ones and I guess the guy was sampling the limits of the card with reasonable sized chunks. But to rationalize the actions of a heroin junkie is hard and I won't try.

by yeureka 13y ago

kaoD 13y ago

Shit, that's scary. I've never had any traumatic experiences like these, but I always picture myself seeking revenge. How did your friend cope with the anger?

yeureka 13y ago
This was back in the middle 90's. Here's the full story: My friend was working out of town in a suburb of Lisbon and had to take a train everyday in the reverse flow ( commuters were coming in to the center, he was going out ) so the train was pretty empty one day and he was alone in the carriage. Two guys walk in, sit next to him and one of them produces a dirty syringe, says he has HIV and that the my friend better cooperate or else. They escort him out on the next station and go into the tunnel where the syringe guy held him for all that time. For the next few days he was completely paranoid and he had a friend in the police who tried to find the robbers but unfortunately they couldn't. "All is money" at the time ( he was 19 ) was around $3000 in today's money, and the bank didn't help ( it wasn't a credit card ). He had no form of insurance either. He was always a very shy and inward person and that episode made him much more so. But the years have passed and now he is quite normal and has become a really good 3D artist. I haven't met him since I left Portugal but I guess he doesn't like to talk about this episode. Another friend of mine was beaten up when he refused to give his pin and two other friends just gave it without resistance. This is why I always have just enough money for daily expenses on the card bank account. It means I have to constantly top up that account which could be another security problem but at least if I am confronted with a violent situation I'll just give my stuff away and minimize my risk of physical damage. [EDIT] Actually I was just on his website looking at his recent work and maybe he was more affected than what I imagined.

frenchman_in_ny 13y ago

"my friends were beat up to surrender their pin numbers. One of my friends was held for 7 hours [...] He lost all of his money." That's horrible. Not to try to minimize, but something doesn't sound right, though (in the US). Risk of loss on debit cards should be up to $50, if you notify your bank within the first 48 hours, under the Federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card#United_States

InclinedPlane 13y ago
It's not a debit card transaction, it's an ATM withdrawal.

GigabyteCoin 13y ago

I met some partygoers in Budapest once who told of a similar tale. They went into the wrong bar apparently, and upon leaving were told that they forgot to pay the cover charge. Which was $100 a head apparently. So they grabbed one of the men and literally started beating him in front of the partygoers until they all emptied their debit cards into the ATM at the door of the club.

hnriot 13y ago

It took 7 hours for the thugs to reach the daily ATM maximum limit? How do you buy expensive goods with an ATM card? That sounds completely bogus to me.

yeureka 13y ago
Mobile phones where not so common at the time ( circa 1995, Portugal), so the guy holding him couldn't tell how much money was in the bank account and how long his "partner" would take to empty it. Large transactions are more difficult to pull than smaller ones and I guess the guy was sampling the limits of the card with reasonable sized chunks. But to rationalize the actions of a heroin junkie is hard and I won't try.