Malaysian Tourist Recovers Money Lost To ATM Fraud In Bali

Unlike many similar cases, his prompt actions – immediately freezing his cards, filing a police report, and persistent follow-up with authorities – led to an unexpected recovery announcement on New Year’s Eve.

Xiaohongshu: 仙本那自由潜特伦斯

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What started as a routine ATM withdrawal in Bali, Indonesia, turned into a month-long ordeal for a Malaysian tourist before ending with an unexpected recovery of his funds.

The incident, which occurred on 29 November 2024, shows a clear pattern of systematic fraud:

Two withdrawals of MYR 291.00
Multiple withdrawals of MYR 436.50 each
Several transactions of MYR 284.72
Three smaller transactions of MYR 8.00

The victim, who was in Bali for a month-long diving course, discovered unauthorised withdrawals from his account after attempting to use an ATM at a convenience store.

“When I opened my banking app to check why the transaction failed, I was shocked to see multiple withdrawal transactions I never made,” he said in a social media post on Xiahongshu detailing his experience.

The theft was attributed to a card-skimming device installed on the ATM’s card slot.

I’d seen these devices mentioned in fraud prevention programs but never thought I’d encounter one in real life.

Quick Action Leads to Rare ATM Fraud Recovery

The tourist took three crucial steps that experts say contributed to his eventual recovery of funds:

Immediately contacted his bank to freeze all cards
Filed a police report upon returning to Malaysia
Followed up with the commercial crime division

He had also contacted friends who had experienced similar incidents, none of whom had successfully recovered their stolen funds.

I had actually given up hope of recovering the money.

However, on 31 December 2024, he received an unexpected call from his bank regarding the retrieval of the stolen funds.

Card Skimming: The Hidden Threat Still Haunting Tourism

Following the incident, the tourist shared his new protective measure for future travels:

Only unlock credit cards in banking apps when making immediate purchases
Immediately lock cards after transactions
Use Wise for cash withdrawals, keeping only small amounts available
Carefully inspect ATM card slots for any suspicious attachments

While this tourist’s story had a positive ending, authorities remind that recovery of stolen funds is not guaranteed in such cases.

The case also highlights the ongoing risks of card skimming in popular tourist destinations, despite financial institutions’ efforts to improve their fraud detection systems.

Skimmed again after using Bali ATMs

Already left Bali and then they start batch charging with cloned cards

They seem to use ATMs in Dubai after getting the card data via 4G from Bali

6 years later, skimmer again in Bali, nothing changed https://t.co/MzBEs6xDHh pic.twitter.com/OtRG2b160h
— @levelsio (@levelsio) July 1, 2023