PSA: What to do when there's a credit card fraud

One of the double edge sword of travelling abroad is using the credit card.  When abroad , most of the shops are not yet fully equipped with the latest tech and their POS systems are still riddled with the old system. They are forced to use your credit card's magstripe (that black line you see at the back of your card) when performing transactions (e.g. Paying for your hotel stay, etc.) , and this is where you can be vulnerable.

Things to watch out when you're overseas travelling and you're using your credit card:
1. Are they using EMV chip to do your transaction or are they still using a magstripe?
2. Is the POS machine that they are using an old version (is the pin pad is old)?
3. Is the amount being charged to your credit card the correct amount?
4. Did they bring a receipt for you to sign or did they perform the transaction on the POS machine in front of you?

So what do you when you need to settle a dispute?

1. Call and have the card blocked immediately by the credit card company.
2.  Over the phone, you have to ask the officer in charge to give you to raise a dispute and give you an SR Number. DO remember to catch the name of the officer involve. 
3.  Download the form (depends on your bank).  The current dispute I had was with UOB
4.  After they've received the form, the bank will do an internal investigation. They will give a temporary credit first to your credit card so that you will have something to use in the meantime. 

Remember the following: 

• Filing of charge back should be done within 60 days (2 months) . This is the norm but this is also bank-dependent. 
• You have around 30 - 45 days to file dispute with the merchant.
• Overall, the whole saga should only last you 120 days from date of transaction.

My Saga:
Sept 12 , 2018 10PM 

I received a message from my phone that a charge of S$1399.65 was charged on my account.
Sept 13, 9AM 

I only saw the message in the morning and immediately called the bank to block my card because I did not do this charge.
Sept 17, 9PM 

I received my new card.
Sept 19, 9PM 

I called again the bank to check the status and saw that there's a temporary credit added to my account.
Oct 05  

I received phone calls from the bank, but I didn't see it until late. I thought nothing about it because I thought everything was settled.
Oct 18 

I saw the charge was reversed (and the credit was not added). I called up the bank to check what was wrong and told me that they did not receive my chargeback form.
Oct 19 

I immediately filled up the form and send back to the bank: Chargeback@uobgroup.com. Within the day, I've received a confirmation from the bank that they received my form. There is a 45-90 day window of investigation before anything is finalized.

What I learned from the experience was:

• The bank will send a final letter that an investigation was concluded and everything is back to normal. 
• You have to file dispute within 2 months (otherwise, say goodbye to your chances of getting your money back) 
• When travelling, pay attention to how the credit card was used. 
• Have to bring some RFID tamper proof wallet to keep the details of the credit card safe (and other info).
• Put alerts (as low as $1) for any transactions incurred in your bank account or credit card. (This way you will be informed if there are any unwanted transactions)
• Always check your bank statements  
• Do not use Debit Card when travelling (tough luck to retrieve money from debit card as it's debited immediately)
• Keep all receipts  

Hope this helps!