Buying a few juices for his children was very expensive for Don Francisco Barrantes and now he is in a legal suit.
The taxi driver visited a supermarket in La Garita de Alajuela and he paid 2,500 colones with his card. However, he started to receive strange calls. His bank informed him about some purchase he did at night.
A first purchase was $ 20, a second one was $ 365 and the third one for $ 215. The three purchases were $ 600 (around ₡ 330,000) in a place called Centro de Diversiones CC, located in Nicaragua. The purchases were made from a non-determined place in Costa Rica, using the data of his card. He thinks someone copied his bank information at the place where he bought the juices for his children.
He immediately filed a complaint at his bank, but he was told that although he did not authorize the payments, he did not have an insurance and he had to take care of the debt while the investigation is conducted, which will take from 45 to 90 days.
The OIJ informed that such complaints are common at this time of the year, criminals are difficult to track and coordination with Nicaraguan authorities is difficult.
Although it seems simple, the most common and new modality for fraud is the one Francisco suffered: they take photos and then use at data at dawn.
Some reccomendations:
-It you leave the country, tell your bank the destination and dates.
-If you a victim of fraud, make the minimum payment so that your financial record is not affected.
-In case of fraud or problems with the banks, go to the Office of the Financial Consumer located in Plaza Canada, 40 street Paseo Colón. Phones 22216624 or 2221 6625