Carsten Agger

Arriving in Stansted Airport. Go to an ATM, wanting to withdraw £200.

ATM says: Do you want to fix the conversion? If so, the total is DKK 2,350.

I decline. On my bank statement, DKK 1,750 were drawn. This conversion rate means DKK 2,350 is £268.

So what the ATM *really* asked me was:

"Do you want me to steal 68 pounds from you?"

@pluralistic Yet another take on enshittification, maybe?

Enshittification and theft-enabling of bank withdrawals.

#Bank #Scam #DanskerTrut #DKMastodon

Apr 30 at 8:28amWeb
Show threadRichard StephensApr 30

@agger @pluralistic This isn’t a new scam, although that amount is particularly egregious.

At a hotel in Germany once, the receptionist accepted the conversion for me before handing me the machine. I didn’t notice until I looked at the receipt afterwards.

Show threadAndrew ZonenbergApr 30
@agger @pluralistic 68 pounds?? ATM fees here are usually on the order of $3 if it's operated by a different bank than the account is hosted at, or $0 if same bank.
Show threadTony WellsApr 30

@agger @pluralistic

The conversion rates/fees on currency exchange at Airport bureau de change have always been ridiculously high, often around 15%, but there's also an EXTRA % for using the ATM there!.

If you let the card issuer do the conversion, you can still get hit by high charges, depending on the bank, but not that high. I have a card just for travelling with zero fees and a sensible exchange rate.

Show threadKynxApr 30
@TonyJWells @agger @pluralistic I haven’t had an opportunity to use it in a while (Brexit, grrr) but when I lived in Portugal I used what is now wise.com. Hope I don’t sound like a shill, but it was good - very low commission, better rates than my bank, burner card numbers for online purchases. Can’t say what it’s like now, but check it out.
Show threadRichard D. MoreyMay 1
@agger @pluralistic I was just in Portugal and when I paid for my hotel, the card machine first asked "What currency do you want to pay in?" Of course, I picked the local currency. Then it asked a followup question; something like "Would you like to accept this rate?" which sounded like a confirmation of my answer to the last question, but was actually the opposite. Lost about £100 to this scam.