New UK ATM DCC Scam Discovered

skituscanycom

I recently experienced a shocking new scam when attempting to use a Notemachine ATM at Morrison's supermarket in Skipton, North Yorkshire.
I was using a Revolut card onto which I had pre-loaded British Pounds.
I had a balance of £215.18 on the card and was trying to withdraw £200. Normally, this would cost me £200.
What had happened was that, even though this is a UK-issued card, because this is potentially a multicurrency card [even though it only had pounds loaded on it], Notemachine decided that my 'local' currency could be US Dollars and tried to bill me $308.66 for my £200 based on THEIR exchange rate. Revolut then had to convert this back to British Pounds at their rate and this came to a total of £219.36 - nearly a 10% charge!!
I queried this with Revolut and they explained that I had been a victim of 'unscrupulous application' of Direct Currency Conversion [DCC].
Apparently, according to Revolut, this is happening more and more where unscrupulous ATM companies are trying to gain additional currency conversion commissions.
Fortunately for me, the transaction was declined due to 'insufficient funds' so I didn't lose out, except for not getting the cash when I needed it!
Has this happened to anyone else?

visidigi

Its not a scam if that's the terms of use which you signed up to an accepted when getting the card loaded with cash. Nor is it new to have ATM fees.

MattMattMattUK

It is not a scam, it is user error.

born_again

Not quite sure where this fits into consumer rights. More of a rant.

Problem solved by not using a prepaid card 

skituscanycom

visidigi said:

Its not a scam if that's the terms of use which you signed up to an accepted when getting the card loaded with cash. Nor is it new to have ATM fees.

I'm sorry, but you are missing my point.
Yes, some ATMs charge a fee for withdrawals, that's understood.
Under certain conditions Revolut also charges a fee for withdrawals, that's understood.
At no time did I sign up for or would reasonably expect to be charged in US Dollars on a UK card for a UK Pounds transaction executed in the UK. That's the point that I'm trying to make.

skituscanycom

born_again said:

Not quite sure where this fits into consumer rights. More of a rant.

Problem solved by not using a prepaid card 

I thought that this was the most appropriate category.
You say "Problem solved by not using a prepaid card" but not everybody has one of those and who's to say that this might not happen with other cards too, e.g. Credit Cards? I'm just trying to make people aware of the potential risk ...

skituscanycom

MattMattMattUK said:

It is not a scam, it is user error.

Accidentally selecting [or failing to de-select] DCC when abroad could be construed as user error, although I still think that it is a sharp practise designed to catch out the unsuspecting or unwary.
Deliberately converting a simple UK ATM cash withdrawal into a fake double currency conversion transaction rates as a SCAM in my book!

JJ_Egan

Complain to the relevant firms that you say are scamming .

Manxman_in_exile

JJ_Egan said:

Complain to the relevant firms that you say are scamming .

Yes.  If Revolut say you've been a " victim of the 'unscrupulous application' of DCC", shouldn't they be refunding you - and then taking it up with the ATM provider?

(Sorry if the above response seems naiive but I haven't used an ATM for over six years, I don't know who Revolut is - but I presume some sort of "bank" - and I've no idea what DCC is or why on earth it should be applied to a sterling transaction).

skituscanycom

Manxman_in_exile said:

JJ_Egan said:

Complain to the relevant firms that you say are scamming .

Yes.  If Revolut say you've been a " victim of the 'unscrupulous application' of DCC", shouldn't they be refunding you - and then taking it up with the ATM provider?

(Sorry if the above response seems naiive but I haven't used an ATM for over six years, I don't know who Revolut is - but I presume some sort of "bank" - and I've no idea what DCC is or why on earth it should be applied to a sterling transaction).

Thanks for your comment. This is meant to be a 'shout out' to fellow consumers to be on the lookout when making cash withdrawals from ATMs.
Yes, Revolut are a modern electronic bank and, although I referred to the card as having been pre-loaded with funds, it is in fact just one component of a full UK bank account which happens to offer a lot of excellent features, particularly if you travel abroad. In fact, as I said above, I was lucky because the transaction got declined so there's nothing to refund.

JJ_Egan

(Thanks for your comment. This is meant to be a 'shout out' to fellow consumers to be on the lookout when making cash withdrawals from ATMs. )

Praise Vent and WARNINGS is the board for that .