Miami Equinox possible skimming theft of CC info during check-in

Just curious if anyone else that cruised on the Equinox on 8/20 (or other dates) out of Miami had their credit card skimmed/stolen just after returning home?

We checked in 8/20 at MIA cruise terminal and remember a very nervous female agent assisting us. On the last day of the cruise, they called our room and asked us to come to the guest relations desk b/c they didn't have our CC on file...which we found very odd (never occurred before 50+ cruises). We both remember the card getting swiped during embarkation. Why didn't they have it? No biggie we thought. Gave them my card instead.

We get home, and immediately get 3-4 fraud alerts on wife's card that was scanned in MIA cruise terminal. The card was not used the entire week, and kept in the safe. So they cancel the credit card, and I decide to backtrack our usage and steps of where it most likely occurred.

I am very concerned that IF this occurred during check-in at the port, they also had our full passport info...not very reassuring. So I called the port of MIA, they tell me to call MIA PD to file a report. MIA PD declines to file one since a crime didn't actually occur....:eek:

I call Celebrity, spoke to a very nice concerned agent. They also said call MIA PD. She stated she would send a note internally to security to review complaint.

With all the cameras in that building, how hard would it be to review the footage for us? Well, apparently MIA port authority is not interested in pax safely...just passing the buck. They refused to look into the complaint.

IF ANYONE else on the forum had this happen recently sailing from MIA on the Equinox or other ship can chime we can maybe solve the mystery? If we have a group of victims, maybe we can get somebody's attention to actually check into a potential ongoing problem for other cruisers sailing from MIA. :mad:

Once again, I am only trying to find out if anyone else had this happen to them recently cruising from Miami cruise terminal. Some other possibilities exist, but we are starting with the strongest one first.

Thank you

Mark & Tracy

You might want to also post this on the roll call thread for your cruise - that's probably the mostly likely way to catch passengers that were in the port at the same time. The circumstances do sound strange, though if there are cameras in the port area, you'd think employees would know that and be smart enough not to try anything. Then again, those with criminal intent aren't always smart!

Also think about the last places you used the card before arriving at the pier - for example self-serve gas stations are notorious for credit card skimming. Is it possible the card was already compromised and on an alert and that's why the original swipe wasn't accepted?

I am confused. You say you got fraud alerts. Very familiar with them as twice our credit card info got hacked while on cruises (years ago). Those alerts, if valid, do indeed constitute a crime being committed - someone trying to use your credit card, that someone not being you. In both of our cases there was a criminal report filed by our credit card company, of which we provided specific information. We also had to review our monthly bills and report suspicious charges, which also got sent to the police authority investigating it (I am using vague language as I cannot remember what 'police authority' was investigating it, but I think it was federal).

It's also strange to me that they did not call you until the last day. They do not wait until the last day to bill credit cards - they do it intermittently during the cruise. That's how we found out one of ours was hacked - mid-way through the cruise they called us down as our credit card company was refusing to accept the charge (that was before good internet on cruises so we had no way to know they had put a hold on our card due to suspicious activity). Sounds like at best a bunch of mix-ups, at worst perhaps a crime.

You might want to also post this on the roll call thread for your cruise - that's probably the mostly likely way to catch passengers that were in the port at the same time. The circumstances do sound strange, though if there are cameras in the port area, you'd think employees would know that and be smart enough not to try anything. Then again, those with criminal intent aren't always smart!

 

Also think about the last places you used the card before arriving at the pier - for example self-serve gas stations are notorious for credit card skimming. Is it possible the card was already compromised and on an alert and that's why the original swipe wasn't accepted?

Great suggestions. I will post in our roll call too. We went back and checked the usage every possible place. Different card for gas (company card). Maybe with a bit of luck I can either eliminate or build a case that warrants somebody looking deeper into this at MIA.

I am confused. You say you got fraud alerts. Very familiar with them as twice our credit card info got hacked while on cruises (years ago). Those alerts, if valid, do indeed constitute a crime being committed - someone trying to use your credit card, that someone not being you. In both of our cases there was a criminal report filed by our credit card company, of which we provided specific information. We also had to review our monthly bills and report suspicious charges, which also got sent to the police authority investigating it (I am using vague language as I cannot remember what 'police authority' was investigating it, but I think it was federal).

 

It's also strange to me that they did not call you until the last day. They do not wait until the last day to bill credit cards - they do it intermittently during the cruise. That's how we found out one of ours was hacked - mid-way through the cruise they called us down as our credit card company was refusing to accept the charge (that was before good internet on cruises so we had no way to know they had put a hold on our card due to suspicious activity). Sounds like at best a bunch of mix-ups, at worst perhaps a crime.

We had an OBC so that may explain why they waited to call us about no card on file until the last day. We started getting fraud alerts after we returned home from the cruise. I would guess that you are not hacked/skimmed/etc and immediately they start charging your card. Probably takes them a few days to get the data sold to the thieves cards made etc.

Another note on the police reports....Our investment account was hacked about a year ago. We got emails telling us our password, address & phone number had been changed about half an hour after we had accessed the account online. We immediately swung into action with their fraud division. Their investigator managed to intercept a wire transfer in process and close down 3 new 'checking' accounts that the person had opened in our name. All this happened in the space of about 3 hours from the time I had checked the account.

The financial institution wanted us to file a police report also, but when we contacted them, their first question was 'How much money did you lose?" When we said none, that we managed to catch the problem in time, they wouldn't take a report.

Same happened to me, they hacked my business credit card. I reported it to the credit card company and had zero liability. The police would not file a report since we didn't lose any money.

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Question, as we are on the next Equinox sailing on 9/4. I have already placed our card on file with Celebrity when we did online check in. Do they still have to take a credit card swipe at the terminal when we get our SeaPass? Sorry to hear about your fraud issues. It's a frustrating experience. I hope it wasn't the port employee.

Same happened to me, they hacked my business credit card. I reported it to the credit card company and had zero liability. The police would not file a report since we didn't lose any money.

 

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That is correct since you were not the victim of the loss.

Question, as we are on the next Equinox sailing on 9/4. I have already placed our card on file with Celebrity when we did online check in. Do they still have to take a credit card swipe at the terminal when we get our SeaPass? Sorry to hear about your fraud issues. It's a frustrating experience. I hope it wasn't the port employee.

Yes, I always forget which card I've used. Also, don't forget to alert your credit card companies that you are traveling out of the country. I once had a Fraud call from my Royal Caribbean card bank about charges (daily tips) on a Celebrity (sister brand) cruise ship and they were shutting off the card. I had forgotten to contact the Card company.

Our friends had their card info stolen at a restaurant on their precruise night. Bad stuff. Bad people.

Question, as we are on the next Equinox sailing on 9/4. I have already placed our card on file with Celebrity when we did online check in. Do they still have to take a credit card swipe at the terminal when we get our SeaPass?

Yes.

Never had that problem.

Question, as we are on the next Equinox sailing on 9/4. I have already placed our card on file with Celebrity when we did online check in. Do they still have to take a credit card swipe at the terminal when we get our SeaPass?

No, they don't.

Just ask for a cash account at that time if you don't feel safe giving them your credit card.

Then you can wait and give your credit card info to Guest Relations on the ship, if you feel more secure that way.

Whenever we have done online check in, they only requested the last 4 digits of the credit card number, so they have never received all the info necessary to set up our account at that time.

In fact, we sometimes give them a different card to use for our account once we actually get there. Changing cards has never been a problem.

We have a card that we only use with cruises as it gives us zero charge on foreign transactions. It had not been used all year and the Next time it was swiped was checking in for our Amsterdam embarkation on silhouette last year. It was then used for multiple transactions in philadelphia whilst we were still on the baltics cruise. The fraud dept caught it and we worked with them whilst in Sweden. We always register with the card where we are going but it also uses dollars because of the cruise so they initially thought it was us. We got it all refunded and a new card was waiting at home with a new number but it made paying the cruise bill fun as the card had been closed down.

It's also strange to me that they did not call you until the last day. They do not wait until the last day to bill credit cards - they do it intermittently during the cruise. That's how we found out one of ours was hacked - mid-way through the cruise they called us down as our credit card company was refusing to accept the charge (that was before good internet on cruises so we had no way to know they had put a hold on our card due to suspicious activity). Sounds like at best a bunch of mix-ups, at worst perhaps a crime.

I have never had my card charged through the cruise unless I used it to book a future cruise.

We use our X card for any cruise and we don't use it for anything else (we have other cards that give us much better perks for day-to-day purchases), so it would be obvious if that card was compromised it was whoever checked us in.

That being said, we stayed at a Hilton in New Orleans a few years ago before leaving on a cruise. The man at check in was very nice and asked about what our plans were while we were in town. I said we were leaving on a cruise the next day, he of course gushed about how cool that was, yada yada. We found out later that while he was checking us in and most of the others staying there that weekend, he was skimming everyone's cards. He had already put in his notice and it was his last week on the job! He waited until we were on the ship for a couple of days and then went to town having a spending spree on our card. We found out once we got back, I found out the other info upon speaking to the credit card company. They saw the fraudulent charges from people all over the country, but quickly realized the one thing we all had in common was the charge for the same Hilton. We have had other cards compromised throughout the years, none of them seem to go after the ones who take your info, they just issue new cards and call it a day.

We have a card that we only use with cruises as it gives us zero charge on foreign transactions. It had not been used all year and the Next time it was swiped was checking in for our Amsterdam embarkation on silhouette last year. It was then used for multiple transactions in philadelphia whilst we were still on the baltics cruise. The fraud dept caught it and we worked with them whilst in Sweden. We always register with the card where we are going but it also uses dollars because of the cruise so they initially thought it was us. We got it all refunded and a new card was waiting at home with a new number but it made paying the cruise bill fun as the card had been closed down.

Clearly you had the exact same thing happen to you... :mad: Getting anyone that actually wants to look into the problem is the frustrating part. We are like waving our hands "hey, we have a potential problem" but nobody cares or wants to listen. Thus we are trying to see how many others have had this happen to them...

Never had that problem.

50+ cruises and we never had this problem before. But skimming is become a big issue in the USA. We know where the card was last used (embarkation) and that's why I went to social media was to see if anyone leaving MIA terminal also had this issue...

The MIA PD won't do anything b/c nothing was "stolen" and no money loss occurred. I contact MIA PD, MIA port authority, and the cruiseline. The ONLY party remotely interested in the compliant was Celebrity. But they even said that nobody would follow up....

Clearly you had the exact same thing happen to you... :mad: Getting anyone that actually wants to look into the problem is the frustrating part. We are like waving our hands "hey, we have a potential problem" but nobody cares or wants to listen. Thus we are trying to see how many others have had this happen to them...

Unfortunately it's hard to pinpoint when the card was compromised. Could have been at check in but could also have been months before. I have a client that went to Mexico in March and fraud just came thru in August. She hardly ever uses that card and our fraud department indicated it probably was when they were in Mexico. Since there was no financial loss to you I can understand their reluctance to investigate and focus on cases where a loss did actually occur. Frustrating for you but in this day and age there is too much fraud to spend time on cases that were resolved without a financial loss.

Yes, I always forget which card I've used. Also, don't forget to alert your credit card companies that you are traveling out of the country. I once had a Fraud call from my Royal Caribbean card bank about charges (daily tips) on a Celebrity (sister brand) cruise ship and they were shutting off the card. I had forgotten to contact the Card company.

The card was not used any other time except during checking at MIA. We never call the CC company b/c when Celebrity or any other cruiseline authorizes during embark it's a US based transaction and never has been declined. :cool:

This just makes my head hurt...you are not secure anywhere.

I had a credit card compromised at a restaurant in Germany and my card was frozen because someone had been trying to charge phone cards in the UK which was not on the itinerary I gave the CC company.

Now when traveling internationally, I always bring a card that I do not use anywhere for awhile so that if my other card I do use internationally is compromised.

It can happen anywhere and anytime. Last summer, my sister used her card at a Whole Foods in Suburban Chicago. Shortly thereafter, there were a succession of charges from Cote D'Ivoire, all just seconds apart, totaling more than $3000. That did not raise any red flags for the bank and she didn't know until she looked at her online statement a few days later. Fortunately, all was refunded.

It can happen anywhere and anytime. Last summer, my sister used her card at a Whole Foods in Suburban Chicago. Shortly thereafter, there were a succession of charges from Cote D'Ivoire, all just seconds apart, totaling more than $3000. That did not raise any red flags for the bank and she didn't know until she looked at her online statement a few days later. Fortunately, all was refunded.

This is so true. We have had our cards hit a half dozen times, but the weirdest time was a couple of years ago when we bought a new refrigerator. We had a Sears card that had been sent to us as our old one had expired, but we let it sit for about 4 months before we even activated it and only did so because they were running a special for extra $ off if we put the purchase on our Sears card. We activated it the day before we purchased the fridge, so imagine our surprise when the bill came & it included a $120 charge for pizza in California! We live in Massachusetts and the pizza had been called in and delivered a full month before we even activated the card! They even had the address that the pizzas had been delivered to, but they ended up doing nothing to the people, the credit card company said they just remove the charges and reissue the card. Here was a case where they had an actual name and address of someone making charges on a card and they don't go after them....one of the big reason the fees are so high on cards. Why they even approved the charge is beyond me???