Though we love living here, life in Paris is not all free wine tastings and fancy cheeses. There are as many annoying and confusingly difficult things to deal with in Paris as any other large city. Some are minor things - like needing to submit a new set of I.D. photos at every step of the residence permit issue and renewal process. The photo booths in the train stations seem to be made for people under 5 feet tall, so I’m becoming a pro at awkwardly hunching down to have my eyes lined up at the spot mandated by the rigid government I.D. photo standards. Other annoyances are a little more serious.
We were notified by our bank last week that there were attempted ATM withdrawals on my card that seemed suspicious. As neither J nor I had recently been trying to empty our French bank account from various ATMs in El Salvador, we confirmed that the withdrawals were fraudulent and had my card cancelled.* While you often hear stories about how banks in Paris can be difficult to deal with at times, our account manager has been nothing but helpful and responsive in dealing with this issue.
Unfortunately, the thieves had managed to get about 500 euros before the bank started blocking their withdrawals, and we were informed that French law required a police report to be filed before those transactions could be reversed. Since it was my card that was used, I was the victim and would have the pleasure of filing the report (or déposer plainte).
I thought through what I would need to say and what documentation I might need to have, looked up some relevant vocabulary, and put together an outline in French of the main points I hoped to convey. My internet research indicated that you are supposed to go to the police station for the jurisdiction where the crime occurred, but since we don’t really know where it happened (other than in San Salvador) I decided to try going to the station for our neighborhood.
When I arrived at the police station, there were two doors with signs indicating which services were provided behind each. I waited at the door for people looking to file a report until I was buzzed through. It was just a waiting room with a police officer at a desk. I waited in a short line until it was my turn to speak with the officer, then I let her know that I was there to make a complaint about fraudulent use of my ATM card. She was skeptical that I had come to the right station and wanted to confirm that the fraudulent transactions were on a French ATM card (they were), what bank was involved, and where I lived.
When she realized that I was in the right place, she told me that I would need to fill out a long form. She then asked if I spoke English, and when I answered “yes” she explained that she would need to translate the entire form for me, but couldn’t do so now as she needed to go to lunch. She said that I could either come back later or go to a different room and make my report there. I was suspicious of this excuse for two reasons: we were both speaking only French throughout this interchange, and I could see that the form she was holding was already translated into English. I decided to take my chances with her (hopefully less hungry) colleagues.
I went back to the entrance and waited to be buzzed into the second door, then waited in line again. The police officer I spoke with first wanted to know if I still had the ATM card. When I showed it to him and he saw it was a French carte bancaire, he asked how much money had been taken from my account. I showed him the list of fraudulent transactions, and he asked me to fill out a form. He then entered the information into his computer and gave the form back to me, saying that I should give it to my bank. I left the police station very relieved to have successfully obtained the necessary paperwork. While the experience was not so bad, it is one I hope I do not have to repeat anytime soon.
*J and I suspect that my PIN and card number were stolen by a illicit device planted on an ATM. I only use ATMs associated with our bank, but do not always pay the closest attention to what the actual machine looks like. I found an article from the FBI with some tips about how try to prevent this sort of thing from happening to me again.
We were notified by our bank last week that there were attempted ATM withdrawals on my card that seemed suspicious. As neither J nor I had recently been trying to empty our French bank account from various ATMs in El Salvador, we confirmed that the withdrawals were fraudulent and had my card cancelled.* While you often hear stories about how banks in Paris can be difficult to deal with at times, our account manager has been nothing but helpful and responsive in dealing with this issue.
Unfortunately, the thieves had managed to get about 500 euros before the bank started blocking their withdrawals, and we were informed that French law required a police report to be filed before those transactions could be reversed. Since it was my card that was used, I was the victim and would have the pleasure of filing the report (or déposer plainte).
I thought through what I would need to say and what documentation I might need to have, looked up some relevant vocabulary, and put together an outline in French of the main points I hoped to convey. My internet research indicated that you are supposed to go to the police station for the jurisdiction where the crime occurred, but since we don’t really know where it happened (other than in San Salvador) I decided to try going to the station for our neighborhood.
When I arrived at the police station, there were two doors with signs indicating which services were provided behind each. I waited at the door for people looking to file a report until I was buzzed through. It was just a waiting room with a police officer at a desk. I waited in a short line until it was my turn to speak with the officer, then I let her know that I was there to make a complaint about fraudulent use of my ATM card. She was skeptical that I had come to the right station and wanted to confirm that the fraudulent transactions were on a French ATM card (they were), what bank was involved, and where I lived.
When she realized that I was in the right place, she told me that I would need to fill out a long form. She then asked if I spoke English, and when I answered “yes” she explained that she would need to translate the entire form for me, but couldn’t do so now as she needed to go to lunch. She said that I could either come back later or go to a different room and make my report there. I was suspicious of this excuse for two reasons: we were both speaking only French throughout this interchange, and I could see that the form she was holding was already translated into English. I decided to take my chances with her (hopefully less hungry) colleagues.
I went back to the entrance and waited to be buzzed into the second door, then waited in line again. The police officer I spoke with first wanted to know if I still had the ATM card. When I showed it to him and he saw it was a French carte bancaire, he asked how much money had been taken from my account. I showed him the list of fraudulent transactions, and he asked me to fill out a form. He then entered the information into his computer and gave the form back to me, saying that I should give it to my bank. I left the police station very relieved to have successfully obtained the necessary paperwork. While the experience was not so bad, it is one I hope I do not have to repeat anytime soon.
*J and I suspect that my PIN and card number were stolen by a illicit device planted on an ATM. I only use ATMs associated with our bank, but do not always pay the closest attention to what the actual machine looks like. I found an article from the FBI with some tips about how try to prevent this sort of thing from happening to me again.
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