Possible ATM virus in Mexico

in Antigua the robbers had placed scanners over the units and were getting pin numbers and cleaning out accounts

These swipe scanners have been used for years all over the world including the US - on things like gas pumps and any other device such as an ATM where you do your own swipe - but we have also heard of lots of retail clerks and restaurant servers who steal this info using swipe scanners of some kind. Which tells us we need to be very careful no matter where we are or what we do.

Last winter we got an email from Amazon acknowledging our change of email address - but we had not changed our email address - so contacted Amazon immediately (which is also why we check our email often and frequently - more than once per day if possible). Our Amazon account had been compromised somehow - someone buying stuff online in Michigan while we were in Mexico - so our account was closed and our debit card canceled - no more cash in Mexico for me. Amazon will not tell us how this could have happened. Years ago my credit union debit card was compromised along with about 10,000 others while we were on a Caribbean island - the ATM ate my card and would not give it back - stuck on an island with no debit card and no money. It can happen to anyone anywhere. Proceed with caution everywhere. Have extra cards hidden away safely and have photo copies of cards and phone numbers to call to cancel any card that may have been compromised.