On our trip to the Azores in spring 2006, in the town of Velas on the island of São Jorge I went one morning to withdraw money from the ATM at the local bank. The screen gave me a message that the machine was not, at the time, operative. Needing cash that day, I went inside the bank and asked the teller if I could withdraw money.

“Of course,” was the reply.

I had more than enough money in my account. I took the bank at their word that they would process the withdrawal just as...

I was in Thailand in February ’07 and made four cash withdrawals at ATMs using my Visa card. The withdrawals totaled $1,152.

My next Visa statement showed I was charged a total of $71.46, attributed to finance charges for these transactions. The sketchy explanation on the statement indicated a fee of $10 per transaction for a total of $40. An interest charge at 23.99% had also been assessed, as best as I could determine, on ALL of my Visa charges for the period, even though without...

My daughter, who is a medical missionary in Togo, said she needed an international driver’s license to drive in Ghana for supplies. I was going to get one for her, so I went on the Internet and found all kinds of websites for these licenses. Of course, each wanted my credit card number, etc., in order to process the paperwork.

Be aware that any such website is a complete and total scam. There is no such thing as an international driver’s license. There is, however, an International...