in case of an unauthorized withdrawal, immediately file a police report at the local 'delegacia' as some banks require this documentation for a refund of money -  through contacting a home bank, right away, individuals will most likely recieve a temporary card for a couple of weeks which gives the visitor time to fax them the police report and make the credit permanent.

a great way for individuals to protect themselves against unauthorized withdrawals is, before traveling, set up a email notification system with the home bank - this program sends a message to the user every time money is taken out, and enables them to take quick action when the transaction is fraudulent.

some atms require a 6 digit pin code, as opposed to the 4 digit pin code that is commonly used in the usa and europe - if only 4 digits are entered, some atm's will refuse the transaction, and might even lock your card - before traveling, a potential solutioin to avoiding this problem includes changing your pincode from four to six digits.