ATMs for US accounts in Bolivia? Any problems lately?

Hi all-
I will be arriving in La Paz 31 Dec. Today I called my bank to put a travel alert on my cards so I'd be able to use them in Bolivia without fraud scares. I was told it is not possible to do this for an ATM card for an American bank account for use in Bolivia. They are uncertain as to whether my card will work or not. Most threads on this forum show people having no particular issues with American bank cards, just the typical issues with machines malfunctioning for all users and running out of cash.
Has anyone had problems with American bank cards being denied because of suspected fraud?
Please let me know asap as the replies will help me determine how much in cash and travellers' cheques i will need to bring.
And if anyone has a great idea of how to spend New Year's Eve in La Paz, please do share!
thanks in advance-
nb

I live in Bolivia and use my ATM card all the time. My account is with Bank of America. I usually withdraw US dollars (not all ATM give dollars, you have to ask around, but usually the ones at the airports do) and change to Bolivianos at a money exchange place. That way I get just a set withdrawal fee but not the foreign transaction fee (1% of total at my bank).

I often draw US$ from ATMs in Bolivia with either a debit card or Visa. However, my bank knows I am resident here, which may make a difference.

US$ notes are usually available at the ATMs alongside bank branches, which are the safest ones to use because they are least likely to have been tampered with.
Like #1, I then change to Bolivianos at a Casa de Cambio to get a better XR.
Why your bank thinks there is a particular risk of card fraud at ATMs in Bolivia beats me. The only time I had a problem was in London, when somehow my debit card number and PIN must have been cloned, although the card was never out of my possession.
Travellers cheques are no longer much used around here. You would probably have tpo go into a bank to change them at an unfavourable rate

Thank you for the replies. Apparently it's not my bank, but a US gov't thing that prevents banks from noting travel alerts on ATM account for US travelers to Bolivia. Why that is beats me, too!
Good suggestion on withdrawing US$ to beat the additional exchange fees. If the card works I'll try this.
It is possible that a bank will know, after some time, that a customer is an ex pat. Im told that if I have an issue I can just call the bank, but I'd rather not rely on doing that since I'll be there for a short time and moving around a lot.
Looking forward to seeing some of the country in a few days.
Thanks again for your replies.
NB

All bigger banks' ATMs here are Visa and Mastercard enabled (or whatchacallit) so you shouldn't have any problem drawing cash with an American credit or debit card.

Having said that, ever since I changed my (Dutch) debit card last March I'm not able to draw cash at most Bolivian banks anymore. Only BNB, Mutual La Primera and one or two others still work. Neither my own bank nor any Bolivian bank has been able to explain why this is.
So should your card not work at the first bank's ATM you try, don't give up yet but try a few more banks.

Just returned from 3 weeks in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras. After being home for a few days, I checked my bank account and found that someone in Lima, Peru had made 41 withdrawals from my account in 4 days.

Bank thinks my card was compromised at an ATM on my trip to Bolivia in June and people are only now using it. Card was immediately cancelled, but what if this would have occurred while traveling? ALWAYS take enough cash to get you home!

Insurance did cover those withdrawals.

Hello Nancy, I'm also arriving in La Paz, january 1st. If you're looking for traval partner, you can contact me : p.ammeux@laposte.net.
Bye !
Pierre (France)

#5:
Sorry to hear that, xinloi. Unfortunately, skimming and cloning of bankcards happens in Bolivia, just like in any other place in the world. Banks here warn for it all the time. So yes, anyone about to stick their card into an ATM here should have a good look if nothing suspicious is attached to the slot - again, just like anywhere else in the world.

By the way: you do get around in Latin America, eh? :)

I've used my card in all of the major cities in Bolivia and never had a problem.

By the way: you do get around in Latin America, eh? :)

Main reason I go there is because I would like to end it all like Bart Simpsons uncle--in a hail of federal bullets.

#9 xinloi:
Why not just go and hang out in a shopping mall in the US of A? You will not have to wait for the Feds before being mown down by some nutter with an assault rifle.
By the way, as I posted earlier, london wasthe only place I have ever had my card cloned. It can happen anywhere.

Edited by: Threeshire

Feds don't hang around Malls--don't go to Valhalla if shot by amateurs in mall. Would be like dying in bed--you go straight to Hell.

Anyone worried about a particular risk of card fraud in Bolivia should have alook at this BBC link

"Tackling growing cash machine crime and 'skimming'"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25580265

Our local criminals have yet to reach that level of first world sophistication.

Our local criminals have yet to reach that level of first world sophistication.

--Don't bet on that! I have yet to see anyone in the US set up a card table in a local market and then take cell phones apart; scatter the parts on the table , and then actually have people come up and buy those parts. Both parties know how to repair their own cell phones.

These local people are smart.