Victim of chip-and-pin fraud? It's all YOUR fault, insist the banks as they refuse payouts

With credit cards, the situation is slightly different. If someone uses the card and pin without your knowledge, the most you will ever have to pay is £50. Experts say the complaints sent to the Ombudsman are simply the tip of the iceberg.

At least in the UK. I wonder what protection do you have in Switzerland. Especially if the protection is different for debit and credit cards.

Payment Services Directive: Frequently Asked Questions

Usually a EUR 150 limit applies:

• Liability of payment service user in case of misuse of a payment instrument (limited to EUR 150). This amount may be reduced by Member States and there is no liability for unauthorised payments occurring after the user has properly notified his/her payment service provider.
• Limited liability: in the case of loss or theft of a payment instrument (e.g. a debit or credit card) the maximum liability of consumers is limited to EUR 150 (of course this does not apply for fraudulent behaviour). This amount may be reduced by Member States and there is no liability for unauthorised payments occurring after the user has properly notified his/her payment service provider.

It's quite scary how easy it is for people to get your pin, methods I'm aware of:

Bogus workmen replacing valid chip and pin machines with ones that log your card details and still allow transactions to take place.

false fronts on ATM's - usually the lighted bar with the bank name on it and a card reader over the real card reader.

Plain and simple looking over your shoulder or using binoculars or similar, I think something like this was mentioned here on EF.