My card was taken by an ATM near my hotel in Congo. Has this happened to anyone else? Solution?
The card is likely gone forever. This is common in a lot of countries where the ATM network isn't as robust as it is elsewhere. The machine will likely destroy the card to prevent fraud. The most important thing is to call your bank and cancel the card. You can try to ask at a bank branch if the ATM is attached to one, but I would not get my hopes up. You'll need to find another way to get cash for the rest of your trip.
This happened to me in Kinshasa. My advice is to call your home bank right now and report the card as lost or stolen. You can explain that the ATM took it, and they will block it. I was in a difficult situation as I only had one card. The solution for me was to use my passport to go to a Western Union office in the city and have a family member send me money. That's a good temporary solution to get cash.
Yes, this happened to a friend of mine. The card is almost certainly gone for good. For security, banks will not return cards that are captured by ATMs. The most important thing to do is call your bank right away to block it. In Brazzaville, you can try going to a branch of Trust Merchant Bank (TMB) with your passport to see if you can get an emergency cash advance. Make sure you have a second card on you for this exact reason.
I had this happen to me with a BIC-Congo ATM in Brazzaville. It's almost certain you won't get the card back. You must call your bank immediately and freeze or cancel the card. The ATMs in Congo can be prone to technical issues, and your card could have been taken for a variety of reasons, including a network error. Your bank will send a new card to your home address, so you'll need to figure out how to get cash in the meantime, perhaps by wiring money.