There are new devices and methods with which crooks and scammers are obtaining your credit and debit card information, skimmers; on ATM and gas station credit card machines. Skimmers are becoming ever more sophisticated and harder to distinguish from the actual machines. With national debt and individual debt rising every year, banks lose on average about 10 billion a year due to credit card fraudulent purchases. Learn how can you protect yourself and learn to spot these skimmers and understand how they work, so that you aren’t taken by a scam artist.
Traditional Skimmers:
Credit and debit card skimming machines are traditionally placed above or below the spot on the machine that reads your card, so that you have to scan your card through both the skimmer and the credit card runner in order to make a purchase. For more on the traditional skimming device read this previously published blog Credit Card Skimming: Protect Yourself. Thieves are also placing hidden near by cameras or key loggers on the machine in order to access your accounts.
How to Avoid Getting Scammed:
- Use an ATM at one of the bank’s branches, and preferably one that is bigger and open more often. The chances of a skimmer being able to place a device on the machine or a camera in the vicinity without being spotted is slim at best.
- Compare other ATMS with the one you traditionally use, or compare any two ATMs to see if there are any physically noticeable differences.
- Don’t always trust “out of order” signs. Sometimes crooks will place “out of order” signs on ATMs and redirect the traffic to a nearby ATM so that they can get even more numbers, etc. Just find a different ATM all together or call your local bank to see if it is indeed broken and they are responsible for the sign, etc.
- Be wary of stand alone ATMs in far away or not well monitored locations. These are the easiest targets for skimmers.
- Skimmers usually protrude from the ATM and look like they match the Gray or other colors the ATM uses. Be sure the rest of the ATMs of that particular company look the same, if not, report it to authorities.
- Always cover the pin pad when entering your pin number. This prevents any hidden cameras from capturing your pin as well as pick pockets, etc and is just a smart idea in general.
- Check your account balance on a weekly,or at least bi weekly basis,so you that you will immediately notice if something fishy or out of place is going on.
- Setting up account alerts and putting a lock on your credit will help you even more closely monitor your accounts.
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