"Skimming" is one of the newest ways thieves have found to steal your information from credit and debit cards. For as little as a hundred bucks, criminals can purchase card readers to use as a handheld device or installed into ATM machines to swipe your card -and information, without your knowledge. Rogue employees in restaurants, stores and gas stations, simply slide your card through the device and information on your card is easily copied. The card is then returned to you, and the stolen information is later downloaded to a computer where the information can either be sold on the web, or deposited onto a blank credit card.
Here are a few of the latest stories:
Using an
ATM can be convenient, but it can also be risky if you're not careful.
A new study
found that there is a higher rate of identity theft involving ATMs in
convenience stores because they are more susceptible to tampering. It's a
process called skimming.
"There
are devices that can be inserted into the card slots of ATMs that will copy the
magnetic info of the backs of credit cards,"
Experts
said that ATMs owned and operated by banks are most secure when it comes to
protecting personal information.
ATM thieves have drained $2 million
from bank accounts across the country without ever touching a machine.
They
targeted people using Citibank
ATMs at 7-Eleven stores
nationwide.
Investigators
said the thefts are part of a disturbing trend where hackers break into servers
containing PIN information. The ID thefts took place between October and March.
McAfee
security experts said the ATM operators or manufacturers did not properly
encrypt the data.
"They
did not take the proper steps to safeguard their data. To know someone isn't
doing their job to protect our pin numbers and our cards makes you feel
insecure," McAfee's Vimal Solank said.
**********************************************************
Restaurant Owner Charged
with Stealing Credit Card Numbers
South Florida/Sun-Sentinel/Federal prosecutors have
charged a
Bruce Horner, 54, of
The transactions took place
between March 2007 and Feb. 2008, and Horner used the proceeds to pay personal
and family expenses, the charging document states.
Horner is expected to plead
guilty next week to conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud charges and could be
sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. His attorney declined to comment.
According to prosecutors,
Horner ran the fraudulent charges through a merchant credit card terminal
established under a stolen identity. He used roughly 50 credit card numbers
obtained from customers at Wat a Lunch n More in
Horner sold the restaurant
in May 2007. New owner Richard Collins said he cooperated with authorities and
the restaurant no longer records credit card numbers. More
*****************************************
State
police seeking pair in 'card-skimming' probe
According
to state police, Wawa locations in
A co-op in
Bryn Mawr appears to have been compromised in early June.
The
culprits have used the stolen debit-card information to make withdrawals from
ATM machines at Wawa and 7-Eleven stores throughout the area, in addition to
casinos in
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For more info on how to protect your data from skimming see earlier tagged blogs and video: HERE
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Writing checks is becoming a thing of the pass, but seem like it should be the new future considering the skimming that's going on. How can this be avoided. What in the world is this world coming to? I thought I saw on the news where you can ask your credit card company to to give you a card with a magnetic strip or strip of steel across your credit to avoid thieves. I just don't know.
Edna -Thanks for commenting. You are right about the dangers of skimming as thieves get aggressive and innovative it's becoming increasingly difficult to avoid be a victim of some type of fraud. Checks are not the answer either. Unfortunately they know how to take account numbers and recreate bogus checks. And remember, if a thief gets their hands on your debit card or check book -they can clean out your account. Credit cards are the better way to go...
The best thing any of us can do is to take all precautionary measures to lessen the impact and have a plan of action. I often say, the best way to prevent an identity theft -is to be prepared for one!
As a victim and advocate, it's important to understand that if it happens once, odds are pretty good it will happen again because criminals sell our information to multiple thieves. It wasn't until after I was hit several times that I set out to learn how I could make the mess be less cumbersome, frustrating and costly -both financially and emotionally. I became a LifeLock subscriber because I didn't want to do the work -or be on the hook for losses -anymore!
Because LifeLock likes my message of education and awareness they give a 20% discount to those who use the promo code: denise.
In doing so -it's a mere $88.00 a year or $8.00 a month -whichever plan you utilize. Then as a LifeLock subscriber -if you become one of the tens of millions to be notified of a data compromise or theft, or your wallet is lost of stolen, it's their problem -and not yours. They make the calls, replace cards, bail you out of jail, etc. etc...
They promise to "fix" the mess and they back that promise up with $1 million dollar guarantee. Nowadays, having a plan of action, knowing what, where and how to restore your identity if stolen is vital -but having someone else do the preventative and restorative work gives great peace of mind -and that is priceless!!
Thanks for letting me know that I'm not the only one who is struggling with personal debt. I lost my job recently and have not been able to find anything in my field. I have stopped using all of my credit cards. And I now always pay cash for everything. I didn't figure that I would ever get into this kind of a situation.