"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, can 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 then often sold to identity theft rings who sell the information to various thieves seeking bits of information while visiting underground chat rooms on the web.
Best Buy says customer credit card numbers stolen
Ex-employee at West Palm Beach store arrested
By Mc Nelly Torres | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Best Buy officials said Friday a former employee stole credit card numbers of 4,000 customers who shopped at the West Palm Beach consumer electronics store in November and December, during the busy holiday shopping season.
Federal authorities arrested Brittany Johnson, 22, of West Palm Beach, formerly a cashier at the Best Buy store at 1880 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. in West Palm Beach. They charged her for allegedly stealing thousands of credit cards numbers from customers, according to a criminal complaint by the U.S. attorney's office in Miami.
She sold the credit card numbers to Marius Tyree Ö Harden, 28, of Tamarac, authorities said. Johnson and Harden were arrested on Jan. 15 and Jan. 30, respectively. Both were charged with possession of a skimming device with the intent to defraud.
Johnson told U.S. Secret Service agents that Harden approached her in November and gave her the skimming device, or card reader, to copy credit cards from customers as they make purchases. Johnson copied credit cards from customers and met with Harden weekly in November and December and sold him the card numbers for $17 per number. She made about $1,000. Harden resold them to third parties for hundreds of dollars, authorities said MORE.
Watch Video to see how easily your credit card numbers can be skimmed...
For more info on skimming devices and how they work see earlier Blogs;
Identity Thefts Occur after Debit Cards Skimmed At Restaurants...
"Skimming" Devices; Favorite Tools of Organized Crime Rings out to Steal Your Debit and Credit Card Info
Find tips on how to safeguard your identity, and lessen the impact of fraud on earlier blogs. And watch video of Dateline investigation exposing underground chat rooms that buy, sell and trade identifying information here.
Rogue employees in restaurants, stores and gas stations, can 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 then often sold to identity theft rings who sell the information to various thieves seeking bits of information while visiting underground chat rooms on the web.
Best Buy says customer credit card numbers stolen
Ex-employee at West Palm Beach store arrested
By Mc Nelly Torres | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Best Buy officials said Friday a former employee stole credit card numbers of 4,000 customers who shopped at the West Palm Beach consumer electronics store in November and December, during the busy holiday shopping season.
Federal authorities arrested Brittany Johnson, 22, of West Palm Beach, formerly a cashier at the Best Buy store at 1880 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. in West Palm Beach. They charged her for allegedly stealing thousands of credit cards numbers from customers, according to a criminal complaint by the U.S. attorney's office in Miami.
She sold the credit card numbers to Marius Tyree Ö Harden, 28, of Tamarac, authorities said. Johnson and Harden were arrested on Jan. 15 and Jan. 30, respectively. Both were charged with possession of a skimming device with the intent to defraud.
Johnson told U.S. Secret Service agents that Harden approached her in November and gave her the skimming device, or card reader, to copy credit cards from customers as they make purchases. Johnson copied credit cards from customers and met with Harden weekly in November and December and sold him the card numbers for $17 per number. She made about $1,000. Harden resold them to third parties for hundreds of dollars, authorities said MORE.
Watch Video to see how easily your credit card numbers can be skimmed...
For more info on skimming devices and how they work see earlier Blogs;
Identity Thefts Occur after Debit Cards Skimmed At Restaurants...
"Skimming" Devices; Favorite Tools of Organized Crime Rings out to Steal Your Debit and Credit Card Info
Find tips on how to safeguard your identity, and lessen the impact of fraud on earlier blogs. And watch video of Dateline investigation exposing underground chat rooms that buy, sell and trade identifying information here.
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tks for the effort you put in here I appreciate it!
I believe my daughter who is attending college was the victim of skimming. What actions can be taken? We contacted the bank (Bank of America) to question charges on her account. They originally reimbursed her for a portion of the funds. Later, they took the funds back stating that the purchases were made from her card using her pin number. We closed that account. Is there anything we can do to try to recover any of the money lost on that account?
A couple of things she may want to consider doing aside from changing her PIN include getting the documentation together from BofA and filing a police report, FTC identity theft Affidavit and ask BofA to reconsider their stance. They should be able to tell which ATM machine was used to make the questioned withdrawal and then have the owner of the ATM pull the camera pics to see who made the withdrawal -as BofA has the time and date for the withdrawals in question. And just because a PIN was used, does not me it wasn't a sophisticated identity theft. Thieves who install skimmers on ATM's also often install well hidden cameras to obtain the PIN -and BofA knows this.
Unfortunately, these are the types of id theft issues that place a heavy burden on the victim. This is a growing crime as criminals become more tech savvy. See: http://www.givemebackmycredit.com/blog/2010/01/new-tech-identity-theft-protection-provides-security-and-peace-of-mind.html
Attaching skimmers to ATM's are becoming a favorite tool of criminals. Using ATM's that are inside banks that are less likely to be tampered with, and having a separate card that only has a minimum amount of cash that can be withdrawn may help too. Though we can never be certain when this crime can take a hold of our lives, we can try to takes steps to lessen the blow!
The ATM where the withdrawal was made should be checked for the attachment of skimming devices and cameras that pick up PIN's. I would re-check with BofA and get their assistance. That's half the problem with identity theft -unfortunately, creditors are all too often less than willing to help victims catch the perpetrator or stop further harm.