Credit Card Skimming Devices Exposed
Credit card skimming is big business. Sometimes it happens when you hand your credit card to a service person who takes it to a remote location to be processed but more often than not, skimming victims helped the thieves all by themselves.
They place a device on ATM machines, gas machines and even Redbox video rental machines that fits right over where you put in your credit or debit card. They often do it so well that the device will stay in place for days before anyone notices. Read more
Debit Cards: Are They Worth The Risk?
Anyone who has been watching the news recently has heard about the massive debit card theft that happened at Michaels Arts and Craft stores in 20 different states. The thieves installed devices in the card scanners – or simply replaced them – designed to capture the information on your debit card’s magnetic strip AND your pin number.
This type of fraud – known as skimming – gives the crooks unlimited access to your bank account. They take this information and “manufacture” a new card by burning the information from your magnetic strip onto another card. With that and the pin number that they captured, your bank account becomes fully accessible.
And unlike credit card transactions, debit cards potentially carry unlimited liability – or at least up to the limit of your bank account.
You do have rights and protections though. Let’s examine them.