FBI Shines Light on Dark Market Criminal Online Trading Post
Skimming is transferring account data on your card's magnetic strip to a device no bigger than a pager.Skimmers are available online for under $20 and are not illegal to possess, as long as they're empty of data. Doesn't that suck? The crook skims your card and uploads your data to a computer, where they can either create their own fake credit card or sell your info for someone else to play with. Most people don't realize that the raised numbers on a credit card are meaningless for point of sale purchases; it's the information encrypted on the magnetic strip on the back. So, if the thief has your strip data, he can produce a plastic card with fake numbers and his photo and name to match his ID. When it's swiped, it's your account that will be charged.
There are two ways to skim your card - someone does it to you or you do it to yourself. The remainder of this post covers the first scenario.
When Do They Skim Your Card?
Whenever your card leaves your possession, it's at risk to be skimmed. The most common place to be skimmed is at restaurants. Food servers can carry skimmers in their aprons or pockets and quickly run your card through as you wait for your bill at the table. You'll never know they've done it when your card is returned with your charge receipt. Skimmers are often paid by an identity theft broker to collect the data which they then resell at a much higher price online.
Once your data is bought, your nightmare begins. You'll be spending hours with your creditors explaining why you couldn't have made those purchases and signing affidavits for the investigating agency. Sure, your cards all say, "zero fraud liability", but that doesn't mean you won't have to go through all the motions.
Now, credit card skimming is bad enough but at least you can refuse to pay the unauthorized charges. Just imagine if your debit card is skimmed. My neighbor's check card was skimmed last year and several thousand dollars was stolen from her checking account overnight. It was payday and her entire check was stolen that evening when two suspects used her account to buy two mobile home generators at a camping store hours away from where we live.
This is why I say to you, never, NEVER, use your debit card for point of sale purchases. I know this defeats much of the convenience of having one, but once you have to work backwards trying to recover money that's already swiped out of your checking account, you'll agree an extra trip to the ATM is worth it. If you don't want to carry cash around, then at least only use your credit card. That way, your cash is not at risk.
There's much more to share about skimming. Come back for my next post in the Skimming Series and please share these tips with your friends. You could save them a world of trouble.
NEXT TIME: How you unknowingly skim your own card for the crooks.
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