[ALERT] ATM Skimmer Scammers

I think the best thing we do is receiving alerts whenever our card is used, easy to stay on top of charges made.

We also take a chance that everywhere we spend will have the chip reader so we have scratched away the magnetic strip on all but one card that we use for gas.

Have never noticed anyone else peering at the card reader on a gas pump but we do. We also use the pump that is in sight of the clerk although that won't help when the station is closed and the bad guys stop by with their skimmer.

Good info for this week, as it is Identity Theft Awareness Week 2022. Mon Jan 31 through Friday Feb 4

For cards still with mag stripes, but with a chip, wouldn't it help to erase that strip? Seems like rubbing it with a magnet would make it unreadable.

True, that might rule out using that card at some locations, but maybe you wouldn't want to, anyhow.

Now, if they would make drive-up ATMs so you could maybe reach the keypads with two hands, you might be able to shield your fingers when entering your pin.

It would be helpful, Bob, if you would have posted some photos to show just how 'invisible' these latest skimming card readers are.

ALSO, after all these many years talking about adopting 'chip and pin credit cards' in the U.S. such as in Europe, we STILL don't require a pin with a credit card!!! (I have a pin for each of my credit cards, but it is NEVER asked for here in the states) Our BANKS and card processors are just INVITING the problems you have described....they deserve what they got!!

How safe are the 'contactless' readers?

Some of those will read the info off your cellphone. Now, THAT is asking for trouble!

We should keep our phones for what they were intended for -- taking pictures.

Just wondering if ATM machines also had the “tap” feature available; would that be easy to skim as well?

My one and only debit/credit bank card has both a chip and a stripe. The problem is that the chip sometimes has problems. Sometimes, at some places, on some machines, it works fine. Other times and places it might work on the second or third try. Sometimes I can ONLY use the stripe. (This was so on my old card, too, after a few years. The cards are always good for three years, by the way, then replaced.) I agree chips are safer, but without the stripe, I'd be out of luck. Darn!

Good stuff. I am happy to see you link to Brian Krebs' site. For those of you who don't know him, go to the site and read his ABOUT page. And then sign up for his newsletter. He has info on skimmers and such, too. Bob and Brian are two of the folks I subscribe to and have for years.
Might I suggest folks use an app for your gas purchases (at least for the ones near your home or office). That way no swiping. And, depending on which brand you've got they might offer some deals. I get 5 cents off per gallon on some purchases (it would happen more often if I actually spend $100 per month).

cropduster

Go to the krebs website Bob links to in this article (skimmers in Mexico) and check out a different article on there:
"All about skimmers powered by chip cards".

Sorry, tried to post with a link but was not able to.

You'll find it interesting, it addresses both issues you raised.

Don't know if this is true with all banks but Wells Fargo allows you set a limit on how much can be charged or withdrawn in a 24 hour period. Only downside is if you need to go over the limit you have to make a call. I figure it's worth the hassle since I rarely need to exceed the limit.

I never have this problem. I always use cash.

There are a few points to be made on this info Bob.
1. ATMs in my opinion are redundant. I haven't used cash in over 10 years. I have yet to find any business that does not accept EFTPOS.
2. An ATM is the property of the person/company owning it, and should be totally responsible for someone stealing money from it.
3. If businesses still require the card strip. then the banks etc should just pull the plug on them. They'll quickly come into line if they don't have card facilities.
4. Any cash machine, be it ATM or EFTPOS that requires a card to be inserted or swiped should be avoided like the plague. All EFTPOS machines have an enclosed mechanism and the card's chip is read through the casing. Just avoid swiping through the slot. If the business requires a read of a strip via the slot, just take your business elsewhere. If this tap the card feature was utilized on ATMs along with a full face photo before the machine would respond, so covering the camera would be of no use, they would be a lot more secure.
5. Who uses cash any more? If for some reason cash is needed, you can ask for cash back at a supermarket checkout. It's a sight more secure that some current ATMs, that's for sure.

Please post some photos of what a compromised card slot looks like, and visual cues a skimmer has been installed.

What can we carry to slide in BEFORE we put our card in, to damage the skimmer or dislodge it - yet not harm the legal property.

Vulcan

Go to the krebs website Bob links to in this article (skimmers in Mexico) and check out a different article on there:
"All about skimmers powered by chip cards".

Sorry, tried to post with a link but was not able to.

To Brian B......."Who uses cash any more?" Well, I DO, almost always. I stopped using credit cards extensively when I realized I was being tracked and 'counted' for marketing purposes. And, I NEVER use a debit card anyplace except at my favorite supermarket. I never worried about skimmers......instead, my concern is over DATA! Expose yourself if you like, but not me.

It's also why I keep NOTHING CONFIDENTIAL OR PERSONAL on my iPhone. Lost or stolen? I don't care because I can get another one for a couple hundred dollars. No big deal.

Is the ATM safe from theft when the chip alone is read by the chip reader? Have thieves found a way to steal at an ATM that way, too?

If there is a person or camera observing you enter your PIN, Bob's two-finger method (of appearing to press two keys for each of the four numbers) does not actually help much at all. In fact, it makes it so the thief who saw you will now only need to try a maximum of 16 possible combinations of the four double-pressed keys to find out your PIN. (The odds are mathematically determined by multiplying 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 16.) Compare that to the thousands of possibilities when no key pressing is observed. Yes, Bob's technique may hinder the thief if a very low number of failed attempts at the same ATM location will cause the account to get locked. But, still, the thief could do just a couple of attempts at each of 3 or 4 separate ATM locations to avoid doing too many at any one of them and triggering a lock of the account. Anyway, if the account does get locked to protect your assets, that alone causes quite a bit of inconvenience for the legitimate cardholder. So you really need to block the entire keypad from view by holding something over it with your other hand. Better yet, minimize the use of your card in the first place (or at least avoid any ATM that seems less likely to be carefully monitored and maintained by the operator).

@ cropduster....where do you get your cash from? If it's from a bank, then guess what, you are being tracked. You say you never worried about skimmers but you are concerned about data. Being tracked on a credit or debit card will only expose you to annoying advertising which is really easily ignored. Being skimmed is a disaster anyway you look at it. You can not only loose your life savings, but also you identity. I know which of the two I would prefer.

I avoid using ANY ATM other than the one at my local bank branch office. I use my debit card to pay for my purchases, and when I get gas for my car, I go inside to pay. I NEVER use the card slot at the pump. This is a bit less convenient, but much safer - my logic for this is that it would be very hard for a thief to install a skimmer on the inside card reader, (s)he would probably have to be an employee, so the risk of being caught would dramatically increase, making the likelihood of this scenario very unlikely.

I monitor my bank balance almost daily. There has been only one time when I found an unknown transaction. There was a charge of only a few dollars to enroll me in a new SeriousXM account. I called my bank to tell them that it was not me and they did what they could do on their side. They asked me to contact the vendor too. I did, and they investigated. Then found that the transaction occurred from another state, and using a different name, so they reversed the charges for me.

The bottom line here is that while I monitor my account to avoid overdrafts, I also watch for unknown transactions whenever I look at my account information on my bank account's website. It takes only a few minutes every day or two, so it is not an inconvenience. I am in front of my desktop computer every day for one reason or another anyway, and experience tells me that it is well worth the effort to do so. If I had not caught that SeriousXM transaction when I did, assuming it was a test transaction, how much more would have been taken if I had not been keeping my eyes open?

Ernie

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