Credit Card - Skimming - Be careful

Credit card skimming is an ongoing hitch that continues to infect consumers. As more and more awareness is raised about credit card theft, people tend to be more careful about credit cards nowadays, but still credit card skimming continues to be a aggravate.

Today's thieves have graduated beyond stealing a number off a customer's card when they aren’t looking. Instead, they have machinery to help aid the theft right under a customer's nose.

Some ways how it works:

*Handy/Portable Skimmers

Handy/Portable skimmers are small devices that capture vital credit card information including the card owner's name, credit card number, expiration date and/or other security codes included with the card. How they work is, the thief secretly skims the card through the device and the gadget collects the digital information. Later on, often after frequent credit card thefts have occurred, the aggregated details are then taken off the device by the agitators of the thefts.

*Middlemen

Agitators of credit card fraud typically 'outsource' the actual theft to a middleman to act as the, go between the victim and the fraudster. These middlemen are usually carefully selected employees of various businesses, chosen because of their job allowing them to have access to many credit cards per day. Workers chosen are typically lower salaried employees who may be tempted to earn some extra cash. These employees are handed the aforementioned skimmers. Fraud agitators typically pay on average between $10 and $30 per credit card.

*Installed Skimmers

Many banks and businesses that have their credit card processing set up as self-service could be used as the point of theft for credit card fraud. What thieves do is install skimming devices over the existing credit card scan in order to pilfer the information as consumers think they are giving it to the business and/or bank. Often they install small cameras which collect any PIN numbers which are used.

*Wireless and Laptops

Gas stations are commonly afflicted by this means of skimming. As more and more pumps become 'pay as you go', wireless technology is often used to send the credit information from the pump to the servers. What thieves are doing is patiently sitting nearby with a laptop intercepting the data and downloading it to their personal computers. Thieves often install a skimmer right inside the pump.

*Businesses Used

Credit card skimming can happen anywhere, but the most common types of businesses targeted to act as the source of cards are usually restaurants, fast food drive through windows, bars and gas stations.

The reasons why these kinds of businesses are selected is simple. Users typically allow their credit cards to leave their possession for brief periods of time so employees could scan their cards. In the case of gas stations, skimmers are often installed either inside or outside the pumps and thieves simply use wireless technologies and pilfer information as it travels wirelessly from the gas pump to the server. Employees monitoring would have no way to see something was amiss.

Credit card skimming is a problematic issue not only for consumers, but for businesses. In order to protect their brand and/or individual reputation, businesses have to diligently monitor both privacy and security, not only in practice, but in terms of their physical equipment.

It is of value to understand what credit card skimming in order to protect yourself. Also it is beneficial to learn ways to be proactive in order to play it smart in trying to avoid theft, but if it does happen, know how to take immediate action in the event your credit card is stolen.