Stay clear of skimmers when using ATMs

The next time when you visit an ATM of your bank to swipe your debit or credit card make sure the ATM door or the ATM machine does not have any suspicious device attached to it. Cyber criminals fix various kinds of skimmers on ATM doors or ATM machine itself to record your card data. The data of cards thus collected is later used to create fake credit cards.

Just seven days ago a man was held in Pune for making purchases at a mall using fake credit card. The card was swiped successfully but had some mistake in logo printed on the card which was observed by the alert cashier. More fake credit cards were recovered from the person.

Since ATM card skimmers are easy to create or are easily available and the latest technologies like 3D printers and magnetic readers can help these cyber crooks to create a skimmer more easily more and more of such crimes are taking place.
Card skimmer is a device that is fitted on the ATM machine just above the card entering slot or sometimes at the entrance door. This device captures card data when a card is swiped through it. Along with this there can be a miniature camera somewhere above the keyboard for recording the PIN. Sometimes instead of camera a fake thin keyboard skimmer is attached over an ATM original keyboard that records the PIN as you type. If you Google for “images of ATM skimmer” you will get several snapshots of how different card skimmers look and how to identify them.

We advise all our users to beware when using ATM and keep checking any presence of skimmers.

Some tips when using ATMs:

1. To check if there is any skimmer attached, look for any signs of tampering to ATM card reader.
2. Check for some attachment or extra device/wiring that does not look as a part of original ATM machine.
3. Check for any key pad overlays or extra layer of keys on the key pad.
4. Always use your other hand as a cover while typing the PIN.
5. Do not use too many different ATMs and always go to an ATM that is situated in a crowded place.
6. Have your mobile phone number associated with your credit/debit card for SMS alerts.
7. Regularly check your bank balance.

Source: http://blogs.quickheal.com/wp/stay-clear-of-ski...