Watch out for "skimmers"

Attorney General Cordray warns all consumers to be very careful when using credit cards or debit cards.

There was a man in Washington DC that wanted to withdrawal some money from a local ATM that he used frequently. But he hesitated, because the card slot looked different. So he started to pull it and it came loose. It turned out to be a "skimmer". A fake card slot that is installed there by thieves. The skimmer reads all kind of card information from the magnetic strip, like debit card numbers and private account information.

Skimmers are used very often by thieves, they just install them over the actual card slot of the ATM. It's also often used at card slots at gas pumps. The goal is to make unaothorized withdrawals with the stolen information.

Consumers can avoid those scams, but it's not possible to completely mitigate the risks. There is some advice you can use though:

• Use 1 ATM at 1 gas pump on regular basis. That way it's easier to notice when something is wrong.
• Use an ATM that is located in a very public place or inside a bank lobby. Thieves often don't mess with those machines because the risk of getting caught is too high.

I think every consumer should follow the above advice. It's vey important to use the same ATM on regular basis, that way you can easily see if thieves have messed with it. Of course it's not always possible to use the same ATM, but then you must try to use a very public one.

If the thieves manage to read your card information, they can withdrawal all the money from your debit card. It will happen very fast, so before you know it, you go no money left on your card. And once it's gone, it's gone forever.

Written by Dieter De Smet

Source: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/04/atm_skimmers.html (April 9, 2010)