Getting Quick Cash can open the Door for Skimming

What is skimming?

Anyone who has run to an ATM for quick cash has put themselves at risk for skimming. Skimming is a new type of thievery in the 21st century. Thieves set up electronic equipment that captures magnetic stripes on your ATM card. It stores your PIN number and then thieves use the information to withdraw money from your account. The technique is used at gas pumps, restaurants, ATM machine kiosks and retailers. Skimming is a growing security concern in 2010.

Avivah Litan, an analyst specializing in fraud detection and prevention at Gartner Research, said, "As economic conditions have worsened, there's been a noticeable increase in all types of card fraud. But ATM and debit-card fraud is the top area of concern we are hearing about from banks all over the world." Now that debit card spending is growing, the door is open for more fraud and consumers are warned to be careful with what locations they use to withdraw money and pay for items.

Gas stations the number one security risk

The number one location where skimming is prevalent is at the gas pump. Too many people get their gas on the fly. They pull up and use their cards as a debit card - inputting their PIN number. The problem is that when that PIN is entered, anyone who may have breached security at that location has access to your account. Litan said, "Gas pumps are notorious for skimming because they are produced by only a couple of different manufacturers, and if someone gets the key to one from a disgruntled employee, they can insert a skimming device inside the pump where it can't be seen." The safest thing to do is to use a bank card as a credit card when getting gas at a pump. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “Getting Quick Cash can open the Door for ! Skimming“