If you can stretch your memory all the way back to the spring of 2011, before data breaches seemed commonplace, perhaps you will recall when Michaels warned customers that PIN pad information at some of its stores might have been exposed. Now, a California man has admitted his role in a conspiracy to swipe 94,000 credit and debit card numbers from customers at around 80 Michaels stores. [More]
card skimmers
Even Police Can Fall Victim To Card Skimming Devices
By 1.26.17
You might think that you’re too savvy to be tricked into slipping your credit card into a skimming device that steals your account info, but you’re probably not. Just ask the Indiana State Police, whose troopers were fooled by one skimmer, and who are now using the incident as a teachable moment for everyone. [More]
Card Skimmers Found On Walmart Self-Checkout Terminals In Two States
By 5.26.16
In just the last few weeks, card skimmers — devices that illegally scan customers’ credit cards –have been found at two different Walmart stores. The skimmers in these cases were so convincing that they may have been in place for weeks for being discovered. [More]
Safeway Says No Payment Data Stolen From California Stores, Only Colorado
By 12.17.15
There’s potential good news out of Safeway: while the company confirmed that they found skimmers in credit card payment terminals in two states, a spokesperson says that the baddies didn’t harvest any customer data from the stores in California. Instead, the grocer found them back in September while inspecting terminals. While it’s good news that customers didn’t walk up to an ATM only to find their bank accounts drained, it’s still worrisome that someone was able to install the skimmers in the first place. [More]
Those Gas Pump “Anti-Skimming” Stickers Are Really Just Pointless Decoration
By 11.16.15
More than four years ago, a number of gas stations in the U.S. started slapping stickers on gas pump credit card readers in an effort to cut down on illegal card skimmers that steal customers’ payment info. And almost immediately, these same gas stations showed they had no idea what to do with these stickers. A new report shows that not only do some companies not really care about these stickers, but that anyone can buy them. [More]
ATM Debit Card Data Theft Is Up As Much As 317%
By 5.20.15
While retailers and payment networks work to cut down on data breaches in stores and online, it looks like fraudsters are relying more on stealing your card info at the ATM, as recent months have seen an unprecedented spike in the number of debit card data thefts from both non-bank and in-bank ATMs. [More]
Cops Using GPS To Track Credit Card-Skimming Devices Back To Scammers
By 5.4.15
For years, we’ve been telling you about credit card skimming devices that collect the information on your card when you swipe at places like ATMs and gas pumps. The common-sense thing to do when finding a skimmer is to remove it. And while that prevents anyone else from being victimized, the scammers who hooked up the illegal device are rarely caught. That’s why some police are now leaving gas pump card skimmers in place but adding a GPS tracker to follow the skimmer back to its criminal creators. [More]
Can ATM Operators Beat Skimmers By Simply Rotating Card Readers 90 Degrees?
By 8.1.14
For decades, we’ve been sliding our credit and debit cards into ATMs with the shorter side of the card entering the reader. All this while, ID thieves have been improving their card-skimming devices to fit this well-established mold. The skimmers have gotten smaller, sleeker, and smarter, to the point where even a trained eye might be fooled. So what’s the best way to upend all those years of hard work by the bad guys? According to ATM biggie Diebold, it’s just as simple as turning the reader 90 degrees. [More]
MasterCard Extends Zero-Liability Policy To ATM & PIN Transactions
By 5.28.14
While both MasterCard and Visa have zero-liability policies for fraudulent transactions made by swiping a card or using the card number online or over the phone, that same level of protection has not been afforded to all cardholders for bogus ATM withdrawals or PIN-based purchases. However, MasterCard announced today that it is extending the zero-liability policy in the U.S. to include these two types of transactions. [More]
Victoria’s Secret Worker Accused Of Stealing, Selling Customers’ Credit Card Information
By 4.16.14
While you might be on the lookout for credit card skimmers installed at the ATM, a gas station pump or even a public transit kiosk, you likely wouldn’t expect a retail associate to wield such a weapon against customers. But police say one Victoria’s Secret store clerk did just that, skimming information from unsuspecting patrons and selling it to an alleged cohort. [More]
Visa, FICO Warn Card Issuers Of More Sophisticated ATM Crimes
By 1.24.13
Card skimmers have been around for a while. And while they may have gotten smaller and harder to detect, the people using the skimmed data were generally limited to how much cash they could pull out of victim’s accounts in a day. And so a new breed of criminal has figured out a way to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from ATMs. [More]
Secret Service Says ATM Card Skimmers Are More Popular Than Ever
By 7.25.12
Even though consumers are more aware of ATM card skimmers, which record customers’ account data with the intention of using it to make fraudulent purchases and withdrawals, the money-and-President-defending folks at the Secret Service say the use of these illegal devices is actually on the rise. [More]
Meet The Card Skimmer That Might Make You Think Twice About Ever Using An ATM Again
By 4.26.12
Once upon a time, identity thieves hoping to capture victims’ debit and credit card information had to resort to clunky, sometimes obvious skimming devices. But as consumers have grown more savvy about how to identify a possible skimmer, the devices have evolved to a point where some are all but impossible to detect by the naked eye. [More]
Card Skimmers At 23 California Supermarket Locations Steal Thousands Of Dollars From Customers
By 12.6.11
A flood of residents in California are reporting thousands of dollars stolen from their bank accounts, after credit card skimming machines were found in the self-checkout lines of 23 Lucky Supermarkets stores. [More]
Customer Discovers Card Skimmer On Bank ATM
By 11.18.11
When most of us think about illegal card skimmers on ATMs, we think of free-standing cash machines at convenience stores or on the street. But a sharp-eyed bank customer in Massachusetts spotted a skimmer at the last place you’d expect one: the bank. [More]
