Keeping your Credit Card Info Safe

Whether it is a debit card or credit card, few of us make it through the day without making a card purchase of some sort. Online shopping, gas, food, paying bills or a retail purchase may have you pulling out your card and swiping, keying in or inserting. Large data breaches make the news but what about the day-to-day credit card theft?

In most payment capacities, counterfeit fraud rates have decreased as a result of EMV adoption. EMV stands for EuroPay, Mastercard, Visa and refers to the new chip technology in all cards.  Even though all cards are now required to have the chip, because not all vendors have updated their payment systems yet, they also still have magnetic strips. The chip includes a one-time transaction code that prevents thieves from collecting the data electronically and reusing it.  But if the card is still being swiped, the vulnerability is still there.

Have you ever gotten an alert from your bank that they think you have fraud on your card? And has this ever occurred when your card has never left your possession? Card skimmers could be the cause of this fraudulent activity.

Skimming 

Skimmers are illegal card readers that have been attached to an actual card reader. The data is then pulled off the magnetic strips when cards are swiped. The thief accesses the information collected from the skimmer and then makes cloned cards using the data.  This is how you may have fraud on your card even when the card is with you.

According to CNBC, card skimming is costing more than $2 billion a year in fraudulent charges. Historically, skimmers were most often used at gas pumps and ATMs.  Studies done by creditcards.com show that typically the thief will target one pump at a gas station. But just that one pump can capture data from up to 100 cards a day.

According to FICO, in 2017, the number of compromised ATMs and POS devices rose 8 percent. The number of impacted cards was up 10 percent that year.  The opportunity at ATMs should be way down now, as the deadline for the cash machines to be equipped with chip readers (instead of swipers) was last year.  Gas stations, however, were given a three year extension on switching out their readers, and so remain a prime target for skimming.

Tips to help avoid Skimming at the Gas Pumps

• Scan for the Skimm.  Before you swipe, look at the reader. Does it look different than the others? If it does, tell the store attendant. Then use a different pump.
• Go with Credit. If you use a debit card at the pump, run it as a credit card instead of entering a PIN. That way, the PIN is safe.
• Pay Attention. Monitor your credit card and bank accounts regularly to spot unauthorized charges.
• Pay Inside.  This slight inconvenience could be worth it in the long run.