Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
skimming is one of the most crimes dynamics of the financial industry, according to the US secret service. The Association of the world in the ATM industry generates more than $ 1 billion in annual global losses from credit card fraud and electronic crime associated with ATMs.
skimming can occur in many different ways. The most common is when a store clerk takes your card and works through a device that copies the information from the magnetic strip. Once the thief has the credit or debit data, he or she can place orders by phone or online. Thieves can also copy data onto blank cards, or "white" cards. white cards are effective self checkouts, or when the thief knows that the clerk and is able to "sweetheart" the transaction. A white card can also be pressed with leaves to look like a legitimate credit card, as seen in this video.
The PCI Security Standards Council provides guidance to help merchants securely store and transmit card account data and prevent it from falling into the hands of criminals. Retailers that do not meet the PCI standards can be fined up to $ 500,000 by the credit card providers such as Visa and MasterCard. PCI has recently issued a series of recommendations for the prevention of skimming scams. "Skimming is a widespread problem. These are guidelines for what retailers should focus on their reading devices," said Bob Russo, general manager of the PCI SSC. "We discuss different techniques for the protection of these devices POS "
" skimming Prevention: best practices for merchants. "Board PCI guidelines include an assessment questionnaire and risk self-assessment forms to gauge the sensitivity to these types attacks and determine where they need to strengthen their defenses. The guidelines focus on how to educate and protect employees handling POS devices to be targeted, and the means of prevention and deterrence compromise these devices. They also detail how to identify a fake reader and what to do about it, and how the physical location of devices and stores may increase the risk.
Thieves can completely replace the terminal point of sale of a merchant with a device that is rigged to record or divert wireless card data, or just store the data until the criminal returns and removes it. (What happened to stop and shop.)
Criminals can also place a device on the front of an ATM, which seems to be part of the machine. It is almost impossible for civilians to know the difference unless they have an eye for safety, or the skimmer is of poor quality. Often thieves hide a small pinhole camera in a brochure holder near the ATM, to extract the pin number of the victim. Fuel pumps are also vulnerable to this scam.
A client in a New York bank discovered a skimming device on the face of an ATM, and went to the bank to inform the branch manager. The director, who has never seen an ATM skimmer and did not know what to do, took the skimmer and thanked him. The customer then remembered, numerous reports on ATM skimming, there is usually a second part to the ATM skimmer. the camera. In this case, he found behind a mirror that alerts the ATM user to beware of "shoulder surfers" He brought the camera to the bank manager, who responded saying. "We should perhaps stop this machine down, huh? " the bank manager contacted bank security, stop the machine and alerted the other banks in the area.
To help combat this type of crime, ADT unveiled the ADT security solution Anti-Skim ATM, which helps prevent skimming attempts and detects skimming devices on all major ATM brands and models . anti-skimmed ADT solution is installed inside an ATM near the card reader, making it invisible from the outside. The solution detects the presence of foreign devices placed over or near an ATM card entry slot, without disrupting the customer transaction or operation of most ATMs. It can trigger a silent alarm for command center response and coordinate video surveillance of all skimming activities. In addition, the technology helps prevent card skimming attempts by interrupting the operation of an illegal card reader. This technique requires no software corrections be made to the ATM itself, and does not connect to or affect the ATM communications network. Before its introduction in North America, the security solution ADT Anti-Skim ATM has been successfully field tested on dozens of ATMs of four major US financial institutions in controlled pilot programs. test drivers gave positive results without compromising skimming known to occur.
You can protect yourself against these types of scams by paying attention to your statements and refuting any unauthorized transactions within 60 days. When using an ATM, attention to details, and look for anything that seems out of place. If your card is stuck in the machine or you notice something odd about the appearance of the machine, such as son, double sided tape, error messages, a missing security camera, or the machine seems unusually old and run, do not use. Do not use just any ATM. Instead, look for ATMs in safer places. Use strong PINs with both uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. And invest in identity theft protection. All forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.
Robert Siciliano, identity theft expert, discusses ATM skimming on Fox News.
Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, an expert on identity theft, professional speaker, security analyst published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 and start-up companies as a consultant on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. the thoughts and advice of Siciliano on all these issues often appear in both television and print media news, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of safety training as a member of the American Society for Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on high alert; How to take control of your personal safety and to prevent fraud . He also established a partnership with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness of the growing threat of identity theft and provide tips on how you can protect yourself.