Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
skimming is a form of identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in 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 is a relatively low-tech crime. It can happen in many different ways. The most common is when a store employee takes a device called a corner card skimmer runs your card through creams and information from the magnetic strip.
Once a thief has your credit or debit card data, they can place orders by phone or online.
They can also extract data from the corner and burn it to blank "blank" cards. These white boards are effective self checkouts or when the thief knows that the clerk and is able to "sweetheart" the transaction. These white cards can also be pressed with leaves to look like a legitimate credit card.
Then there is a more sophisticated skimming technique. The thieves actually place a device on the hard face of a vending machine that resembles the ATM. It is almost impossible for a civilian to notice the difference unless they have an eye for safety, or the skimmer is of poor quality.
Often thieves will ride a small pinhole camera on the side of the ATM, as in a brochure holder to record the pin number of the victim .
It is not only ATMs that are potential brands; petrol pumps are also vulnerable. Click here to see a video of me to discuss in more depth, or here to read another article on this topic.
It is very difficult to guard against this form of credit card fraud. Most victims do not know if they pay special attention to their monthly statements. Generally, you will be in good shape as long as you refute unauthorized charges within 60 days.
New account fraud is another story. This is when the protective services against identity theft, do yourself fraud alerts or credit blockages are needed. For more information on identity theft protection services on the NextAdvisor.com reviews and comparison chart.
ADT, the main home alarm company, has unveiled an anti-skimmed tool, the first of its kind, which will protect consumers. I have not seen it yet, but it looks promising. The ATM Security Solution ™ ADT Anti-Skim helps prevent skimming attempts and detects skimming devices on all major ATM brands and models. It 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. The technology also helps prevent skimming cards attempts by interrupting the operation of an illegal card reader.
The Anti-Skim ATM Security Solution ADT:
• Helps protect the integrity of the personal financial information of card holders during ATM transactions
. • Can trigger a silent alarm for a response from the command center and coordinate video surveillance of all skimming activities.
• Does not require ATM software settings.
• Do not connect to or affect the ATM communications network.
• More than 40,000 ATM applications successfully worldwide.
Before its introduction in North America, the security solution ADT Anti-Skim ATM has been successfully tested on the ground for dozens of ATMs of four major US financial institutions in controlled pilot programs. test drivers gave positive results without compromising skimming known to occur.
Again, I have not seen. But would like a first demonstration of the hand. ADT, have your friends call my friends.
Go here to see identity theft expert Robert Siciliano discussing ATM skimming.
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 prevent fraud.