Credit Card Skimming - See how to Prevent and Avoid It : Have you been a victim of credit card skimming, where you just watch and see devious debit alert on your phone from your bank never authorized by you and felt helpless? Ues its the new game in town called credit card skimming. What is credit card skimming, how does it work and how canone prevent it. You can find answers here below as you continue to read.Its another classic from our stables.

If you’re lucky, you’ve never encountered a card skimmer. These small, illegal devices fit on top of real card readers at self-service sale terminals. They’re designed to blend in with the rest of the machine, so they can be tough to spot.
Here’s how credit card skimming works
Credit card skimming is a type of credit card theft where crooks use a small device to steal credit card information in an otherwise legitimate credit or debit card transaction. When a credit or debit card is swiped through a skimmer, the device captures and stores all the details stored in the card's magnetic stripe. The stripe contains the credit card number and expiration date and the credit card holder's full name. Thieves use the stolen data to make fraudulent charges either online or with a counterfeit credit card.
Credit card skimmers are often placed over the card swipe mechanism on ATMs and gas stations, but the skimmers can be placed over almost any type of credit card reader. With ATMs, the crooks may also place a small, undetectable camera nearby to record you entering your PIN. This gives the thief all the information needed to make fake cards and withdraw cash from the cardholder's checking account.
Occasionally, certain retail and restaurant workers who handle credit cards are recruited to be part of a skimming ring. These workers use a handheld device to skim your credit card during a normal transaction. For example, we routinely hand our cards over to waiters to cover the check for a restaurant. The waiter walks away with our credit cards and, for a dishonest waiter, this is the perfect opportunity to swipe the credit card through a skimmer without being detected.
Once the victim's credit card information is stolen, thieves will either create cloned credit card to make purchases in store, use the account to make online purchases, or sell the information on the internet. Victims of credit card skimming are often unaware of the theft until they notice unauthorized charges on their account, have their card unexpectedly declined, or receive an overdraft notification in the mail.

How to Spot a Credit Card Skimmer
Credit card skimming devices are crafted to blend in seamlessly with the machine it's placed on. Unless you're specifically looking for a skimming device, you may not notice anything out of the ordinary.
Becoming familiar with the look and feel of regular credit card readers can help you detect when there's something out of place. Here are some ways to detect a credit card skimming device.
A credit card reader that sticks out far past the panel . Skimmers are designed to fit over the existing credit card reader.
This is especially the case when an additional part seems to be affixed to the rest of the credit card reader.
A pinpad that's thicker than normal . In addition to a skimming device, thieves may place a fake keypad on top of the real one to capture your keystrokes. This way they can capture your pin or billing zip code in addition to your credit or debit card details. If the keys seem hard to push, eject your card and use another ATM. Use a bank-operated ATM, which is less likely to have a skimmer, rather than an ATM at a store or gas station.

How to detect and help avoid credit card skimming
1. Go inside to pay or get money
Sometimes, avoiding card skimming isn’t about detecting a device. It can be about modifying your behavior, says Eva Velasquez, CEO and president of the Identity Theft Resource Center.
If you can pay for your gas inside a station or use an ATM inside a bank lobby, take the extra minute to go inside for the transaction.
When you pay at a point-of-sale terminal that sits right next to a clerk, you’re much less likely to encounter a skimmer.
2. Check out the location
If you can’t go inside to make a transaction, then check out your location to make sure it’s skimmer-unfriendly.
Thieves look for undetected, uninterrupted access to point-of-sale terminals. That’s why gas pumps are appealing—they’re away from the watchful eye of the clerks.
Make sure the machine is in a brightly lit area where lots of people walk past it often.
3. Inspect the card reader
So, you’ve checked out the location, and it seems secure. Now it’s time to check out the machine. Use this quick “SCAN” checklist next time you’re at a card reader:
S: Scan the area for hidden cameras that record you typing your PIN. These may be mounted near the keypad, so always cover your hand while you type in a PIN.
C: Compare the card reader and keypad to the rest of the machine. The colors and styles should all match, and graphics should be aligned and unobscured.
A: Assess for obvious signs of tampering. The panels may be broken or dented, or a security seal may be broken.
N: Nudge the card reader and keypad. Card skimmers and fake keypads are meant to be removed, so if they feel loose, you may have spotted a skimmer.
If the machine just doesn’t seem right, then report it to the clerk on duty and go to another location.
4. Use the right type of card
Use a credit card—preferably with a chip—if you have one. Here’s why.
If a thief skims your debit card information, it can be a pathway into draining accounts you’ve linked to it: savings, checking, retirement or even a line of credit.
Your liability for unauthorized debit charges is capped at $50, if you report it within two business days. But if someone uses your account and you don't report the theft, after 60 days you may not be reimbursed at all.
Using a credit card with chip technology will make it harder for thieves to skim your data in the first place. But if a thief still gets your credit card info, he can use only that existing account to make unauthorized charges.
5. Monitor your accounts regularly
Check your financial statements to catch fraudulent charges—and do it regularly.
“In the world that we live in today, checking your statements monthly really isn’t good enough,” Velasquez says.
Set up notifications on your checking account and credit cards. Set alerts that tell you every time a charge is more than, say, $100 or every time there’s a “card not present” transaction. Your phone will tell you via text or email, and it’ll only take seconds to remember whether you made the charge.
If you see fraudulent charges on your statement, report it to the card company

How to Prevent and Detect Credit Card Skimming
Thankfully, many banks and credit card issuers are becoming better at detecting fraudulent transactions and may not process suspicious charges until you verify that you initiated the transaction.
Simply using your credit card puts you at risk of becoming a credit card skimming victim. Credit card skimming incidents can be difficult to detect. Unless you know what you're looking for, it can be extremely difficult to detect skimming devices.
Catching fraudulent charges related to a skimming incident requires you to watch your accounts frequently. Monitor your checking and credit card accounts online at least weekly and immediately report any suspicious activity to your bank or credit card issuer.
Here are a few more tips for avoiding credit card skimming.
How to Report a Credit Card Skimming Loss
If you think you've been a victim of credit card skimming, contact your bank or credit card issuer even if you haven't spotted any fraudulent charges . The sooner you report your suspicions, the more you shield yourself from liability of unauthorized charges. Provide as much detail about the possible location of the skimmer, e.g. the location of the ATM or gas station you visited, can help the bank prevent future losses.

Tip: If you notice a credit card reader that protrudes outside the face of the rest of the machine, it may be a skimmer.

Watch where you shop . Restaurants, bars, and gas stations seem to be the places where credit card incidents happen most frequently. Retail store self-checkouts and ATMs, especially standalone ATMs (those that aren't at the bank) are also places that skimmers can be found.
Check ATMs before using them. At ATMs, skimmers often place a camera within view of the keypad to steal your PIN. These cameras are often tiny and difficult to detect. When you're using an ATM, cover your hand as you type your PIN to keep a camera from catching a view of what you're typing.

Don't become a victim of "credit card cleaning" scams, where thieves claim to clean the magnetic strip on your credit card to help it work better. These thieves simply swipe your credit card through a credit card skimmer and take your credit card information.

SOURCE: https://classicnewsngr.com/index.php/2019/05/24/how-credit-card-skimming-works-see-how-to-prevent-and-avoid-it/