Skimming & ID Theft
Posted by John Draper | Filed under Credit Wise, Smart Shopper, Take Control
If you think that debit and credit card fraud is something that happens to dumb people, let me assure you some of the smartest people I know have been hit. In the town where I buy my groceries, hundreds of customers of one of the supermarkets were hit when their debit card and pin numbers were stolen.
Closer to home, Chelsea, our production manager – and a very button-down chick and as smart as a whip – went shopping one day only to find her debit card had been skimmed and she was out thousands of dollars.
Here’s what Chelsea has to say about her experience:
My debit card was “skimmed” on the weekend – meaning someone illegally scanned my card and recorded my pin and went on a shopping spree. It took them less than 24 hours to create a fake card and less than 36 hours to rack up 15 transactions, stealing about $3,000. This is a real problem and not just something you read in the papers.
Here are some ways I’ve researched that you can prevent this from happening to you:
- Hide your pin. Seriously hide it. You may feel like a dork but just do it.
- Watch your card. If someone swipes it twice, ask why. Chances are they’re skimming it right in front of your eyes.
- Check your bank statements online at least once a day. Look for cash withdraws and purchases that look unfamiliar (duh).
- Make sure you have minimum cash withdraw limits on your accounts. Having a higher limit means that someone can’t go in there and clear out your account in one day. I have a limit of $500 and sure enough, the bank told me, they attempted to take out more but were unsuccessful.
- If you have overdraft protection, someone can take money that you don’t even have.
- Take off access to accounts from your debit card that you don’t need. Make all of your credit card payments online and then take the access to your credit card off of your debit card. I had mine linked and they took a $500 cash advance from my credit card.
- Use cash wherever you can (cue Gail cheering with glee). Even some ATMs have been rigged with skimming devices so watch out. I almost feel like I have to go back to the old fashion days of getting cash from a teller and using cash to pay for everything.
I’m pretty sure I know what store this happened at. It wasn’t a shifty convenience store; it was a regular retail outlet store – nothing shady so it can happen anywhere.
I’m not trying to make you lose sleep every time you swipe your card but there are things you can put in place to protect yourself just that little bit more. I don’t want this happening to anyone else. This situation really stinks but I hope that by reading this you can be proactive and look into how your account is set up and be more aware of this issue.
These are all great ideas from Chelsea. Pass them on. And here are a few more to keep in mind:
- Watch out for “shoulder surfers .” Shield the keypad when using debit and ATMs.
- Keep your receipts. Ask copies of incorrect charge slips.
- Compare receipts with account statements. Watch for unauthorized transactions. Shred receipts after verifying the charge on your monthly statement.
- Carry only the cards you need. Extra cards increase your risk and your hassle if your wallet is stolen.
- Pay attention to your billing cycles. A missing bill could mean a thief has taken over your credit account.
June 13, 2008 at 10:19 am
Very interesting you would post this today. Earlier this week, I returned home to a call from CIBC informing me of suspicious activity on my credit card. Indeed, it was suspicious because the unactivated card was in my possession and although I never use it, apparently two separate charges totaling $3500 were made via telephone! Of course CIBC closed the card and will send a fraud report and a new card but I was/am very annoyed with the situation. Of course, I’m hyper-sensitive now checking my account balances everyday. This morning came a false alarm when I noticed a pre-authorization for $166 to another card that should have had a $0 balance. Fortunately, it was just my CAA auto club membership auto-renewing. (I’ve gotta stop that)
So take heed folks! I keep meticulous records and I’m generally very careful and I still got burned.
June 13, 2008 at 10:42 am
The banks cover this sort of thing, don’t they? Ie Are you out of pocket personally for these expenses?
June 13, 2008 at 10:49 am
Hi Geoff. Yes the bank will handle it. All I have to do is sign the fraud investigation report confirming that I did not make the charges and send it back to them.
June 13, 2008 at 11:26 am
Banks do not have to cover this sort of thing!
Credit card may have a limit for which you are responsible. (Different rules!)
Responisibility on your part MIGHT end once you notify your service provider of the possible misuse.
One more trick:
- keep a very low balance in your easy-access account and keep the rest in a separate account (especially if it needs 1-2 days to transfer funds).
June 13, 2008 at 11:34 am
I think one thing that was missed, get a copy of your credit report. You can get a copy free once a year with which ever credit bureau you which to deal with. Which reminds me, I need to request mine.
Keep in mind that the skimming doesn’t only happen at stores, bank atms right at bank locations have been attacked for skimming too! Happened at the main branch of the TD here in my city. I know BMO has been hit several times in smaller communities in cottage country.
June 13, 2008 at 11:40 am
One of my best friends had this happen! They cleaned her right out. The bank wanted to say that she stole her own money, so she had to prove that she could not have made the transactions!!!! Talk about a slap in the face!
Since then I have been seriously diligent about protecting my PIN. And making sure the PIN pad matches the store’s machine…. a local movie theatre found a false pinpad attached to their machine after a busy weekend, up to 1000 people had their card information stolen!
June 13, 2008 at 11:54 am
Another location of the grocery store where I worked had their PIN pads switched. They were the dangly ones, that you could hold in your hand. It got so we had to lock ours in the drawer every time we walked away from our tills. I no longer work there but I see they’ve gone back to the ones that are attached to a cradle and the cashier has to swipe your card.
What about portable terminals? Restaurants have those now. Are they secure, or could someone get the wireless information?
June 13, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Wow, I hate mean people.
This is why I’m so glad I use cash only. We do one deposit and one withdrawal a month right at the teller.
June 13, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Cash:
What do you do if the cash machine gives you fake money? They will want you to prove it comes from THEIR machine. Who many check every bill they receive?
If they want you money, they will get it. No fool-proof system!
June 13, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Another thing you can do is change your PIN number regularly. I change mine once a month–easily done at the bank machine.
June 13, 2008 at 5:21 pm
@Marie and Geoff: Bank covers this sort of things as long as you would alert the bank asap after you discover that money has gone missing in your account. Banks don’t have the manpower to watch over every account. So, according to banks, the responsibility falls on the clients’ shoulders.
Toronto Star covered a story last fall about a man whose bank refused to cover this sort of thing:
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/261913
June 13, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I had my debit card skimmed a few years back (at a McDonalds of all places), later a fake deposit and then a series of withdrawls (just before and after midnight so the daily withdrawl would be doubled). They got $600 in cash through a clerical error (I already had my cash withdrawl limit set at $100 a day, and HSBC never could answer me why the bad guys managed to get $500 from one withdrawl).
Big run-around ensued, one month with my account effectively inaccessible while HSBC demanded I swear out (at my own expense) an affidavit and forward it to them.
I did swear out the affidavit, but this incident provided the impetus to FINALLY move EVERYTHING over to my no-fee, super-friendly credit union account.
By the time HSBC unlocked my account and replaced the missing money of mine I didn’t care, I called a few months later to ensure the account had been closed.
As for skimmers they have all sorts of technology, POS skimmers that read your card data and membrane overlays for the PIN pad (relatively high-tech) to the previously mentioned “shoulder surfing”. ABMs with card readers over the card slots and cameras mounted in the envelope trays.
Gail is right, the easiest method is to physically block ANYONEs view of the keypad when you enter your PIN, if you anything seems just not right then walk away, make the purchase somewhere else, hit the cancel button.
June 14, 2008 at 7:49 am
Gail is so right ( of course!) . Ensure you cover your pin EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS AROUND. YOu never know when you are being recorded. UNfortunately, todays technology advances have made it so much easier for criminials to take advantage of us.
June 14, 2008 at 12:25 pm
This post is scary for so many reasons, mostly because it is so easy to get hit.
I get nervous if I ever see an employee swipe my card twice, but being a cashier myself I know that sometimes the first swipe doesn’t work. Living on cash does help with the nervousness, but what do you do if the thieves compromise even your own bank’s ATM?
And Marie is right, I’ve seen it where people have gotten counterfeit money out of a bank machine. I was waiting in line and the cashier told the lady in front of me that the bill she had was fake. Turns out she had just withdrawn cash from her bank about half an hour earlier.
Pickpockets and swindlers have gone high tech and they’re out for your cash.
June 14, 2008 at 7:45 pm
it’s not just shoulder surfing, little computer chips can be added (or something beneath the key pad) and the info is sent wirelessly to a remote location using blue tooth technology. has happened in our area. friend of mine who is a police officer with the fraud bureau says he never uses his debit card. credit card much safer (not fool proof, you may have to protect it from yourself, hehhehe).
June 16, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Gail what an appropriate post! About 10 days ago, I received a call from one of my credit card companies wanting to confirm some transactions. Two of the transactions ( 75.00 and 95.00 made at US gas stations) weren’t mine. Pain in the butt to cancel my card and wait the replacement to come in the mail. Today, I tried to pay a bill online and the system indicated that I have to contact the call centre. Grumbling, I make the phone call, only to be told that my debit card has been compromised. Unbelievable! I worked in the credit fraud department of one of the Big 5 for a few years and am accutely aware of credit and debit fraud potential. This is the reason that I *rarely* use my debit card, as in many cases, debit card fraud it is up to the cardholder to prove their innocence. I was lucky in the fact that no funds were withdrawn from my account and if there were my bank was aware that my card number was part of a “list” and reimbursement would have been easier. As for requesting a copy of your credit bureau, yep, great idea however monitor the timeline in which you should recieve your copy. My identity was stolen after my annual credit bureau request. How? The credit bureau used a third party to print and send the bureaus out. Someone working in that third party’s office stole my and about 800 other identities! I wondered why my credit bureau copy was so late coming and the rep said that it problably got lost in the mail. I got another copy and never thought anything of it until I received a call from a credit card provider asking me to confirm some information. Close call! A fraud warning went on my bureau and is still there as of this day. The warning is an indication to any credit grantor that they must confirm that I actually made the credit request. If they don’t and the account if fraudulent they are fully responsible for the losses.
To wrap up a long post: Credit cards are “safer” than debit cards( it’s the Bank’s money not yours!), always check your statements( I may have not noticed the two smaller gas station charges), cover the pin pad ( though using cameras to capture PINs is the old fashion way and now skimming devices capture the pin pad entries), check your online banking activity often for anything unsual. Check out http://www.phonebusters.com to get more information. Cheers,
April 6, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I have had the revolting experience of being skimmed. Cards were copied andused by criminals.. Now have to pay accountant to look at my cash withdrawals and compare them to the recipts that I have.. Mega bucks to prove the loss.. and only can hope that the CIBC will reimburse me.
April 6, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I have had the revolting experience of being skimmed. Cards were copied andused by criminals.. Now have to pay accountant to look at my cash withdrawals and compare them to the recipts that I have.. Mega bucks to prove the loss.. and only can hope that the CIBC will reimburse me.
If anyone out there has had the same done to them pls email me at justicejacques@.live.ca
I would like to know how I prove that it wasnt me that took the money out ( grr)