Credit or debit card skimming is a real threat.  The skimming of credit cards is not another myth formed from the movies or science fiction.  It is a real life threat that has taken many by surprise right under there nose. 

With every passing day we become more and more dependant upon our credit and debit cards.  Most think that credit fraud only happens online, which is totally false.  I myself trust online purchases more than I do atms and sales people.

 

You see most online fraud is because of un-informed people that get click happy or purchase items from business's that do not have a good reputation.  You see when you purchase something from an online retailer like Amazon.com for instance.  They are a well organized organization that have many security's in place. 

When you purchase an item from them, no one can see you information once you submit click submit.  It is encrypted and doesn't pass through an actual persons hands.  So you see it is much harder for a person to get your information online, as long as you use your head and shop at reputable business's.

This all changes when you go to your local gas station to pay for gas and you hand your credit card to another person that can see all your info right on the card.  Now all the sales person needs is a credit card swiper to save the information from the magnetic strip on the back into a memory chip.  Now they have all the information they need to create a fake credit card.

It doesn't stop there either, there have been several instances where a tech savy criminal equips atm machines with a card skimmer and a small video camera to record the keypad when you punch your PIN# in. Most don't know it happened until it is too late. 

The worst part is that any ordinary person can buy the electronics needed right online.  These items used to cost a pretty penny, but now they are getting to prices that a kid could even afford.

To help prevent the cloning of your credit or debit card take note of these general guidelines that credit card professionals recommend.

1.  Don't let your card out of site when you hand it over to a sales representative or waitress.  It only takes them one second to swipe your card and have all the information they need stored into their blackberry or laptop.

2.  Always make sure that you use reputable websites.  Many websites are setup for the sole purpose of stealing your credit information.

3.  Be careful of fake emails sent to your inbox that look like they come from a bank or business requesting credit information.  Almost all reputable internet business's and banks will not ask for credit information by email.

4.  When using any kind of ATM or card swiper like on gas pumps or on Red Box DVD Rental Machines.  There are many instances of card terminals being retrofitted with a skimming device that is undetectable to the trained eye.

5.  Always pay close attention to your credit and bank statements to identify unusual activity.  There have been some instances where some computer hackers are ataching devices to the inside of the atm making the skimmer undetectable.  It would take a trained technician to discover these kind since they are on the inside of the machine.