by Rob Douglas

As I update the news about identity theft each day at insideIDtheft.info, I am coming across more and more stories about credit card skimmers being used to steal credit and debit card information from unsuspecting consumers. 

Typically, there are two methods identity thieves use to steal credit and debit card information when using card skimmers.

The first method is for the identity thief - working a legitimate job such as a waiter or cab driver where consumers routinely turn over their credit and debit cards to pay for transactions – to maintain control of the skimmer.  When the victim hands the identity thief their credit or debit card to make a payment, the identity thief swipes the card through the card skimmer to steal the victim’s personal information while also swiping the card through the legitimate payment system.

The second method is for the identity thief to install the card skimmer on the face of an ATM or automated gas pump in order to dupe victims into inserting their credit and debit cards into the card skimmer.  The skimmer is then either programmed to transmit the stolen data via a wireless modem to the identity thief who is nearby or the identity thief returns to remove the card skimmer and the stolen data it contains.

In the first method, it is nearly impossible for an unsuspecting victim to know that the identity thief is going to use a card skimmer to steal their credit or debit card information.  Likewise in the second method - if the installation of the card skimmer is done with skill – it can be difficult for a potential victim to know that they are about to fall prey to a credit card skimmer.

What I have difficulty understanding, given that card skimmers should be well known in the financial services and gas industries by now, is why it isn’t a matter of routine for employees and management to check ATMs and gas pumps several times a day to be sure that an identity thief has not installed a card skimmer.

Shouldn’t that be common sense by now?

For more information about card skimmers and to see a video demonstrating how card skimmers work, please click –> here.