It seems about once a month or more often there is an ATM skimming bust. ATM Skimming is where a variety of different devices are placed on and or around an ATM machine to steal your ATM card information which will then lead to theft of your money. These devices may include camera’s (record your PIN), card skimmer placed over card slot(take data from magnetic strip), and fake key pad over the real keypad (record your PIN). Often times, these devices are not obvious to be seen.
Some measures that you can take to help reduce the risk and increase your ATM Safety are:
- Get rough with the ATM machine before you use it. Grab the key pad and try to peel it up so see if there is a false key pad on top of the real. Grab the card slot and see if you can pull it off the machine.
- Cover the key pad when entering in your PIN. Even if you don’t see a camera around it does not mean that none are there. Cameras come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and can be hidden almost anywhere.
- Always be aware of your surroundings. If someone looks suspicious and is loitering in the area of the ATM take note.
Even if you are very vigilant with the ATM machine you still could have your information skimmed. Check with your bank to see what security measures they have in place. I set up email alerts for withdrawals to my account so I can monitor in the same day what is leaving the account.
Another step you can take is to limit the amount of money you have in the account linked to your ATM card. Move the money over to your ATM card account as needed.
Along with ATM convenience comes the dangers. Stay vigilant!
Admin – TTS