Minimising the risk of having your card cloned

eDicky

In a recent thread about a cloned prepaid card I asked the questions below, hoping to hear from any professional experts or others, but the thread became distracted by some nonsense. So I thought it worth making a fresh attempt:

Is there any general advice on avoiding or minimising the risk of having your credit/debit/prepaid card cloned?

For example, is there any visible sign, or other possible indication, that a skimming device is fitted to a card terminal or ATM?

Obviously it's risky to allow the card to be taken out of sight or even leave your hand, especially in countries where law enforcement is lax.

What about when your card's mag stripe is disabled - does that make it impossible or difficult to skim?

[Deleted User]

eDicky wrote: »

I



For example, is there any visible sign, or other possible indication, that a skimming device is fitted to a card terminal or ATM?

The infamous 'Nigerian strip' is relatively easy to spot. It's inserted into the card slot of the ATM and protrudes more than the real slot front.

It will then read your card data, rather than the ATM.

Biggles

eDicky wrote: »

Obviously it's risky to allow the card to be taken out of sight or even leave your hand, especially in countries where law enforcement is lax.

The country and/or its law enforcement are irrelevant. NEVER let your card out of your sight anywhere. I found that restaurants in the US, in particular, were pretty slack about that: rather than bring a card reader to you, they would want to take your card to their desk, or even back office, tho maybe they have better technology now. If they did that, they found me following them!

adonis

I just googled 'Nigerian strip' on images, not quite what I was expecting

grumbler

https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&sa=1&q=atm+skimming

Fake keypads are a news to me as so far the best we could do was to protect the PIN.

With regard to not allowing the card to be taken out of sight, this minimises the risk of course, but doesn't eliminate it as a card reader can be rigged, and, generally, only the card number and the expiry date are needed for cloning and can be easily memorised or filmed as well as the CVC.

And now we have contactless cards that apparently can be skimmed even remotely.

Anthorn

The question should not be "minimising the risk of cloning" but should be "minimising the risk of fraudulent transactions". There is such a thing as a "spending pattern" which includes POS transactions and ATM transactions. For foreign transactions that is usually applied through the card holder initially informing the bank the country where they will be using the card after which the spending pattern is created.

I think we can probably quite safely assume that the card/service in question does not have such controls in place. In contrast personally over the last 6 months informing the bank prior to travelling has been true of TSB Debit, MBNA credit and Lloyds credit and over the last year we can add Co-operative Bank.

Overall, I stand by my position in several other threads that it is better to use a bank than saving a few pounds and putting your money at risk in the process. But if the non-guaranteed service is used only credit with an amount of funds which you can afford to lose.

eDicky

I see that there's plenty of info on the internet. Here's the FBI advice:
___________

“ATM skimming" Is when a criminal places an electronic device on an ATM that scoops information from a bank card’s magnetic strip whenever a customer uses the machine.

How skimming works:

The devices planted on ATMs are usually undetectable by users—the makers of this equipment have become very adept at creating them, often from plastic or plaster, so that they blend right into the ATM’s façade. The specific device used is often a realistic-looking card reader placed over the factory-installed card reader. Customers insert their ATM card into the phony reader, and their account info is swiped and stored on a small attached laptop or cell phone or sent wirelessly to the criminals waiting nearby.

In addition, skimming typically involves the use of a hidden camera, installed on or near an ATM, to record customers’ entry of their PINs into the ATM’s keypad. We have also seen instances where, instead of a hidden camera, criminals attach a phony keypad on top of the real keypad ... which records every keystroke as customers punch in their PINs.

Skimming devices are installed for short periods of time—usually just a few hours—so they’re often attached to an ATM by nothing more than double-sided tape. They are then removed by the criminals, who download the stolen account information and encode it onto blank cards. The cards are used to make withdrawals from victims’ accounts at other ATMs.

How to avoid being skimmed:

Inspect the ATM, gas pump, or credit card reader before using it…be suspicious if you see anything loose, crooked, or damaged, or if you notice scratches or adhesive/tape residue.

When entering your PIN, block the keypad with your other hand to prevent possible hidden cameras from recording your number.

If possible, use an ATM at an inside location (less access for criminals to install skimmers).

Be careful of ATMs in tourist areas…they are a popular target of skimmers.

If your card isn’t returned after the transaction or after hitting “cancel,” immediately contact the financial institution that issued the card.

Courtesy of the FBI.
https://m.fbi.gov/#https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/july/atm_071411. (Also graphics.)

chuckley

credit cards aren't your money so you'll get it back anyway.

planteria

if my spending cards start to peel/fray i tend to request replacements, saying "they are working, but splitting".. partly because i tend to think that i am slightly minimising the risk of cloning:think:
never had a card cloned, i don't think. but did have a transaction once that Barclaycard were adamant i made in person, which i didn't (discussed in detail at the time) and i also had a Barclaycard which was replaced as they said that my card had been used at a retail outlet which had been compromised. i dug into it, and it was a good while later, and my card had not been misused.

grumbler

chuckley wrote: »

credit cards aren't your money so you'll get it back anyway.

Do we start using our credit cards in ATMs then - instead of debit cards?
I know only two ATM-friendly CCs, and even they charge interest on cash.

guesswho2000

I don't think we'll ever be 100% safe in this respect, since as security moves on, so do scammers' techniques. However, some simple precautions I take include never letting the card out of site, ALWAYS covering the keypad when entering the PIN, be it in a shop or at an ATM, and, when withdrawing cash, have a good poke around at the ATM card slot area, to see if any additions come off, or move unexpectedly!

A few years ago, in Oxford, I tried using a perfectly normal looking ATM, did my usual poke around, all was well. Put the card in, at which point it dropped somewhere into the machine! I can only imagine it was a false front - I peered into the card slot and could see my card hanging in there! At that point I refused to leave the ATM until I'd finished calling my bank and ensured the card was cancelled.