Credit Card Skimming Essay

1251 Words3 Pages

Credit Card Skimming: Global Fraud
Credit card skimming is a type of fraud committed on a daily basis around the world. It is the theft of credit card information used in a legitimate transaction. A Department of Justice national survey has shown that approximately 4 million households suffered an unauthorized use or attempted use of a credit card in 2007. In the future it is estimated that one billion credit cards will be distributed that will susceptible to electronic credit card skimming according to a statistic provided by the United State Bureau of Justice. This is one of the top concerns regarding fraud in the 21st century. Credit cards holders as of now are usually unaware of purchases made due to skimming frauds as the current methods …show more content…

In the case of ATM readers it can be difficult to spot a fake cover plate instillation if the cardholder is not activity looking for signs of tampering. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seen this as an active issue with widespread cases. They have compiled a list of potential warning signs as well as steps that can be taken to prevent ATM skimming. Such steps include, visually inspecting the card reader for damage or loose parts as this may indicate that it has been tampered with or that a cover has been installed. This addresses one issue that may arise, in terms of keeping your personal identification number (PIN) a secret, they recommend covering the keypad while entering your PIN so a camera cannot record your number. If possible, using a card reader in the institution in sight of security cameras and the watchful eye of employees as installing a cover plate would be near impossible in such situations. These preventative actions can mitigate ATM skimming and should be practiced by everyone who uses these …show more content…

In order for these methods to be effective, they must shield your device from transmitting electronic signals from your credit card when it is not in use. This is a problem because RFID chips are activated by electronic pulses. One way of blocking these signals is obtaining an RFID blocking sleeve. The sleeves are designed to hold one card at a time and make RFID skimmers unable to read card information while they are in them. A potential drawback to this approach is there can only be one card in each sleeve and making the card unable to fit in wallet slots. Even simpler approaches to an RFID sleeve can be achieved by simply wrapping the card in a sheet of aluminum foil. Even with all of these potential blocking methods the heart of issue lies in the fact that consumers are unaware of the potential threats that are introduced with RFID and may even be unaware their cards have such capabilities. A suggestion of mine to mitigate these attacks would be to increase overall public awareness of such fraudulent

More about Credit Card Skimming Essay

Open Document