Skimming May Be The Latest Threat To Your Credit Card
There are losses of over one billion dollars each year due to the international problem of credit card skimming.This common type of credit card scam is happening in Europe, Asia and Latin America and is starting to be more often encountered in the United States.
This credit card scam is easy to run, as it can take place when you give your credit card to a store employee to purchase something.That store employee may also be swiping your card with a small machine known as a skimmer as well as using it to pay for your purchase; this skimmer takes your information from your card and stores it in this machine's system to use fraudulently.The information in this skimmer is used by crooks to produce counterfeit cards from the hundreds of debit and credit cards it has information on.There are skimming rings working nearly in every corner of the world and as soon as your information is put into the skimmer, it is then downloaded into a computer and is ready to be emailed to anyone worldwide.It was not as easy to commit this fraud in the past, because the card skimmers were very large machines that had to be hidden under the check-out counter.
The improvement in the technology of the machines used in this skimming process over the past ten years has made it quite easy to hide the hand-held skimmer out of the sight of the customer who is interested in making the purchase.It is very unfortunate that these skimmers are actually available to be purchased over the internet for around three hundred dollars, however the machine which produces the counterfeit cards costs anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand dollars.
One form of credit card skimming is done directly through the card terminals by placing a skimmer bug into the terminal and then retrieved with the credit card information on it.The older terminals are the only ones which can be violated in this way, and the onset of new credit card terminals has alleviated much of this bugging.
After the credit card scam artists have their needed information on you, they will quickly start their shopping sprees and charge it to your credit card number.Over half of credit card fraud is committed over the internet, with shopping by this method becoming more and more popular, card fraud on the internet has also increased.The internet is also used by the thieves to make certain that the card's information is valid through the purchase of many low ticket items to be assured that the card is active.
The merchant who had the employee who did the skimming may be the real victim of this crime, but the cardholders are also victimized by being held responsible for up to fifty dollars of the total amount charged on their card.The merchant is at risk for the loss on his merchandise and is one hundred percent responsible for the skimmer's activities and the fees charged for the investigation.The costs of investigating the charge-back claims of their customers is paid by the investigation fees paid by consumers and businesses who use the credit card companies.
Before beginning a criminal investigation into the skimming activity the ones who perform this scam know that a purchase must be made of at least two thousand dollars.
This credit card scam is easy to run, as it can take place when you give your credit card to a store employee to purchase something.That store employee may also be swiping your card with a small machine known as a skimmer as well as using it to pay for your purchase; this skimmer takes your information from your card and stores it in this machine's system to use fraudulently.The information in this skimmer is used by crooks to produce counterfeit cards from the hundreds of debit and credit cards it has information on.There are skimming rings working nearly in every corner of the world and as soon as your information is put into the skimmer, it is then downloaded into a computer and is ready to be emailed to anyone worldwide.It was not as easy to commit this fraud in the past, because the card skimmers were very large machines that had to be hidden under the check-out counter.
The improvement in the technology of the machines used in this skimming process over the past ten years has made it quite easy to hide the hand-held skimmer out of the sight of the customer who is interested in making the purchase.It is very unfortunate that these skimmers are actually available to be purchased over the internet for around three hundred dollars, however the machine which produces the counterfeit cards costs anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand dollars.
One form of credit card skimming is done directly through the card terminals by placing a skimmer bug into the terminal and then retrieved with the credit card information on it.The older terminals are the only ones which can be violated in this way, and the onset of new credit card terminals has alleviated much of this bugging.
After the credit card scam artists have their needed information on you, they will quickly start their shopping sprees and charge it to your credit card number.Over half of credit card fraud is committed over the internet, with shopping by this method becoming more and more popular, card fraud on the internet has also increased.The internet is also used by the thieves to make certain that the card's information is valid through the purchase of many low ticket items to be assured that the card is active.
The merchant who had the employee who did the skimming may be the real victim of this crime, but the cardholders are also victimized by being held responsible for up to fifty dollars of the total amount charged on their card.The merchant is at risk for the loss on his merchandise and is one hundred percent responsible for the skimmer's activities and the fees charged for the investigation.The costs of investigating the charge-back claims of their customers is paid by the investigation fees paid by consumers and businesses who use the credit card companies.
Before beginning a criminal investigation into the skimming activity the ones who perform this scam know that a purchase must be made of at least two thousand dollars.
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