Protecting Your Credit Card from Skimming

Protecting Your Family from Credit Card Scammers

 

In this episode of The Secure Family Podcast, Andy discusses the methods scammers use to steal credit card information, particularly focusing on credit card skimming. He explains the process of how skimming devices steal your data and shares practical tips to safeguard your credit card, such as using ApplePay and inspecting card readers for skimmers.

Take control of your data with DeleteMe. Because they sponsor the podcast you can get 20% off a privacy plan from DeleteMe with promo code: DAD. 

Andy’s new ebook is coming soon. Look for Level Up: The Parent 30-Minute Guide to Online Gaming Safety on February 12th!

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00:00 Welcome to The Secure Family Podcast

00:54 Understanding Tax Season Scams

01:59 Protecting Your Kids Online

02:46 Personal Experience with Credit Card Fraud

03:28 How Credit Card Skimming Works

05:38 The Mechanics of Skimming Devices

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Episode Transcript

Andy (00:10):
This is The Secure Family Podcast.
Welcome friend.
I'm Andy Murphy, the host andfounder of The Secure Dad.
This show is all about empowering parentsto protect themselves and their family.
I believe that security is thefoundation of happiness, and I want
your family to be safe and happy.
The information I share on this podcastis for general information purposes only.

(00:33):
My goal is to empower you tomake safer decisions for yourself
and your family, because oursafety is our own responsibility.
Today I want to share with youhow scammers can get your credit
card information and what youcan do to protect your card.
All of that and more coming upon The Secure Family Podcast

(00:55):
It's tax season!
Aren't you excited?
Okay, so you and I may not liketax season, but scammers do.
Did you know that scammers canuse your real data to file your
taxes and steal your refund?
People can use the data from breachesand data broker sites to pretend to be
you and actually file your taxes, andthe government won't know the difference.

(01:18):
That's why I personally use DeleteMe.
DeleteMe is a subscription servicethat removes your personal data
from hundreds of data broker sites.
Don't let someone stealyour hard earned tax refund.
One important step you can take isto remove your data from these sites.
Plus, you can file your return earlybefore a scammer can do anything.

(01:39):
Today, get 20 percent off your DeleteMeplan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad
and use the promo code DAD at checkout.
The only way to get 20 percent offis to go to JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad
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That's JoinDeleteMe.com/Dad, code DAD.

(01:59):
Hey parents, are you worried about keepingyour kids safe while gaming online?
Well then I've got something just for you.

My new ebook, Level Up (02:06):
The Parent 30 Minute Guide to Online Gaming
Safety, is launching on February 12th.
That's next week.
In just half an hour, you will learnhow to set up guidelines to protect your
kids without being the "fun police".
Give your kids the freedom to playwhile you enjoy peace of mind.

(02:28):
Mark your calendar for February 12th andbe ready to level up your parenting game.
This new ebook will be availableexclusively at TheSecureDad.Com.
My credit card information hasbeen stolen a bunch of times.

(02:51):
In fact, for three straight years,I got a new card every year,
because mine was compromised.
And so you're thinking, wow, now I'mgoing to be taking advice from a guy
who's had his credit card stolen.
Shouldn't he know better?
Like, this is like the guy whoruns a Secure Family Podcast.
Because I have experiencedthis, I have learned about it.
I've gotten better about it.
And I've, um, been searchingfor new information on it.

(03:13):
So I'm going to share myexperiences with you today.
And thankfully, in my situations wheremy credit card was stolen, I was able to
report these to my provider without anyreal trouble, but it can actually be a
lot worse if people don't know what todo, or they don't know what to look for.
So today I'm going to talk about creditcard fraud, how skimmers work, and what
we can do to spot a skimmer in the wild.

(03:36):
Credit card fraud is the unauthorizeduse of a credit card or credit card
information to make purchases or withdrawfunds without a cardholders consent.
It's a form of financial fraudthat can involve stolen physical
cards, hacked account details,and even fraudulent transactions.
Some of the common types of creditcard fraud include card theft, which

(03:57):
is physically stealing a card andthen using it to make purchases.
Then there's skimming, which is capturingcard information through a hidden
device, either on an ATM or a gas pump.
And then there's phishing scams,which is tricking victims into
revealing their card details with,like, fake emails, texts, and calls.
Then there's actually applicationfraud, which is using stolen personal

(04:20):
information to apply for a newcredit card in someone else's name.
Now today, I want to specificallytalk about skimming, even though over
the future of this show, I'm probablygoing to talk about all of these things
because I think they're interestingand unfortunately they're happening
to people like you and me every day.
And I think it's fascinating howscammers use technology to camouflage

(04:41):
and steal people's credit cardinformation through skimming.
And I think my card was skimmedmultiple times before I really
even knew what the process was.
So I want to share withyou what I have learned.
So that you can protect yourselfand learn from my misfortune.
So I'm going to set this up foryou, and it's going to go in a
weird direction at first, but we'regoing to bring it all together and

(05:01):
you'll have a better understandingof how this whole process works.
So, there have been tons of familiesfrom Eastern Europe coming to the
United States with the sole intentof stealing credit card information.
And I do mean families.
I'm talking a mom, a dad, and kids.
And typically, these families will flyto Mexico, cross the border illegally,

(05:22):
get caught by Border Patrol, get theircourt date for one to three years out.
That's all part of the plan.
Then they travel to several U.S. cities where their larger
family is already established.
You might be wondering why I'm talkingabout illegal immigration for credit card
skimming, but they are tied together.
You know that little black stripeon the back of your credit card?

(05:42):
That is called a magnetic stripe,also known as a magstripe.
These magstripes store and transmit datawhen a transaction is being processed.
This is where all the real data is.
Now it contains three tracks thatstore information like the cardholder's
name, the account number, theexpiration date, and the security code.
Pretty standard stuff.

(06:03):
Now, when a card is swiped through acard reader, that magnetic field on the
stripe interacts with the magnetic head.
Now, hold on to this part.
We're going to come backto this in a minute.
The card reader then detects thechanges in the magnetic field and then
converts them to electrical signalsthat are decoded into information.
Now the payment terminal sendsthe card data to the card issuers

(06:24):
network for authentication.
If the details match and the account is ingood standing, the transaction is approved
and you get to buy gas at the pump.
And this all happens insanely fast.
Like, I don't think, unless you workin this industry, you probably don't
know, all of that is happening everytime you put your card into a machine.
Fascinating.
Now, of course, people have figuredout a way to steal that data from

(06:47):
your credit card's magstripe.
So the magstripe is beingphased out everywhere.
But it's happening faster.
So, people who have been skimmingcredit cards in Europe are moving to
where the magstripe is being used more,which right now is the United States.
So here, we see the predatorfollowing the prey, just like we see

(07:10):
in nature when a cheetah who huntsan impala, they go to where they
are and then they start their hunt.
It's fascinating how humans are stillfollowing the predator prey relationship
even though it's for credit card skimming.
Just super interesting.
So with some very smart engineering,these families can make their own

(07:32):
skimmers, steal credit card data,swap that data onto a new card,
and then take out a cash advance.
Now, half the cash they keep andthe other half is sent back to
their family in Eastern Europe.
And this is how this works.
This is happening everywhere andjust about every state in the US.
right now.
Now, is this how all creditcard skimming is done?

(07:53):
No, but it's done a lot just like this.
So now that we know whatthey're doing now, let's talk
about how they're doing it.
Well, thanks to the internet, youcan buy just about anything online.
And that includes parts for ATMs,gas pumps, pinhole cameras, and chips
that can be programmed to skim data.

(08:15):
So if you go to a gas pump andyou see a credit card reader,
that looks real, it actually is.
Scammers are using the realparts to trick us into thinking
that the machine is safe to use.
And, get this, they can even buythose stickers that say the device
has been checked and is safe to use.

(08:35):
With gas pump skimmers, sometimesa pinhole camera has to be
used to get your pin number.
they're not using an overlay forthe pen pad, then a pinhole camera
will be placed above the pen pad torecord the buttons that you press.
Then the scammers will sync up thetime with your credit card swipe
and see what pen you entered.
And the pinhole cameras are housed eitherinside the machine itself, or a small box

(08:59):
is made and stuck to the machine that ispainted to look like it belongs there.
There are even some skimmers thatcan be modified to look like the
point of sale machines that yousee in line at the grocery store.
You know, the little black computer whereyou swipe your card and enter your PIN.
They have skimmers on those as well.
I've been told that groups areputting these devices over point of

(09:21):
sale machines in line at Walmart.
Can you imagine how many transactionsthey're getting from just one
machine at a Walmart store?
That's insane.
That's that's brazen,but they're doing it.
So the real parts are being modifiedand they're adding the skimming
hardware, which is really just asmall motherboard with a limited

(09:41):
amount of storage and power.
Most of the time, scammers haveto come back and take the device
to get the data off of it and thenrecharge it to be used the next day.
And skimmers can be put on in seconds.
Using double sided tape, theskimmer can be placed over the
real part and secured quickly.
And if you're not looking for it,you may not ever see it happen,

(10:03):
even if it happens on camera.
And this can happen even in front ofemployees who work at the register.
And because the skimmers areplaced over the real parts,
your card will still swipe.
And the transaction will go through.
The machine doesn't evenknow that this is happening.
You won't see a problem with thetransaction that stole your data.
It'll just appear at some othertime, in some other place.

(10:26):
Like for me, I got a notificationthat my card was swiped at a Lowe's
Home Improvement store in Louisiana.
And I was not in the stateof Louisiana at the time.
And that just makes it hardfor law enforcement to even
know when your card was copied.
You just don't know about it until afraudulent transaction has taken place.

(10:48):
So now that we know how this processworks, What can you and I do about it?
First off, I want youto start using Tap2Pay.
If you have the tap capability onyour card, the magstripe isn't used.
And so you're safe from a skimmer.
Now, I suggest that you takethis one step further and use
like ApplePay or GooglePay.

(11:08):
These are encrypted and noteven the stores themselves know
what your real card number is.
So for all of your transactions,please use ApplePay.
And if you can't useApplePay, then use tap to pay.
If your credit card or debitcard doesn't have that contact
your financial institution andget one issued to you this week.

(11:29):
But if you end up in a spot where swipingyour card is all that you can do, then
I want you to look for the skimmer.
Pull on the credit card readerand see if it comes off.
The real parts aren't held on by doublesided tape, so the fake stuff comes off.
And if it comes off, don't worry about it.
You're not breaking anything,you're just finding the skimmer.
And if you do find the skimmer, call thepolice and alert the owner of the store.

(11:54):
So there you have it.
Credit card skimmers aremore advanced than ever.
So what are our key takeaways here?
Tap to pay whenever possible.
I highly recommend that youuse ApplePay whenever you can.
If you have to swipe your card,inspect the machine and look for any
signs that something isn't right.
Pull on the card readerto see if it's real.

(12:14):
Trust your instincts and don'tmake yourself an easy target.
Scammers are alwaysadapting, but so are we.
Well, that's everything that I have forThe Secure Family Podcast for today.
Thank you, friend, for listening.
Take back your privacy and personaldata with help from DeleteMe.

(12:35):
Get 20 percent off a privacy planwhen using the code DAD at checkout.
DeleteMe is the official dataremoval service of The Secure Dad.
Keep your kids safe while gaming onlinewith my upcoming ebook, Level Up.
Look for it next week, February 12th.
If you'd like to know more about TheSecure Dad, visit TheSecureDad.com.

(12:56):
There you'll find freedownloads, books to buy, podcast
episodes, and a whole lot more.
The best way to stay informed iswith The Secure Dad email newsletter,
and there's a link for you tosign up today in the show notes.
I'm Andy Murphy, and I want you to sharewhat you learned today about scams.
Remember, we're all in this together.