Chapter 39. Skimmers and ATM scams

Skimmers

Skim milk may help to keep you thin, but a skimmer may make your wallet thinner.

A skimmer is a small electronic device about the size of a deck of cards that is used by a rogue salesclerk, waiter, or anyone to whom you give your credit card to steal from you. This person swipes your card through the skimmer, which reads the information contained on the magnetic strip on the card and gets all your personal information contained on the card. Identity thieves then use this information to fraudulently use your credit card and steal your identity. In many instances, the people initially skimming your card gather the information contained on the skimmer about your card and many others victimized at the same ...

Get The Truth About Avoiding Scams now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.