How does credit card skimming work? Credit card skimming devices can be designed to look like hardware on an existing ATM or like a regular, in-store card reader (for example, an EFTPOS machine). The fraud analytics firm Rippleshot reports that a single gas pump with a skimming device can steal data from 30 to 100 cards a day. Even using an EMV card doesn’t save you from skimming because data is still on the magnetic stripe on your card. Breyault says the stripe has your name, account number and card expiration date. Technically that’s true; the chip itself cannot be cloned. The EMV card, however, is another story. Like we mentioned above, EMV technology encrypts the card information stored on the chip, substituting a unique token for each transaction. That inherently makes the process more secure. How Do Card Skimming Devices Work? First, thieves sneak into the store and quickly install a fake cover with a card skimming device on a payment terminal. Once installed, transactions go through as normal, but the skimmer also steals and stores shoppers’ card information. Skimming is a form of fraud that involves illegally capturing debit/credit card information during an otherwise legitimate transaction. Criminals use a device known as a skimmer to capture the card’s information, including the card number, expiration date, and security code. This data is then used to create fake debit or credit cards and What skimmer apps do. There are a couple of apps that attempt to detect Bluetooth enabled skimmers. An iPhone app called Card Skimmer Locator scans for any Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices and How to stay safe. If it’s not immediately obvious a card skimmer is in place, there are a few more things you can do to stay safe. Try giving the keypad and card slot a wiggle. If either feels loose then don’t insert your card at all. Second, do your best to cover the keypad when entering your PIN just in case there’s a camera installed. Later, the thief retrieves the skimmer and writes the data onto a blank card so it now contains all of your card's data, and then uses it to make purchases, which get charged to you. Alternatively, they just use the card number and expiration date encoded in the magnetic stripe to make online purchases. (I've posted a couple of videos below.) Vay Nhanh Fast Money.

how does a card skimmer work