Community Safety and Crime Prevention

Fraud

Identity Theft | Credit Card Scams | Debit Card Fraud | Reporting Fraud, Scams & Identity Theft

As criminals become more knowledgeable in their understanding of payment processing systems, the opportunities to gain access to account information have greatly increased, particularly in the area of ATM skimming and counterfeit debit card fraud.

Debit card fraud involves the unauthorized copying of electronic data from your debit card magnetic stripe. Stolen electronic data is then encoded onto a counterfeit card, which is used to withdraw funds without your knowledge.

Debit Card Fraud Techniques

Tampered PIN Pads

Fraudsters steal PIN pads and tampers with the internal components. The fraudsters will attend stores and switch legitimate PIN pads with the identical tampered versions. The fake PIN pad captures the magnetic stripe and PIN information as it is being entered by the cardholder. The stolen data is then transferred onto a counterfeit card.

ATM Skimming

ATM skimming is when criminals rig an ATM to copy the information contained on the magnetic stripe of a bank card for counterfeiting purposes. One of the most common ways to carry out an ATM skimming scam is the phony-front ATM. The fraudster places a phony ATM card reader over the card insert slot to skim the card's magnetic-stripe data. Hidden equipment, such as pinhole cameras are installed to obtain your PIN. The information is then copied onto a counterfeit card and used with the captured PIN to withdraw money out of the cardholder's account.

Photos showing a phony-front ATM that has been opened

Prevention

• Protect your PIN by shielding your PIN with your hand or body during every transaction whether you're at the merchant or an automated banking machine
• Check your financial statements regularly for any unusual activity
• Keep an eye on your debit card when conducting a transaction at the checkout
• Check ATM for irregular attachments
• Don't use an insecure or unattended PIN pad.

Merchant Tips to Prevent PIN pad swapping

• Secure your PIN pads. Mount PIN pad or use a wire chain to attach PIN pad
• Don't leave PIN pads unattended. Bring them back behind the counter when not in use
• Check the serial numbers regularly
• Inspect terminal regularly for broken parts or broken security seal on the device
• Install security seals
• Make employees accountable – have them inspect terminal and record serial number at start and end of shift
• Fraudsters will often distract employees or preoccupying staff while an accomplice accesses the PIN pad.