Why we need the EMV card

The tiny devices that steal credit card data are getting impossibly hard to detect

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ATM skimmers, the miniature devices that stealthily help fraudsters capture your credit and debit card data, are getting smaller and harder to detect. Skimmers have always been designed to blend in with any ATM they're attached to, but for years a discerning eye or tug of the card reader were often enough to uncover them. That's not the case anymore. Krebs on Security has been researching a number of devices recovered in Europe this year, and several of them were small enough to fit inside the ATM card slot itself. The ultra-thin profile of these "insert skimmers" makes them far less obvious to your average person making a quick stop at the cash machine.

And thieves often pair them with hidden spy cameras that are equally difficult to spot; many victims never realize their banking data has been compromised until fraudulent charges begin showing up. Other modern skimmers include mobile chips capable of sending off your credit card data in a text message, so the perpetrator can avoid the risk of returning to the host ATM and picking up the device.

The United States and its snail-like pace to adopting chip and PIN debit / credit cards can be blamed for the growing skimmer problem. Until the US is fully on board, international banks have little choice but to keep manufacturing cards with the vulnerable magnetic stripe. For now, the best protection is covering an ATM's keypad when entering your PIN — and keeping your eyes open for card slots that show signs of tampering.

Comment: Image source.  More on the EMV card. Kathee's big project is the EMV debit card.

Sophisticated ATM Skimmer

Pro Grade (3D Printer-Made?) ATM Skimmer


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In July 2011, a customer at a Chase Bank branch in West Hills, Calif. noticed something odd about the ATM he was using and reported it to police. Authorities who responded to the incident discovered a sophisticated, professional-grade ATM skimmer that they believe was made with the help of a 3D printer.

Comment: Check out detailed images associated with the article

ATM Skimming no longer "crude and clunky"

ATM Fraud Gets Even More Brazen

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Until recently, skimming equipment was relatively crude and clunky, attached to card-readers with double-stick foam tape and relying on small cameras to record hands punching in PINs. Newer devices include equipment that fits inside card readers, pinhead-sized cameras and well-crafted attachments that sit snugly on top of ATM card readers and PIN pads, looking just like the real equipment. Bluetooth technology allows the fake card reader and PIN pad to talk to each other, and data drives or wireless technology can make downloading of stolen information quick and easy.

Given such clever engineering, consumers may not be able to tell that a machine has been compromised. Banks may not know either: Fair Isaac says that perpetrators of such fraud often place skimmers on outdoor ATMs on Saturday mornings and remove them before the bank opens Monday. The data is typically passed to crooks in another country within hours.

Better technologies are available: Canada and several European countries, among others, have adopted so-called chip-and-PIN debit cards, with chips built into the card, adding a layer of protection. But American banks and retailers have resisted adopting the technology because it is expensive to replace cards, ATMs and point-of-sale machines.

The chip-and-PIN technology isn't foolproof, and experts say U.S. banks and retailers may instead leapfrog that technology, possibly by using the capabilities of smartphones to verify transactions or to actually make the transactions instead of using a card.

Comment: Read full article for ways to protect self. Number one is checking your balance on-line regularly. We have a daily email alert for all bank activity.

ATM card skimming - it's sophisticated

How to Spot an A.T.M. Skimmer


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Would You Have Spotted the Fraud?

ATM Skimmers, Part II

The U.S. Secret Service estimates that annual losses from ATM fraud totaled about $1 billion in 2008, or about $350,000 each day. Card skimming, where the fraudster affixes a bogus card reader on top of the real reader, accounts for more than 80 percent of ATM fraud, Doten said.

Snopes: ATM camera

Here's What A Card Skimmer Looks Like On An ATM