What Are The Dangers Of Credit Card Skimming

Credit card skimming is causing an international problem which accounts for losses of over one billion dollars a year.It is more commonly used in Europe, Asia and Latin America, however, this particular type of credit card scam is starting to be used in the United States.

This credit card scam is easy to run, as it can take place when you give your credit card to a store employee to purchase something.That employee may swipe your card for payment, but may additionaly swipe the card with a small machine they hold in their hand known as a skimmer, that also stores information from your card into its system.The skimmer can retain the information on hundreds of debit and credit cards and then it is used by unscrupulous people to print counterfeit cards.The skimmer is capable of gathering the information on hundreds of cards; then information is downloaded into a computer to be emailed to skimming rings that are at work worldwide.About ten years ago it was not as easy to accomplish this fraud as it can be today, because the skimmers were large, bulky machines which had to be hidden under the counter in the store.

The improvement in the technology of the machines used in this skimming process over the past ten years has made it quite easy to hide the hand-held skimmer out of the sight of the customer who is interested in making the purchase.The skimmers may be purchased much too easily over the internet for around three hundred dollars, but the credit card producing machine is more expensive, coming in at about five thousand to ten thousand dollars.

This credit card skimming scam is done in another way; the credit card information is pulled directly out of the card terminals by inserting a skimmer bug and later taking it out with the credit card information on it.The older credit card terminals are the only type that can be violated in this kind of skimming process and since the newer terminals have been utilized the bugging scam has all but stopped happening.

As soon as the credit card skimmers have confiscated all of the information they need from your card, they will begin to make purchases of their choice with your credit card number.Much of the credit card fraud is committed through using the internet for purchases because of the increased popularity of online shopping.The information skimming thieves will check the credit card information for it’s validity is by making several purchases of low cost items on internet websites to find out if the cards are active.

The cardholder is most times just held responsible for up to fifty dollars of the total amount charged on the card, but the real victim in this crime is the merchant who had the employee who did the skimming.After the skimming activity is discovered the merchant has to pay for the cost of the investigation and is one hundred percent responsible for the losses caused by the criminal activity.The costs of investigating the charge-back claims of their customers is paid by the investigation fees paid by consumers and businesses who use the credit card companies.

The persons who are operating this type of credit card scam are aware that a purchase of at least $2000 has to be made before any criminal investigation can start.

Article Source: http://www.articleadventure.com

Alisdair Cosgrove is a freelance writer specializing in personal finance. You can read more of his work at www.JSNet.org for credit card comparisons including low interest credit cards and also offers a comprehensive list of credit cards for gas rebates. You can read more about credit cards from his on site article, 'finding the right credit card'.

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