Banks Grapple With Card Skimming Rings

The hazard of “skimming” has long been a part of the digital financial age, but experts say there’s a big rise in the scope and scale of the threat to personal financial information.

Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner, Inc., told SC Magazine that Eastern European gangs, among others, have stepped up efforts to get bank account information at places where bank debit cards are used. In addition to ATMs, point-of-sale systems and gas-pump card readers are now targets for criminals trying to scoop up consumer bank account numbers and PINs.

The Columbia, S.C., field office of the Secret Service last month issued a warning that skimming was on the rise. Skimming of debit or credit cards is often accomplished by fraudsters attaching devices to otherwise legitimate ATM or card-reader machines. Those devices then download and store card information for later fraudulent use.

The Columbia Secret Service office found 10 such devices in a recent sweep, prompting the warning. Michael Williams, special agent in charge at the Columbia office, says consumers should keep careful track of credit and debit card use.

“Fraudulent transactions frequently occur within 24 to 48 hours of a compromise, but most cardholders are not aware that they have been victimized until they receive statements showing the fraudulent charges,” he said in a report on the Web site for South Carolina's WJBF-TV. “That’s why one important step every individual can take is to pay attention when your credit card is used at the point of sale terminal.”

Chris Paget, chief hacker for H4RDW4RE, a digital security company, says externally mounted skimming devices on ATMs are getting increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect. Paget himself was scammed for $200 last summer when he used a rigged ATM in Las Vegas.