Was Your Credit/Debit Card Compromised?

Gas Pump and ATM Skimmers: How to spot them

Use your eyes, fingers, and common sense to cut your fraud risk !

1. Use your eyes: Look before you insert your card.

Before you slide your card in a fuel pump or ATM,  be sure to take a good look at the keyboard and card reader.

"Does anything look different if this is an ATM you've used before?"

Bad guys can use a 3-D printer to create a new keyboard to put on top of the real one. The keyboard might look different than the rest of the ATM, or the keys could look bigger.

With fuel pumps, is the seal broken? To place a skimmer inside a fuel pump, fraudsters must open the fuel dispenser door to insert the skimmer.

Station employees may place serial-numbered security tape across the dispenser door, so check to see if the tape has been broken. If there's no tape, check to see if the dispenser door looks as though it has been forced open.

Also, look inside the throat of the card reader to see if you can spot anything hidden there. A skimmer inside a gas pump or ATM can steal the information off the magnetic stripe of your credit card or debit card. 

2. Use your fingers: If something doesn't feel right, move on.

Wiggle the ATM card reader to see if it's loose. The crooks might place a card reader on top of the existing one.

You should also be wary if it's hard to insert your credit card or debit card.

Some gas station credit card skimming victims have  remembered that the card reader had "a weird feeling, like the slot had been tampered with," 

                      Car-Lotta Credit and Car Sales reminds you to Be On The Look Out !