Americans' PINs at risk for scams

New places and unfamiliar ATMs are fertile ground for scams that cost consumers and the ATM industry about $1 billion in annual global losses. "In general, tourists on vacation travelling tend to have their guard down,” said Mike Urban, an ATM fraud expert with Fair Isaac, the provider of FICO credit scoring. "You may not be as diligent as you normally are in certain situations. Criminals realize this.” And that makes the situation ripe for "skimming.” Skimming involves stealing the information from a card's magnetic strip or pilfering a consumer's personal identification number, or PIN. It's the most basic of ATM frauds. It can involve a peek over a shoulder or crooks posting small cameras or using telescopic devices to see the PIN. Skimming also happens with fake card readers and phony ATMs. Criminals are even taking it up a notch. The basic tactics are being replaced with attacks on software in ATMs and ATM networks, or criminals who "phish” for PINs using false telephone text alerts. Some steal account information to pose as consumers who want to change their numbers. Posted in: Debit Card Fraud