Thursday, we told you how credit card cloning or skimming is on the rise. In fact the US Secret Service says losses total $1 billion a year.
In part two of our series on Credit Card Cloning, we'll show you what you need to look for when using an ATM and how thieves can actually clone your card.
"I never used my card again the whole entire weekend," said Tiffany Varela, a victim of credit card cloning, but someone else did.
Two weeks ago, after using this WAMU ATM on Montrose, $1000 went missing from Varela's account. "They went to ATM's and withdrew money because they somehow got my card number and my pin number," Varela said.
Varela is still puzzled by how thieves could steal money without actually having her credit card. Especially since the since the former banker says she's extra vigilant when making transactions like this. "The ATM machine didn't look altered, I didn't notice anything different looking," Varela said. "That's the problem, most people don't know," Lt Robert Manzo of HPD's financial crimes unit.
Lt. Manzo showed some pictures of ATM machines that had been altered by criminals.
He's says a lot of times they will install a camera on the ATM and that's how thieves can steal your pin number.
There was also a gray device, called a card reader, the thieves attached to the area where you insert your card. "So the costumer's card went through it and then of course went into the ATM and on the way in and out it recorded all the information on the card," Lt. Manzo said.
These two devices were confiscated at a Houston ATM in January, thieves made out with over $100,000 before they were caught.
It's not just ATM's, Lt. Manzo said skimming is happening more frequently at gas stations where you can conveniently pay at the pump.
He also showed us a credit card skimmer taken from a local fast food worker. "Every time someone would drive up and order a hamburger he would swipe it though his device before he swiped it thought the cash register," Lt. Manzo said.
He says the device, which can easily be bought pretty much anywhere, runs on a standard watch battery. It stores all the credit cards numbers. "So what somebody does is plug in a wire here they plug into a computer and they're able to download all the information stored in it onto the computer," Manzo said.
The really hi-tech criminals can then encode that data to any blank card with a magnetic strip, like a pre-paid credit card or an old hotel key card. "In the last few months, we arrested an individual who actually encoded information from one of these devices onto his prisoner ID card from the prison system because it has a magnetic code on the back of it," Manzo said.
Shocking information to Varela, who was once so dependent on the convenience of ATM's and now thinking twice about ever using one again. "If I have to go back to the old days and just go inside a bank and withdraw cash and pay cash, I guess I will because it's just a hassle to deal with this," Varela said.
The HPD Financial Crimes Unit investigates 1,400 identity theft cases a month. Lt Manzo said the most important thing you can do to protect yourself is by looking at your bank account statements at least 3 times a week. He says if you wait too long to notify your bank that your account has been compromised, they may not refund your money.
In part two of our series on Credit Card Cloning, we'll show you what you need to look for when using an ATM and how thieves can actually clone your card.
"I never used my card again the whole entire weekend," said Tiffany Varela, a victim of credit card cloning, but someone else did.
Two weeks ago, after using this WAMU ATM on Montrose, $1000 went missing from Varela's account. "They went to ATM's and withdrew money because they somehow got my card number and my pin number," Varela said.
Varela is still puzzled by how thieves could steal money without actually having her credit card. Especially since the since the former banker says she's extra vigilant when making transactions like this. "The ATM machine didn't look altered, I didn't notice anything different looking," Varela said. "That's the problem, most people don't know," Lt Robert Manzo of HPD's financial crimes unit.
Lt. Manzo showed some pictures of ATM machines that had been altered by criminals.
He's says a lot of times they will install a camera on the ATM and that's how thieves can steal your pin number.
There was also a gray device, called a card reader, the thieves attached to the area where you insert your card. "So the costumer's card went through it and then of course went into the ATM and on the way in and out it recorded all the information on the card," Lt. Manzo said.
These two devices were confiscated at a Houston ATM in January, thieves made out with over $100,000 before they were caught.
It's not just ATM's, Lt. Manzo said skimming is happening more frequently at gas stations where you can conveniently pay at the pump.
He also showed us a credit card skimmer taken from a local fast food worker. "Every time someone would drive up and order a hamburger he would swipe it though his device before he swiped it thought the cash register," Lt. Manzo said.
He says the device, which can easily be bought pretty much anywhere, runs on a standard watch battery. It stores all the credit cards numbers. "So what somebody does is plug in a wire here they plug into a computer and they're able to download all the information stored in it onto the computer," Manzo said.
The really hi-tech criminals can then encode that data to any blank card with a magnetic strip, like a pre-paid credit card or an old hotel key card. "In the last few months, we arrested an individual who actually encoded information from one of these devices onto his prisoner ID card from the prison system because it has a magnetic code on the back of it," Manzo said.
Shocking information to Varela, who was once so dependent on the convenience of ATM's and now thinking twice about ever using one again. "If I have to go back to the old days and just go inside a bank and withdraw cash and pay cash, I guess I will because it's just a hassle to deal with this," Varela said.
The HPD Financial Crimes Unit investigates 1,400 identity theft cases a month. Lt Manzo said the most important thing you can do to protect yourself is by looking at your bank account statements at least 3 times a week. He says if you wait too long to notify your bank that your account has been compromised, they may not refund your money.
