Your money is important to you. Therefore, you work hard to keep things safe and secure. You don’t want criminals stealing your bank account information and getting your personal information. Unfortunately, scammers and thieves are finding new, creative ways to get your ATM information and commit fraud with your own card and PIN information.
These suspects continue to come up with new techniques to steal your information and take advantage of you. The best way to protect yourself from ATM fraud is to do your research and understand how these criminals are getting your debit card information. Your money needs to stay protected from false machines, spam calls, and identity theft. The more you know, the more prepared you’ll be to avoid an ATM scam. Let’s take a look at how ATM fraud is growing and ways you can stay away from sketchy alerts and be smart with your debit account and your financial institutions.
Direct Conversations
Sometimes your biggest threats are conversations with unknown callers. The biggest rule for you to follow is to avoid giving out personal information on a phone call that you didn’t place. There’s a reason why it’s important to identify unknown callers. Those unwanted calls may just seem annoying, but being contacted by a random phone number can actually be illegal. There can also be scammers on the other end of the call. These individuals may ask you for your debit card information and PIN and claim that they work for a financial institution.
These direct conversations are how criminals are getting your information directly from you and then using it at ATM machines or with online banking. There are easy ways to protect yourself from these schemes. Work to identify and report spam callers and suspects. Also, be alert and aware and never give out a password unless you made the call to the official company. Many third-party organizations can make themselves appear legitimate when they are really scammers, so take extra precautions for the protection of your money.
Skimming
One of the most common forms of bank ATM fraud is called skimming. This is when criminals will install software to steal your debit card information as you make your ATM transaction. They will take your sensitive information and watch for your PIN so they can later use your card number on other transactions. This technique is especially nerve-wracking because you usually won’t recognize your financial information has been compromised by the skimmer. You may not even know until you look at your bank statements or your bank contacts you about suspicious activity with your card.
Ghost ATMs
Have you ever tried to use an ATM only to be told there was an error and you need to try again later? While this may be the case for some card readers, you may have ended up using a ghost ATM. These machines aren’t valid or legit, instead, they are only there to steal your sensitive information. The thief can then take your account number and PIN from when you entered them into the card reader. If you think you may have used a fraudulent ATM machine, contact your financial institution right away to get a new debit card number.
Lapse in Maintenance
Several banks are working to combat ATM fraud by making sure their machines are updated regularly. This way, they can sweep for skimmer devices and guarantee your contact information is safe and secure. Checking these systems regularly and updating security cameras are some of the best practices to guarantee your terminals are working effectively. A lapse in maintenance or checking these systems can lead to a large amount of bank fraud that you should hope to avoid.
