Yet another scam we need to watch out for
By Bella75
@nixxi76 (3191)
Canada
May 7, 2008 8:41am CST
There's another scam going around here where I live called skimming. This is the first time I've heard of this. Whereever the scammers left this scanning device, people using their debit cards are now suffering losses and it's coming out of the bank accounts. They don't know where this device is located but there's a warning for people to check their bank accounts to make sure no money is gone missing.
Although the institution will cover the person's loss because of their insurance policy, someone still has to face the loss.
Don't these criminals have anything better to do? I'm sure they wouldn't like it at all that much if their money went missing!
If you would like to check out this article here's the link..
http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2008/05/07/5491441-sun.html
3 responses
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
7 May 08
this sounds like what they were doing up here-somehow these people would walk in a grocery store and replace their counter scanners.it amazed me that none of the employees seemed to have seen this going on..(pay off?).
@tigertang (1749)
• Singapore
7 May 08
Well, the thing about crime is that it can be usually very lucrative and as long as people don't get caught, they have the chance to make outrageous fortunes. So, criminals will always think that they can do it and will keep doing until they get caught.
But then again, the problem with crooks is they usually don't know when to stop. They keep going on and on until they slip up and someone gets careless or the the authorities get smarter. So, let's see what happens to these guys.
2 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
7 May 08
exactly.
i think the only reason these guys got caught was they had survaillence cameras.it's funny how they forget about those LOL
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
7 May 08
I saw that on the news, they showed the things working as people used their cards.
They also have a machine that costs about $500 that will make a working duplicate of debit and credit cards. So be careful, and don't let anyone take your card to pay your restaurant bill or whatever. It only takes about 3 seconds to duplicate your card!
1 person likes this
@nixxi76 (3191)
• Canada
7 May 08
Wow thanks dragon for the information! That is so scarey. I would feel so hurt and lost if this happened to me. I work hard and would feel so betrayed by a stranger if they were getting my money and spending it! I would like to know where this device is so I could stay far away from it
Thanks for your comment
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
7 May 08
The news reporter got one off eBay. I would think they would be illegal and eBay would not allow them to be sold but there you are--they'll do anything to make a dollar! There are other places you can get them, chat rooms that specialize in selling peoples' personal information. The reporter entered one of those chat rooms and got the social security and credit card numbers of five people. She warned them, of course, but those things are for sale on the internet. Yours and mine may be among them!
1 person likes this
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
7 May 08
Most of the "swipe swappers" are next to the machine so when you slide your card through it reads the information, those have about a 7% accuracy rate. They can take the machine and insert a small electronic tab into it that can read the information and transmit it or older ones that will store about 50 - 60 account numbers and info.
1 person likes this
