Mobile Apps And Web Apps: Know the Facts
Every bank transaction, whether online or at an ATM, is accompanied by a feeling of uneasiness. For some, it’s because of their bank numbers rolling down, but for most, it’s the risk of losing important personal data, and consequently their hard-earned money.
While an online transaction requires an OTP (one time password), along with the card pin to execute, the same is not the case with ATMs. Anyone with your card number and the pin could withdraw money from your account, leaving you a lot more broke than yesterday.
But how would a stranger obtain your credit card info? There are multiple ways, and credit card skimming is the most common.
How does credit card skimming work?The black stripe (also called a magstripe) on the flip side of your credit card stores all the information required by a crook to steal your money. The stripe includes the name of the cardholder, the card number, expiration date and CVV code. The magstripe is made of tiny iron-based magnetic particles and is divided into two or three individual tracks. Each particle can be magnetized in a different direction, depending on the information it encrypts. To learn more about how the magstripe on a credit card works, read Magnetic Strips: How do magnetic strips on credit cards work?
Credit card skimmerAt the heart of a skimming operation is (surprise!) a skimmer. The skimmer is a scanning device mounted over the existing card scanner in an ATM. Most ATMs across the country incorporate a common design and, as a result, the black market is flooded with skimmers similar to the legitimate ones installed in ATMs. These skimmers are so well-produced that most customers are completely unaware of their presence. Thus, whenever one inserts their card into an ATM, they also involuntarily pass it through the skimmer.