ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTVA-CBS 11 News) Identity theft is nothing new, but a warning issued Tuesday by the Better Business Bureau is putting a different twist on the theft of information.
It’s called ATM skimming and the BBB says numbers are growing nationwide.
The Anchorage Police Department says it hasn’t heard much about the phenomenon in Anchorage, but national numbers indicate one in five American have fell victim to skimming.
BBB officials advise Anchorage residents to look for anything suspicious when withdrawing money with their debit card.
“Basically what we see in most cases is that a scam artist attaches a fake device to an actual ATM where you swipe your card and that’s the ‘skimming’ part,” said Tara Sims, Alaska PR and Communications Manager for the Alaska Office of BBB Serving Alaska, Oregon, Western Washington.
These devices come in many different forms, but they all accomplish the same thing: tampering with the ATM to get a hold of your cash.
“I’ve heard cases of it being attached in a brochure holder [or] it’s hidden inside of a brochure holder that somebody stuck on the ATM,” said Sims.
The skimming device can also be constructed to fit over the place where a debit card is scanned.
“Most of the time they [scam artists] also need your PIN number to be able to use that information, so what they normally do is attach a camera either on the ATM itself or close by,” said Sims.
If something looks suspicious with the ATM you are about to use, experts suggest giving the machine parts a gentle wiggle. If parts aren’t stable, the unit may have been tampered.
Follow these simple steps to protect yourself against ATM skimming:
- Try to use the same ATM every time.
- Choose bank or credit union ATMs over standalone ATMs-experts say sometimes standalones can be completely fake.
- Avoid ATMs in poorly lit areas.
“If you are going to a bank, a place that actually has personnel on duty, that would probably be a better way to extract money, although all of us use ATMs in various places,” said Lt. Dave Parker, spokesperson for the Anchorage Police Department.
Also, cover the keypad when entering your PIN, as thieves can’t do much with your debit number alone.
The Better Business Bureau also suggests carefully monitoring your debit card transactions.
Catching the situation early is key to recovering your money.
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Category: Identity Theft Watch