What to Know About Credit Card Skimmers

Skimmers also target low-income individuals who receive government benefits through an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Unlike most new credit cards, the EBTs don’t have chips, which help protect against skimming (although a new type of skimming device, called a shimmer, allows criminals to read a card’s microchip).

How to protect yourself from losing money to card skimmers

The next time you fill your tank, use an ATM, or insert your card in any machine, take these steps to avoid skimmers.

1. Look for signs of tampering. “If a machine looks a little worn or beat up, think twice about inserting your card,” says Michael Sherwood, vice president of product at Malwarebytes, a consumer-focused cybersecurity company. Warning signs include card-reading machines with exposed cables or anything that’s loose, bent, broken, damaged, crooked, or scratched. Pull on a card slot to make sure it isn’t covered with a skimmer and wiggle the keypad for signs of an overlay, the Delaware State Police suggest.

2. Tap rather than insert your card. If your card has the tap option — and most do these days — use it. That way a skimmer can’t read your card. Sherwood also recommends paying with digital options such as Apple Pay: “Unlike the physical reader, that’s not something you can easily hack,” he says.

3. Beware of self-checkouts. Scammers need to conceal themselves while sneakily installing their skimming hardware, which makes self-checkout an easier target than a register manned by a clerk. “It’s not easy for [a criminal] to walk into a pharmacy, go behind the counter, and pretend to be an attendant,” says Efstathopoulos.

4. Avoid convenience store ATMs. Most banks regularly inspect the ATMs connected to their branch offices; that’s less likely to happen with an ATM in a busy store location.

5. Be careful at gas stations. Choose a well-lit pump that’s close to an attendant or mini-mart. It’s the same principle as self-checkout: Criminals want a well-hidden spot to install their skimmers, so they’ll likely choose the pump that’s farthest away from employees.

And don’t enter PINs at the pump. Some gas pumps let you run your debit card as a credit card. If that’s an option, use it: By choosing credit mode, you don’t have to enter your PIN.

6. Even better, avoid using debit cards at all. Banks offer more protection for credit cards than debit cards. If a criminal uses your credit card number for purchases, federal law limits your liability to no more than $50. “Credit cards have a lot more backing to them — they’re more secure,” says Sherwood.

7. Be even more vigilant in tourist areas. Bustling, Times Square-style tourist spots can be a skimmer’s paradise, the FBI warns. Among the reasons: You’re usually distracted and more likely to miss the warning signs of a skimming scam. Plus, tourist areas often have large numbers of unattended ATM machines, and the high volume of pedestrians can make it easier for scammers to install their hardware. “You would think that all those people would discourage them, but it can actually provide cover for tinkering with the machines,” Efstathopoulos says. “If you have a busy street, and maybe only one camera, and somebody stands in front of an ATM for five minutes, there will probably be enough noise and it’s so busy that they go unobserved.”

8. For overseas travel, consider using cash. “I’ve been in situations where I'm in a taxi, and the driver has his own reader, and it just feels odd,” Sherwood says. “Cash is just safer in that situation.”