Credit Card Shimming
Credit Card ‘Shimming’ is the Latest Credit Card Scam
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Now, and always, we must constantly be aware of our surroundings. Especially in this day and age. That includes your credit card usage. We aren’t referring to what you’re purchasing, but how you are using your credit card. Credit card shimming is yet another way fraudsters are stealing your money.
What is Credit Card Shimming?
There’s a credit card scam going around called “Shimming“. This is not to be confused with “Skimming“, where the fraudster puts an overlay on the credit card machine to capture your credit card information. This scam has actually been around since 2018.
This credit card shimming bankcard scam, that started in Canada, is where the fraudster puts an undetectable paper thin, credit card sized insert into the credit card reader on ATM’s, gas pumps and Point-of-Sale systems. It captures your credit card information, including your PIN. It even captures NFC (Near Field Communication) chip information. Read up more on ways to protect yourself from fraud here. Sadly, in this case, hiding your PIN number won’t help if this credit card shim is in place.
No, the chips did not make your credit card safer. It actually made it easier for scammers to collect your information. The credit card information is then extracted later by the fraudster when they insert a special card that downloads the data. Afterwards, the captured information can then be used to make fake credit cards. The act of installing and reading the credit card shim only takes a few seconds. It’s that fast.
How to protect yourself
We recommended that you use your phone wherever there is an NFC (chip) reader. When you load your credit card to your phone it creates the ability to make purchases using your phone as the credit card. The phone creates a unique ID, that represents your credit card information. That unique ID is never repeated so even if captured, it does not compromise your credit card information because it doesn’t contain your credit card number. It contains a GUID or a Unique ID, that identifies that specific transaction to our financial institution. Again, that unique ID will never be repeated.
Most fuel pump credit card readers have NFC (chip reader) as an available payment option. However, there are a lot of fuel pumps, that I have seen, where the chip reader doesn’t work. Although inconvenient, we would strongly recommend that you go inside to have the cashier put $x.xx amount on the pump using your phone or cash. It stands to reason that if the outside pump is compromised, so is the inside credit card reader. In conclusion, use your phone to process the transaction, or carry cash. Cash eliminates the risk of credit card fraud.
Below is a video detailing the new “shimming” scam that is targeting credit and debit cards. This new credit card fraud is just another weapon in the fraudster’s arsenal of tools to scam you and I out of our hard-earned money. You can also see read more about it at Experian by clicking here.
5 Key Takeaways about Credit Card Shimming:
- Credit card shimming fraud is on the rise.
- ATM’s and gas station pumps are the target for “Shimming”
- There’s no way to visually or physically see the “Shimming” insert in the ATM or the gas pumps.
- Whenever possible, use your cell phone NFC (Near Field Communication). The phone creates a unique ID that represents your credit card information, but is never repeated.
- To ensure you’re always protected against credit card fraud, use cash.
