Taking just 5 seconds to inspect any credit/debit card readers before you swipe could end up saving you from identity and credit card theft. I’ll show you what to look for before you swipe your next card. The con is called skimming. Skimming works by retrofitting a perfectly legitimate card reader (like an ATM) with a camouflaged counterfeit card reader. The counterfeit reader records all of your card’s information as it passes through. To give you an idea of what we are dealing with, here is a picture of an ATM with a skimmer overlaid on to the slot where you insert your card and a micro camera hidden behind a bogus white plastic piece above the PIN keypad. This ATM was reported to police on September 6, 2008.
Image is Courtesy of Naples Police Department:
Would you have known it was stealing card data? The purpose of this blog is to educate you on how to identify a skimmer. To that end I’ve compiled a portfolio of example photos made up of both basic and advanced skimmers. It is by no means all inclusive but should give you a heads up on what to look out for the next time you go to swipe your card.
Jamey Heary, CCIE No. 7680, is a security consulting systems engineer at Cisco. He leads its Western Security Asset team and is a field advisor for Cisco's global security virtual team. Jamey is the author of the recently published Cisco NAC Appliance: Enforcing Host Security with Clean Access. His areas of expertise include network and host security design and implementation, security regulatory compliance, and routing and switching. His other certifications include CISSP, CCSP, and Microsoft MCSE. He is also a Certified HIPAA Security Professional. Jamey has been working in the IT field for 14 years and in IT security for 9 years.
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Credit Card Skimming
Great Article,
Pictures Were Interesting and Somewhat Scary, Especially the Over KeyPad Buttons
Thanks from Josh
Add larger pictures?
I'm reading this on a 1900x1200 screen. The article is fascinating and extremely pertinent (obviously, heh), but the pictures are EXTREMELY hard to see on my screen. Are there larger images that could be linked to for the benefit of those on the mega-screens to be able to see the tiny bits that are being shown and pointed to?
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