Debit Card Fraud

What to look for

• Be Aware of Your Surroundings: Always be vigilant when withdrawing or depositing money from a bank or ATM.
  • Look around for anyone who appears suspicious or is loitering in the area.
  • Pay attention to individuals backed into parking spaces who do not exit their vehicles to conduct business.
  • Don’t leave your car or the building if you observe suspicious vehicles in the parking lot or parked nearby.
• Report any suspicious activities immediately.
• Conceal your cash: When leaving the bank, ensure your cash is not visible. Place it in a secure, inconspicuous location such as a pocket or a bag.
• Vary your routine: Avoid regular patterns in your banking habits. Change the times and locations you visit the bank.
• Drive directly to your next destination: If you suspect you are being followed, drive to the nearest police station or a crowded, well-lit area, and call 911.
• Avoid distractions: Do not engage in activities that might distract you, such as using your phone, until you are in a safe place.
• Be cautious when speaking to callers claiming to be from your financial institution.  Your financial institution will never call you and ask for your personal information, such as Social Security number, or your full card details.
• Emails and phone calls to employees with requests for their account username and/or password.

What you can do

Skimming occurs when devices illegally installed on or inside ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, or fuel pumps capture card data and record cardholders’ PIN entries, if applicable.

• Inspect ATMs, POS terminals, and other card readers before using. Look for anything loose, crooked, damaged, or scratched. Don’t use any card reader if you notice anything unusual.
• Pull at the edges of the keypad before entering your PIN. Then, cover the keypad as fully as possible when you enter your PIN to prevent cameras from recording your entry. Keep in mind that a pinhole camera may be present anywhere on or around the terminal.
• If possible, use ATMs in a well-lit, indoor location. These may still be compromised, but are less-vulnerable targets.
• Be especially alert for skimming devices in tourist areas, since these are popular targets.
• Pay for transactions using a chip card’s tap feature, a smartphone wallet app or contactless payments in transactions that allow this form of payment. Many debit and credit cards also can be loaded into various smartphone wallet apps for use in contactless transactions.
• Avoid using your debit card when you have linked accounts, since the card’s compromise will give criminals access to all of the accounts. Use a credit card instead.
• Routinely monitor your credit card, bank, and EBT or other benefits accounts to promptly identify any unauthorized transactions. If possible, set email or text-message alerts to notify you of card or account transactions.
• Proactively review the account-security options available for any payment cards you use. These options can include multi-factor authentication of transactions or freezing an account between your own transactions. Such steps may seem inconvenient, but they significantly reduce the risk of financial losses.
• Contact your financial institution immediately if the ATM doesn’t return your card after you end or cancel a transaction. This may suggest the presence of a foreign device in the card reader.
• Consider using an online payment system, such as Google Pay or PayPal, when possible, so you don’t have to disclose your card information.
• Monitor your card transaction history regularly to confirm all charges and spot suspicious activity quickly. Leverage mobile banking to freeze your card immediately once fraudulent activity is detected.
• To prevent your card from being skimmed at a gas station, the FTC advises using a pump close to the store in the line of sight of the attendant. These are less likely to be targeted by skimmers.
• Do not provide your personal information, such Social Security number, and any of your card details to callers claiming to be from your financial institution. If you are suspicious of the caller, hang up and dial your bank directly at the phone number displayed on the back of your card.

How to report

If you or your business fall victim to debit card fraud, it’s important to act quickly:

• Alert your card issuer. As soon as possible contact your bank to report the fraudulent activity. The bank will likely cancel your card and issue a new one. Once you receive the new one you’ll have to update any automatic payments you have linked to it.
• Place a fraud watch on your credit report. Speak to your advisor about contacting one of the three credit rating agencies – Equifax, Transunion or Experian – to place a fraud alert on your credit report. This free service will require new lenders to verify it’s you before opening any new accounts in your name. Your advisor only has to contact one credit bureau to have the alert on all three credit reports. The alert can be removed at any time. If you suspect you may be a victim of fraud or that your personal information may be comprised, freezing your credit profile can be a sound next step. This will prevent new credit lines from being opened in your name.
• · Report the fraud to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You can report scams as well as confirmed cases of identity theft. Law enforcement will use the reports to investigate the case if warranted.