What is Skimming?
Skimming is the act of capturing card data and then using the data to create counterfeit credit cards, or to make purchases. Typically, a crooked employee such as a store clerk or restaurant waiter will use a small device, such as a Personal Digital Assistant equipped with a card reader, to swipe a customer’s card when no one is looking. The data can then be re-injected onto a magnetic stripe on a fraudulent card. While skimming is often a high-tech endeavor, it has a low-tech angle as well. Simply put, an employee who gathers credit card information and writes it down is just as much of a threat as his tech-savvy counterpart. Prevent this from happening. MasterCard will assess fines on merchants who are determined to be a “point of weakness” in preventing employee fraud. Meanwhile, Visa pays a reward of $1,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of a “skimmer,” so it can literally pay to be vigilant about employee fraud.
