4 Risky Locations To Use Your Debit Card
Debit Cards have become one of the common tool for us to make payment nowadays. Today, we’re going to shed some light on some locations where you should be extra cautious when you use your debit card.
No. 1 Target : Outdoor ATMs
Outdoor ATMs are among one of the most dangerous places to swipe your debit card. Open-air kiosks give an ideal opportunity for thieves to skim users’ data, grabbing it out of thin air, even in broad daylight. Skimming machines are frequently placed over the actual card slots at ATMs or other outdoor card reading terminals like vending machines or parking lot payment kiosks.
No. 2 Target : Petrol Stations
Petrol station pumps share many of the features card criminals love when exploiting outdoor ATM locations. In a place where you have multiple transactions occurring at any one time, combined with minimal supervision, it isn’t difficult for someone with malicious intent to install a skimming device and a small closed circuit pocket-sized camera to help him in his cause. Thieves employ small video cameras at petrol pumps to capture footage of unsuspecting card users typing in their PINs, saving it for later and going on a spending spree.All the same, even if the thief does not get your PIN, he is still able to reproduce your card’s magnetized strip and use it for most transactions.
No. 3 Target : Restaurants
Waiters regularly take customers’ debit cards to run them behind closed doors. However, some will keep debit card numbers and expiration dates with the intention of using them later on. However, it isn’t just sit down eateries and their employees posing a potential threat to your debit card. Using your debit card to order delivery can be dangerous too. Cashiers and card terminals tend to keep customer payment information on file for several months. While this might make future orders from that restaurant more convenient, small businesses rarely follow the steps necessary to protect information.
No. 4 Target : Online Transactions
Debit cards are an undeniably convenient way to purchase products online. When you put your debit card online, it is almost as if you are putting it on display for thieves. Malware or spyware downloaded to a computer provides an entry point for a hacker to store and lift information whenever they please. As your information is transmitted to the merchant, it is visible and accessible by its employees, but is also still vulnerable to hackers, giving it double threat potential.
The main concern is the debit card is tied to your money – your bank account–and dealing with debit card fraud comes with more headaches than credit card fraud. Although debit cards look identical to credit cards, debit cards do not work in the same way that credit cards do in the event of fraud. Debit card users are not always as successful when it comes to disputing identity theft and fraud on their accounts. Once that money is gone, it is gone; and it usually takes weeks or even longer to see reimbursement for stolen fund.
