Debit Card Compromises

Card skimming occurs when a criminal tampers with a card payment terminal, such as a gas station card reader, ATM, or a merchant’s point-of-sale terminal, to collect embedded account information for future theft or account takeover.

What can you do to protect yourself from debit card skimming? Here are a few tips to keep in mind the next time you use your debit card:

• Utilize tap-to-pay or digital wallets whenever possible. These payment methods obscure card details through a process called “tokenization,” which converts specific account data into an encrypted “token” and prevents criminals from accessing your actual data.
• Closely examine payment terminals. If the tap reader isn’t working at the gas pump, if the keypad looks or feels strange at a point-of-sale terminal, or if there is a prompt to swipe your card instead of using the chip reader, you might consider using a different payment method or a different terminal.
• Use the chip reader if tap-to-pay is unavailable. Chip-based transactions are safer than swiping the magnetic stripe on the card. However, some criminals install miniature cameras to capture your PIN as you enter it; therefore, consider covering the keypad when you enter your PIN.