New ATM skimmers that sit inside the card slot are virtually impossible to detect

It's easy to get video of the pin number if you're particularly devious, lazy, creative and / or patient.

Really, all one has to do is record it with their smartphone nearby from behind while you key it into the keypad thingamabob, really all you have to do is do that and not even bother with any kind of skimmer if your phone can catch it clearly enough and then run home or jump online and buy all kinds of stuff while somebody else pays for it.

That's why I always look around before I key in my pin, and frequently catch people looking until I see they are when I look at them, and have asked people with phones to step out from behind me while keying into them once or twice.

If anybody thought a smartphone with a camera was simply for the convenience of the end user I feel they are sorely mistaken and the things that are being done with them were probably considered well before they were ever offered to the masses. I myself don't have one considering how much they cost and the fact that they really aren't that useful to me considering how fragile and of limited they actually are.

If the economy gets much worse I may just consider becoming devious, creative and patient too.

a reply to: nOraKat

They have been doing this for years, not just cash machines but mobile skimmers used by genuine waitresses, servers and such.

They skim your card before you enter your pin, then you use the real machine to pay and thats when they grab the pin.

To the guy that said we dont need magnetic strips any more is so completely on the money (teheh)... when did we stop using VHS and audio cassette tapes? I cant barely remeber.

A few problems with the newer cards is that they do not even have to be run through the card slot.
more and more cards have a RFID chip built in and in some cases just waving them in front of the reader will read them.

Get this turned off because if you are standing in a line someone with the right equipment can walk up and read your card while its still in your wallet.
this is why they now sell metal cases for your cards to stop these RFID skimmers.

Also unless you buy things from companies outside the US or travel outside the US have the bank block your card for use outside the US. this helps keep the hackers in other countries from using your card.

a reply to: ANNED

I got a card comprised from Walmart's online site. Someone got into my profile and added a different name and shipping address. First thing Walmart said was.... looks like you have a problem.....my reply to them was.....no...it looks like YOU have a problem not me, this is supposed to be a secured site.

Somebody got a free Iphone from Walmart... I didn't have to pay for it though.

Strange thing is I had moved to a different state 6 months earlier and had updated my card info with the card company but not the Walmart profile so I still can't see how it went through....If I try to buy something online and make one single typo,,, it will kick it back is invalid, but yet this purchase went through with an old address. I still think it was an inside job.