Are you exposing yourself to identity theft at the ATM or gas pump?
What is White Card Fraud?
White card fraud, or counterfeit-card fraud, refers to a type of fraud where crooks copy the data from the magnetic stripe on your credit or ATM card onto an often plain white blank plastic card. Once the data is transferred, they are free to drain your bank or credit account, even from across the world.
How white card fraud works is a criminal installs a skimming (copying) device over the slot where you insert your card at the ATM, or gas pump. With the data on the magnetic stripe now copied, it can then be written onto a blank card using an encoder. Resourceful thieves are even able to derive PIN numbers. Because you still have your own card, you aren’t even aware there is anything wrong until money is missing from your account.
Thieves are now scrambling to take advantage of the slow transition of many merchants and banks in the U.S. to the more secure chip technology. Experts predict this type of credit card fraud, as well as others, will continue to rise in the short term.
Now that you know how white card fraud works, what can you do to protect yourself against white card fraud, or at least limit the extent of its damage?
Does the card slot at the ATM or pump look damaged? It might be a sign that a skimmer is installed so don’t use it.
Check your bank and account statements at least weekly and report any discrepancies immediately. Sometimes the first “test” withdrawal the thieves use is for a very small amount.
Use different (and strong) passwords and pins for each of your accounts.
Don’t sacrifice security for convenience, such as paying at the gas pump instead of inside.
Some restaurants now have payment devices at the tables. Limit when your credit card is out of your sight whenever you can.
Invest in an ID theft product, such as IDFraudSolutions.com.
Finally, don’t fall prey to any email scams that ask you to provide personal information or to follow a link to receive your new chip cards. Banks will not send out emails like this, and crooks will stop at nothing to get to your money.
Let ID Fraud Solutions help protect you and your financial well-being!
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