Everett Police Offering New Details On Credit Card Skimmers

This out today from financial crimes detectives with the police department in Everett, Washington.

Financial Crimes Detectives wanted to make sure you were aware of the rise in Western Washington of “bluetooth overlay skimmers.” These skimmers are made to be placed atop Ingenico-brand card readers at store self-checkout lanes and are designed to steal both the card data when a customer swipes and to record the victim’s PIN using a PIN pad overlay. The Bluetooth component of the skimmer allows the thieves to retrieve stolen data wirelessly via virtually any Bluetooth enabled device — just by being in proximity to the compromised card terminal.

Please be aware and use the following tips to check for possible skimming devices:

Look at the Point of Sale device and even pull on it to see if an overlay is installed.
Always cover your pin # when entering (although these overlays are meant to capture the pin # as it is entered).

When possible, use the ATM inside of banks during business hours (a number of skimmers have been located at ATM machines outside certain banks).

Set up account text and email alerts to regularly notify you when purchases are made over a certain dollar amount.

Monitor your credit / debit activity online to confirm and verify charges.

If fraud is suspected against an account, call the phone number on the back of the card. Be aware that scammers have set up several fake online sites that pop up when you Google a financial institution.

If fraud does occur, file a police report.