Posted on 09/22/2019 3:46:27 PM PDT by csvset
This is usually the Russians schitck.
We got pinched twice by those rat basturds. Once was from a skimmer on a bank machine and a second was a CC transaction at a gas station.
Bank covered both.
These devices are simply pressed onto or otherwise attached to the existing readers.
That is not quite correct. But the rules are different.
I had direct experience with a Debit card fraud in which the perpetrators emptied my bank account over a weekend. I detected the fraud on Monday and called my bank (and the police).
I was told there if such losses were reported within three days of occurrence that the bank was required by law to make good on the losses. They did.
The card was apparently run through a skimmer at a retail store by a newly hired clerk. The skimmer copied the account number and PIN code from the mag stripe on the card.
The criminals took hundreds of these scans, copied them to bank card stock and ran them through ATMs all over a nearby city the next weekend. There was in interesting photo of a gang member swiping my card at an ATM about 80 miles away.
I got an order confirmation request from REI for several thousand dollars worth of camping gear to be shipped to a bogus address in Washington State. I declined that order of course. No harm done there.
There were prosecutions a year later, but I never learned any specifics about the outcomes.
I got a new card. I got a new account number. I got my money back.
So if you don’t catch it within three days too bad?
Are you starting to see why I now only use credit cards that I pay off weekly?
Same thing as a debit card only no three-day-too-bad thingy.
Actually, it’s not “cheaper” for the banks that their customers use their debit cards. It’s because they get their own “skim” from every single transaction. The business it is used at is charged around 2% for every debit card and credit card transaction. That percentage goes to the bank. It is in their interest that EVERYONE use a card for EVERYTHING.
That is the basic "gotcha" with Debit cards and restitution.
Credit cards give you about 30 days from the monthly statement date to dispute charges. So you definitely have a better margin for error. But either with Credit or Debit cards, you still need to pay close attention. There are a lot of ways for criminal gangs to skim critical data and they don't necessarily require physical access to your cards to get that data.
When I travel, I charge every purchase on a credit card, for all the reasons that you would expect. And I pay them off at the end of a trip.
On the local scene, I am starting to see merchants who give discounts for cash or debit card purchases. That was unheard of ten years ago.
We don’t have a credit card, haven’t used one for at least 7 years. At the pump you have to say that whether it’s a debit or credit card. I always say credit and never enter my PIN. Same at any store, there is always a way to sign for the transaction rather than enter a PIN.
Plus the bank will refund fraudulent charges. I don’t understand why a debit card is so much more dangerous than a credit card. Perhaps other people keep much more money in their checking account than we do. We keep most of ours in a money market and transfer funds as needed. No card attached to the money market.
We use a similar arrangement. Even if the Debit card ever gets hit, there isn't much available to lose. And as we have seen, the bank will eat the losses if we are paying attention.
We do pay close attention.
Exactly! I always go inside the store and pre-pay, debit or credit.
Bookmark.
MC, VI, AMEX charge a fee for their service and is paid by the company accepting your charge or debit card. The fees vary, but can be around 2% but can be higher or lower depending on the companies volume of transactions. AMEX can be as high as 6%.
There are companies you have never heard of that process/facilitate the transactions for the credit card companies/banks. It isn't cheap to process - takes an enormous amount of capacity for the tech equipment and IT labor. That almost instant approval of your card at the checkout isn't cheap.
Banks charge companies when depositing checks and cash, too.
Nothing's free and besides companies DO prefer the use of credit/debit cards because they don't have the internal control problems of handling cash.
Fraudulent debit card transactions are also reimbursed by banks. They have to; otherwise, no one would use debit cards.
you see, I am not smart enough to know how to cheat and steal effectively.....I wouldn’t know where to begin.
Question?
Can’t the gas station operators see the skimmer devices
if they check their pumps at random intervals?
Yep...
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