How to protect yourself from ATM Card trap scam?

Why use the ATM card?

An ATM card is an interesting piece of plastic. On one hand it lets you take out money from your own bank without having to visit the bank branch physically.
Instead you can visit the nearest ATM, insert the card into the ATM machine and enter the card PIN and Voila you are connected to your bank account.
You can do a number of bank account related activities using your ATM card.
Most people use it to withdraw cash from the bank account or even make a deposit, however you can also use the ATM to pay bills and do other transactions like getting the balance statement or a list of transactions.

The ATM card sounds like the magic gateway that lets you do banking 24X7 and 365 days of the year.
Before the emergence of the ATM machines and the ATM cards one had to go physically to the bank branch for doing anything related to the Bank account.
With all that being said I am sure a lot of users would be super happy with the way the ATM card is turning out to be super useful.

Wait there are risks of using ATM cards too!

ATM may be very useful under the ideal conditions of use. However there are instances where your ATM card can be used to trick you and sweep clean your bank account.

Watch out for the ATM scams that are all around. One of the ways in which a user's ATM card can be used to trick him is the ATM card trap scam.

For this to work a scammer visits an ATM and installs a skimming device.
The unsuspecting user visits the ATM which is already tempered.
So while visiting any ATM be aware of the fact that a scammer may have visited the ATM and tampered with the ATM machine.

The tempering may work in two different ways. In one instance the scammer installs a skimming device that reads your card details and PIN when you insert the card and enter the details.
This data can be saved in the scammer's device or may be transmitted to the scammer and he would create a clone of your card and use it to shop or withdraw funds from your bank account.
In the second kind of scam the card of the victim gets stuck inside the skimming device attached to the card slot of the ATM.
As the users panics and tries to get the card out the scammer shows up on the scene pretending to be a stranger who is there to help the target user.
He suggests the user try to enter the PIN one more time.
The idea of this exercise is to obtain the PIN of the user.This could be by physically viewing the PIN as the scammer is in the vicinity or the skimming device reads it.

Once this approach succeeds he would cause some distraction like he may say he knows someone at the bank or offers to call the customer care on the users behalf.
At this point the idea is to keep the user distracted so his attention goes away from the ATM machine where the card is stuck.
Once he succeeds either he or his accomplice would retrieve the user's card from the machine.

At this stage the scammer has access to both the card and the ATM pin.
With these two in possession he can make transactions and withdraw money from the bank.

be careful when visiting an ATM

Skimming devices are made in a way that they can be inserted onto the card insert slot or the keypad.
Card slots come in various shapes in sizes.
A card slot could look like this

For a scammer it may be easy to install a skimming device like this

Look out for the card insert slot

You need to be careful and vigilant as the card insert slot with a skimmer installed would look different but only slightly.

Look for card reader slots that have something hanging out of them or seem unusual.

Another kind of device could be a camera that sits on or around the ATM machine or a POS machine at a store where you insert your card to make a payment. Such a device may be hiding in plain sight.

Can you spot a hidden camera on the machine above?

Its sole purpose is to record the PIN as you enter it.

What to do if you spot a skimmer?

Inform the bank in case the bank is closed inform the police. Also make it a point to check your transaction history to check for any unusual activity.
If available opt for an SMS & email alert service where you get a notification every time there is a transaction on you ATM card or account.
If your Bank allow set a lower withdrawal limit on your CARD.
Always keep the emergency phone banking number of the bank on the speed-dial. If you suspect your card is compromised or there is an unauthorized transaction via your card get it hot listed and blocked immediately.

Cover image source
All other images sourced from here

The purpose of this post is to create awareness about such scams

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