Your Daily Computer Security Tips

The hackers and scammers are getting more and more brazen. Recently in Northern Ireland, crooks posing as bank service personnel actually walked into stores and replaced the credit card readers with their own models. These new machines, of course, captured the customers’ debit or credit card number and PIN.

Some 10,000 card numbers were stolen in this manner, before the authorities became aware of the scam. Some numbers may have already been used to empty their owners’ bank accounts. A few banks reacted by shutting down certain cards or limiting overseas withdrawals to 100 euros, or about $146 US.

Why the limit on overseas transactions? Because European cards have a microchip embedded in them. A PIN is also required at the time of the transaction. If a card does not have the chip, the transaction is refused. So the crooks find it easier to drain bank accounts from abroad. They can also make purchases online from anywhere.

How do you protect yourself from this scam? That’s tough. About all you can do is inspect the card reader, and make sure it looks like the usual model you normally use. If not, be suspicious, or refuse the transaction. In any case, your bank should refund you any money lost to fraud.