Skimming

Skimming refers to the criminal practice of recording a credit or debit card's details, using an additional piece of hardware, or through modification of existing hardware.

Commonly, this has been seen to occur at cash machines, by placing a small reader around the card slot, or even attaching a fake front to the cash machine, with an embedded video camera, allowing the purportrator to also record the card's PIN number. This has also been known to occur at various points where a card is passed to a staff member in order to take payment for a product or service, only to have the card unknowingly swiped through an additional card reader, allowing the staff member to record the card's details.

After carrying out the act of skimming, card details can be passed on, in order to create cloned card, which can then be used on the Internet or in a non-Chip and Pin country. In the case where the PIN has also been recorded, this cloned card can then be used throughout the world, regardless of implementation of chip-and-pin.

Cases of modified PIN entry hardware have been recorded within the UK, allowing automated collection of card and PIN information.

Last updated on 17 January 2009, at 12:26.