Card Copying (Skimming)

This type of credit card fraud involves making a clone or counterfeit version of a card; your card is copied or altered without your or your credit card provider's permission. The simplest form of this is 'skimming'. This involves copying the data held in the magnetic strip on the back of your card without your knowledge. This data can then be used to make purchases where the card itself is not present (see also 'Card Not Present' Fraud). A more sophisticated form of this crime uses this data to make a clone of your card. A 'skimmed card' (the fraudulent copy of your card) is a hard crime to detect, since you may not be aware of fraudulent payments until your next statement arrives. This is due to the fact that you still have your card and will be able to use it as normal: you will simply get a nasty surprise when your monthly statement arrives detailing purchases that the criminal has made.

Skimming can occur both at the point-of-sale (especially in restaurants, bars and petrol stations) as well as at cash machines. An underhand employee would use your card with an unauthorised device that records the data contained on the magnetic strip. Alternatively, the skimming device might be fitted around the card entry slot of a cash machine, so that your card's data is copied without your knowledge when it is inserted into the machine. A tiny camera is placed above the PIN pad, so that your PIN is also recorded for use in a fraudulent transaction. Skimmed data is often collected from hundreds of cards at one time and sold on to criminal organisations who then manufacture the cloned cards.