As cash payments become rarer, card payments are more common, especially during peak periods such as summer holidays. And using a debit or credit card is not without risks, both at home and abroad.
In a message posted on social networks, the Guardia Civil – Spain’s national police agency – reminds and sends a warning to citizens about the possibility of becoming victims of cybercriminals, especially when they are on vacation and are less careful about how to who spends his money.
At the same time, he recommends a lot of vigilance in the handling of cards, considering that the safest way is not to give the card out of your hand, even to sellers, waiters, etc.
“When you pay with your card, don’t lose sight of it”warns the Guardia Civil, which also offers a quick trick to prevent card cloning in just a few seconds. “Request a mobile reader for payments”, is the simplest solution to avoid card cloning.
The Guardia Civil warns of the speed with which a card can be cloned and recommends reporting any attempted fraud, the fraudulent practice being known as skimming.
Skimming is a scam that involves stealing credit or debit card data. Skimming involves the physical copying of a bank card by means of camouflaged devices installed on ATMs or payment terminals.
Criminals use modified devices to obtain information from the card’s magnetic stripe and chip in order to clone it. With this data, they therefore create fake cards or carry out fraudulent transactions, including purchases, withdrawals and the contracting of services.
In addition to the Guardia Civil recommendation, the National Police suggests the population to carefully inspect the ATM or payment device before inserting the card: “Make sure there is nothing suspicious on the keyboard or in the card slot. One in five crimes is committed online.”
The trick to avoid card cloning Video Capture Collage
And when it comes to cloning, Romanians are among the most skilled criminals in this regard, managing to scare the entire world over the years. In March, for example, the international press mentioned about the “Romanian mafia” in California. By cloning the cards, the Romanians caused damages of hundreds of millions of dollars in the USA.
Last year, sources from the Romanian Police also revealed the fact that hackers from the Mioritic lands invented a “revolutionary” device for cloning bank cards, because of which no ATM in the world would be safe.
