Some could be cloning your credit card

Posted by Blanca September 7, 2009

September will see the return to school or university, stocking up of the house again after the holidays… and many other activities with a common denominator: we will all be using our credit cards more than ever.

Skimming credit and debit cards, also known as cloning, involves making a duplicate card without the consent of the owner. The criminals involved in this activity use a series of electronic devices in order to clone the cards and the rightful owners of these cards will not realize until they receive a bank statement or the genuine card is rejected for having exceeded the limit.

How can cards be cloned without your realizing?

This is normally done by using two card readers: one is the real one in the restaurant or store and the other is secretly used to make the copy.

The skimmer then copies the data onto the magnetic strip of a blank card, and therefore has a copy ready to use for spending your money.

 

How to avoid falling victim to skimming

1. When you have finished eating in a restaurant don’t just hand over your card, take it over to the pay counter yourself. 
2. When you pay for anything in a store or restaurant with your card, pay attention, don’t lose sight of the card and check the card reader looks like the familiar device provided by financial institutions (you will probably recognize the colors, the stickers on the device,…).
3. When you are withdrawing money from ATMs, check there are no strange devices installed where you insert your card. If you suspect anything, immediately notify the personnel in the bank or area where the cash machine is installed.
4. When entering your PIN, cover the keyboard with your other hand, as skimmers have been known to hide small cameras pointing at the keyboard. 
5. Ask your bank if it operates an SMS service to notify you when purchases or withdrawals are made over a certain amount. 
6. Make use of the online services offered by banks so you can monitor your account without having to wait for the monthly statement. 
7. Make sure your Panda solution is up-to-date, we’ll take care of protecting you while you use your bank online.

As you can see, the criminal mind is quite creative, but you can avoid falling victim by paying attention and implementing the necessary security measures.

Have you ever had any experience of this kind? Would you like us to mention any other information that can help people avoid these crimes? Why not tell us about it?

Some could be cloning your credit card

Posted by Blanca September 7, 2009

September will see the return to school or university, stocking up of the house again after the holidays… and many other activities with a common denominator: we will all be using our credit cards more than ever.

Skimming credit and debit cards, also known as cloning, involves making a duplicate card without the consent of the owner. The criminals involved in this activity use a series of electronic devices in order to clone the cards and the rightful owners of these cards will not realize until they receive a bank statement or the genuine card is rejected for having exceeded the limit.

How can cards be cloned without your realizing?

This is normally done by using two card readers: one is the real one in the restaurant or store and the other is secretly used to make the copy.

The skimmer then copies the data onto the magnetic strip of a blank card, and therefore has a copy ready to use for spending your money.

 

How to avoid falling victim to skimming

1. When you have finished eating in a restaurant don’t just hand over your card, take it over to the pay counter yourself. 
2. When you pay for anything in a store or restaurant with your card, pay attention, don’t lose sight of the card and check the card reader looks like the familiar device provided by financial institutions (you will probably recognize the colors, the stickers on the device,…).
3. When you are withdrawing money from ATMs, check there are no strange devices installed where you insert your card. If you suspect anything, immediately notify the personnel in the bank or area where the cash machine is installed.
4. When entering your PIN, cover the keyboard with your other hand, as skimmers have been known to hide small cameras pointing at the keyboard. 
5. Ask your bank if it operates an SMS service to notify you when purchases or withdrawals are made over a certain amount. 
6. Make use of the online services offered by banks so you can monitor your account without having to wait for the monthly statement. 
7. Make sure your Panda solution is up-to-date, we’ll take care of protecting you while you use your bank online.

As you can see, the criminal mind is quite creative, but you can avoid falling victim by paying attention and implementing the necessary security measures.

Have you ever had any experience of this kind? Would you like us to mention any other information that can help people avoid these crimes? Why not tell us about it?

Protect yourself against Phishing

Posted by Blanca, 07 August, 2009

Internet is an exceptional tool, it makes several tasks easier. However, being used for business and communication increases the possibilities of fraud.

Occasionally, online fraud scams are reported. To carry out online scams, hackers send an email passing themselves off as a bank. The email is used as bait, and readers are told their accounts must be checked, their information must be updated or that they must restore their password or PIN.  On accessing the message, they are redirected to a fake website, and on entering their details the information is sent to hackers, who from then on have access to the accounts.

This type of crime is called Phishing. If hackers obtains the victim’s password they will have access to the victim’s account and can wipe it out. Worse still, they can steal the victim’s identity.

These e-mails appear to come from a legitimate company, usually a financial institution or credit card issuer (though many like to use eBay and PayPal), urging you to take immediate action so your account is not deactiviated.

To increase the chance that they can trick you, they’ll even use the company’s logo, colors, and standard disclosure text. The e-mail will usually contain a link that takes you to a fake site made to look like the company’s legitimate web site.

Obvious clues that an e-mail is a phishing scam include:

• Misspellings and poor grammar. 
• Web site does not have “https://” in the address bar at the top. Legitimate companies employ secure socket layers (SSL) technology to encrypt your personal data. 
• Urgent tone or call to action. Phishing e-mails will allude to dire consequences like, “your account will be deactivated if you do not respond within 24 hours…” in the text. 
• Requests for personal information like social security number, account numbers, credit card information.

Email phishing is the most common form of phishing used by hackers nowadays. However, they also carry out phone phishing by calling people at home or at work. We recommend you to be very careful on answering questions, especially when talking to people who claim to work in the bank you have your savings in.

Remember that no responsible bank or financial institution requests personal and/or sensitive customer data via email or phone.

How to prevent becoming a victim of Phishing.

1. Be wary of unsolicited phone calls, visits or emails requesting personal or confidential information. 
2. Do not send personal or financial information via the Internet, unless you know the recipient.
3. Download program applications and updates directly from the provider’s website.
4. Pay attention to the website’s address. Some malicious websites are identical to the legitimate one, but use different addresses (i.e. www.paypal.Inc.com), when the original address is www.paypal.com.
5. Install your Panda Security antivirus, firewall, browser and e-mail filters and keep them up-to-date to reduce phishing traffic and spam.
6. Frequently check your accounts to make sure there are no inexplicable transactions. 
7. If you think an account or credit card has been compromised, immediately contact your bank and close the corresponding account.

Remember that one of the ways of fighting against fraud is to not becoming a victim; if, as an Internet user you learn to prevent falling victim to hackers, they will have to find benefits elsewhere.

How about you? Have you ever known anybody who has experienced Phishing attacks? Any other useful tips to prevent it? We are all ears!!