Project 365

There was a very interesting presentation today at the mosque about card fraud, known as “skimming”. Skimming is the type of card fraud which copies magnetic stripe cards to produce duplicates. Honestly, I’ve never known anything regarding this type of scam! I was quite shocked that this could happen. I was even surprised to know that the Netherlands is one of the European countries most targeted by skimmers, mainly from Eastern Europe. There have been over 900 reports of skimming in this country according to this website. It’s indeed scary!

I’ve never paid attention to this honestly. I mean, every time I take money from ATM or buy my train tickets from the ticket machine, I never be suspicious of anything. Now that I know, I should have been more careful!

So, how can we avoid to be the victim of skimming?

• Always use an ATM inside a bank. Never use stand-alone ATM machines. If you have to do it, then make sure you familiarize yourself with the machine. Does the card slot look different, perhaps?
• When entering your PIN number on the ATM machine, make sure you cover it with your other hand. That way, no one (camera, stalker, or people behind you) would be able to see the numbers you’re entering.
• Avoid using debit or credit cards to make transactions in the restaurants. You never know what the waiter would do with your card, right?? (As shown in this video)
• Don’t take your card off your wallet when waiting in a queue for the ATM machine (lesson learned from the video above)

Hope it’s useful 🙂