Bank card skimming

It happens.All it takes is a swipe of the card then hit debit or credit.Its fortunate you caught it right away,he could have maxed your card out in no time.

 

Its wise to call every now and again to see if you still have the same current ballance.I don't trust credit card companies especially now after that wells fargo scandle charging millions of customers for an account they don't even have.Matter of fact I told wells fargo off last Friday.I owe alot of money and I agreed to pay 80.00 a month and haven't paid them for over a yr due to no money.Now I have money but on a fixed income,the guy I spoke with accepted how much I can pay after talking management that was a month ago.Well wells fargo called last friday and tried talking me into paying more otherwise in 11 months some mumbo jumbo she was blabbering about.I told her that's a yr from now right now I'm focused on today.Then she wanted to set me up for automatic payments,i told her as nice as I know how absolutely not I do not do auto pay plus I don't trust wells fargo anymore.Talk about her being very apologetic.Then I said I made a promise payment and date so don't bother me again.She shut up after that.I'm sending in my payments every month.

 

So... checks are less safe than credit cards, because they contain all the information necessary to draft your account. That's where someone asks your bank to send them money from your bank account, claiming that you authorized it, and they do, without checking with you, first.

Once the money is sent, it's gone, and - unlike a credit card - you have no protection, or limited liability. And yes, you agreed to let the bank do this, when you signed up for the account. It's in the small print, in the account disclosures, along with numerous other evils.

Skimmers are surprisingly easy to construct, install, and hide. For about $5, you can get a small computer (about the size of your palm) called a Raspberry Pi, with USB ports for WiFi and/or Bluetooth tranceivers, and a slot for an SD memory card. Software to interface with card readers and wireless devices is readily and freely available from a variety of sources, including card reader manufacturers and universities. Most fuel pumps can be opened with a single master key, which can be ordered from the fuel pump manufacturer, or lifted from the fuel desk attendant. Worst case, the hacker gets a job at the truck stop for a while, to get access to the keys, but it's much easier just to pick the lock.

Bear in mind that other people are only as interested in protecting you from losses, as they are likely to be held liable for those losses. If a bank can disclaim responsibility and put it on you, then they have no reason to care. They'll make a big noise about protecting your money, but the effort goes into protecting *their* money - not yours. The truck stop will simply shift responsibility to the thief, claiming that if they hadn't stolen your money, you would not have lost it, so sue the thief - not the truck stop - because the truck stop didn't steal your money. Of course, the thief will be in Pakistan, or broke, so you'll get nothing from them, even if you find them - and the truck stop and the bank have no reason to protect you from the thief, since they bear no liability for your losses.

I tell people that if I walked up to you on the street, and suggested that you give me your retirement fund to hold, and maybe I'll give back a little more than I was given, most people would laugh at me. But put me in a suit and tie, and stick me in a fancy office in a fancy building, and suddenly, it sounds like a good idea... Banks are corner hustlers, wearing suits and ties, with desks in fancy structures. They are no more deserving of trust than that guy at the truck stop who sells two pieces of glass, duct-taped together, and claims it's an iPad.

Put your money in your pocket, your safe, or whatever hiding place you have, and do not give it to someone else, to hold. Sooner or later, they will either steal it, themselves, or they'll give it to someone else. There is no other reason for wanting to hold it. Do you think that they don't have enough money of their own? Why do you think that they *want* to hold yours?