Imagine going about your day. You visit an ATM to retrieve some cash, fill your car with gas, and do some other chores. A few days later, you receive a call from someone claiming to be from your bank regarding a purchase for multiple Apple products, including an Apple MacBook Pro 14 — purchases you never made. The plot twist is that the call actually was from your bank; you’ve become the victim of a card skimmer. This insidious scam can strike just about anywhere you find ATMs and point-of-sale terminals, but gas pumps are a particularly popular target. Although you will likely never find a card skimmer at a Costco gas pump. Turns out membership has more perks than you realize.
The secret to Costco’s success in avoiding card skimmers is really quite simple: The company employs fuel attendants who provide around-the-clock service and are never far from their pumps. Not only do these people help customers, but they also check the machines daily. As a result, these attendants have eyes on the pumps almost constantly, and like many gas stations, Costco installs CCTV cameras for additional security.
These measures don’t leave much of an opening for scammers to install card skimming equipment — you can’t exactly use a skimmer to steal credit card information if someone catches you installing it. And even if a scammer sneaks past the attendants and cameras, many Costco stations employ tamper-proof seals on their pumps that make it almost impossible to install a skimmer. However, these security measures aren’t foolproof. According to Protergo Cybersecurity, someone managed to install a card skimmer onto a Costco gas pump and made off with the information of untold numbers of customers.
How card skimmers work
Skimmers are a one-two punch that scan your card’s magnetic strip and log the information you punch into a machine with the keypad, much like how a keylogger virus records your keystrokes on a computer. Then the skimmer sends the information to its owner, giving them all the data they need to pretend they are you and use your credit or debit cards, if not your bank account. According to the FBI’s calculations, skimmers cause over $1 billion in damages every year.
The most insidious aspect of skimmers is that they are often difficult, if not impossible, to spot. Skimmer scammers install scanners inside or over card readers, and they either place pinhole cameras in view of keypads or secure overlays on top of them. Sometimes skimmer devices are installed internally. Unless you’re really lucky — or a Costco member — most people never know a terminal contains a skimmer until it’s too late.
When Costco staff found a skimmer device during a “routine inspection of its PIN pads,” the company let all affected customers know (which is actually out of the ordinary for most companies, according to Protergo). Victims were offered a year’s worth of free credit monitoring, ID theft recovery services, and a $1 million insurance reimbursement policy. And you thought a recent increase in cashback perks was a convincing argument to use Costco’s pumps more often.
You can still avoid card skimmers without filling up at Costco
According to the FBI, you can avoid becoming a skimmer scam victim by following a few simple steps whenever you pump gas outside of a Costco station. First, always pick a pump as close to the store and/or attendant as possible since those are the ones the attendant has their eyes on the most — scammers are less likely to target devices that are constantly monitored. Also, if you have the option, pay inside since you can’t compromise a cash register with a skimmer. If a terminal or ATM looks damaged or has loose parts, don’t use it. Also, the FBI recommends using tap-to-pay technology since those are harder to hack.
If you are scared an ATM has been compromised, there are some telltale signs and strategies you can employ to avoid skimmers. Again, you should be on the lookout for damaged machines and loose parts, but also pay close attention to the keypad. Are there unusual colors or shapes? If you tug at the edges, do they come off? If so, you have probably uncovered an overlay. And even if you don’t find an overlay, it’s a good idea to channel your test taking skills from grade school and obscure the keypad when you punch in your PIN number. That way, cameras can’t catch what you enter.
The final (or first) step you should always take to avoid card skimmers is something Protergo Cybersecurity calls “the wiggle-jiggle method.” When in doubt, give the card reader a wiggle. If it feels loose, you’ve got yourself a card skimmer. With this information, you can potentially avoid becoming a victim of a skimmer.
