I am always very conscious of where my bag is on my hip, and I am sure that many other people are too. But these crooks have scanning devices, so even if they just walk by us, they can scan the card details and be off with everything that they need in order to drain the account lol. I will have to look into the aluminium wallet
@DreekLass, I know, right? I think the best thing to do at this point is to just buy that aluminum wallet and use it everytime you go outside so that at least your info is safe from thieves. I think here in my country that kind of crime is not so rampant since I don't hear it in the news.
I've read about this and you can take some steps in preventing it to some degree. I know that I've bought myself and some friends a RFID blocking wallet/purse. If buying something like that is enough to prevent people from stealing my info. Then I can say that the money is worth to be spent in order to prevent major loss.
This so called skimming is not confined to credit cards anymore. Just before Christmas, there were 2 cases in the news. One was a Greek who was arrested in the mall using fake ATM cards to withdraw from other accounts that most probably were skimmed. So it is not only the credit cards that we should be careful of being skimmed but also ATM cards. A syndicate is behind all that, according to the police.
I have recently been considering switching to a cash system for going out to eat, groceries, and gas, in order to avoid theft of my credit card information. By using cash, you can totally avoid the possibility of an employee at the establishment stealing your credit card info. When I do use a credit card to purchase something, I use one that is not linked to my bank account that has a smaller limit, so that if the information was stolen, at least it would not have a devastating impact on my finances. The possibility of credit card information theft is also present when making online purchases. In order to prevent online credit card info theft, it is important to purchase items only from reputable sellers or stores. Also, by using PayPal it limits the possibility of someone having your credit card info from an online purchase.
I don't usually use my card, if the need arises, I use cash only. I cannot even remember the last time I used my card and I think that's a good thing. So if you can, use cash basis transactions, it's safer and more foolproof. On the other hand, if you cannot avoid card transactions, be vigilant. Always be cautious when using your card and always try to see if the personnel handling your card has some odd behaviour. It's always better to be the overly cautious person than the person who was fooled because he was not careful enough.
