Card Skimming Trends for 2011

Mag Stripes, POS Are Top Vulnerabilities to Fraud

By Tracy Kitten

Payments card fraud is not expected to slow down anytime soon, especially from skimming attacks. Industry experts say card skimming at ATMs and points of sale is quickly reaching a tipping point in the United States, where lingering magnetic-stripe technology is making U.S. cardholders easy targets.

At the ATM, card skimming remains the No. 1 fraud threat. But as distinguished Gartner analyst Avivah Litan points out, skimming at point of sale devices is becoming increasingly troublesome. "POS fraud is rising, and it's likely because of skimming," Litan says.

Top Threats

Today's two most common skimming attacks occur at the POS, either by employees who use hand-held skimmers or fraudsters who swap legitimate POS devices for devices that have been manipulated to skim and transmit card data. That so-called swap attack is what led to the card compromise at Hancock Fabrics, reported earlier in 2010.

Pay-at-the-pump terminals and ATMs also rank high in the skimming chain because they are unattended. As Litan says, "They are usually a fraudsters' easiest target." Pay-at-the-pump has proven vulnerable because of easy accessibility. Default codes used to open gas pump enclosures have been exploited by criminals posing as technicians, for instance. Once inside, the criminal can install a skimming device and connect it directly to the terminal's key pad and card reader. It's undetectable from the outside, giving the device ample opportunity to collect card data in real-time, as the card is swiped and PIN entered.

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