FICO Blog published an article earlier this year about the surge of card skimming within recent years. FICO data reports have shown that debit card compromises, resulting from skimming activity, nearly doubled last year. As fraudsters become more sophisticated, it’s important to take precautions to help mitigate impact of a compromise.
Here are some precautions you can take to protect yourself:
Pay close attention to PIN pads & payment terminals: Anything that catches your attention when using a credit or debit card, like mushy keys on the keypad, a tap reader that isn’t working, or a broken seal on a gas pump card reader should be a red flag.
Utilize tap-to-pay technology: With this payment method, commonly known as “contactless payment”, tokenization encrypts the card details to prevent criminals from capturing sensitive card information.
If tap-to-pay isn’t available, utilize chip and PIN: While these transactions are more secure than swiping, consumers are still advised to cover the PIN pad while entering their number to prevent a fraudulently installed spy camera from capturing their information.
Avoid swiping a magnetic stripe if possible: This is the least secure payment method, as it exposes all the card information. A compromised payment terminal will often only allow swiping. If you experience problems using tap-to-pay or chip and PIN methods, that could be a red flag.
Stay Proactive with Account Monitoring
Setting up account alerts in online and mobile banking can help you identify unauthorized activities as soon as they happen. You can choose to be alerted when a check clears, a debit transaction occurs, and more. To set up account alerts, navigate to “Tools and Alerts” in online banking or the mobile app and toggle on which alerts you’d like to receive.
Fraud Protection + Identity Theft Information
Signal is committed to protecting your financial well-being. To see how we’re working to protect our members and keep them informed, visit our Fraud Protection and Identity Theft page.
How to Report Fraud
If you suspect potentially fraudulent activity taking place in your Signal account, contact us immediately via phone at (301) 933-9100 or email at memberservice@signalfinancialfcu.org. Additionally, we recommend reporting incidents to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help combat deceptive practices. Visit ftc.gov for more information.
Your security is our priority. Signal Financial will never request personal information over the phone. If you receive such a call, hang up and report it.
Read FICO Blog’s full article at https://www.fico.com/blogs/debit-card-compromises-nearly-doubled-2023-fico-data
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