Ballina woman a victim of fraud; Police warn on skimming
Following a reported Credit Card Fraud from a 68-year-old Ballina woman’s Bank account on Tuesday and Wednesday, where funds were totally cleared from her Australian account, by alleged offenders in London, England, Police put out the following warning:
Skimming is the unauthorised copying of information stored on the magnetic strip of a credit card. This stolen information is used to make a ‘cloned’ credit card or cards, which can then be used for fraudulent transactions in retail outlets or on the internet. The stolen details can also be used for identity theft.
Police warn that criminals use a small device, about the size of a pager or mobile phone, to capture the information from the card’s magnetic strip.
Insp Steve Clarke said: “That information is saved onto a memory chip and used to create an illegal copy of the card either at a retail outlet or sometime attached to Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs).
“Treat your card like cash; never let it out of your sight.”
Under no circumstances provide anyone with your credit card personal identification number (PIN)
When using a credit card, customers should always be careful to shield their PIN number when using an ATM, use a free hand to cover the keypad while you enter your PIN.
Police encourage anyone with information relating to card skimming activities to report it to Police on Crime Stoppers on 1800-333-000.
