Avoid bank card skimming

OK, I have scraped the magstrip off my chipped Standard Bank credit card - I believe that their card security is the worst of all the local banks, and they also don't have the facility to have sms's sent when transactions take place.

The card still works fine, but it cannot be cloned and cannot be used in an ATM (but this is only because SA banks have been too slack to implement chip security in local ATMs). If the card does not work because some vendor does not have a chip machine, I have a backup card.

But all the merchants that I dealt with in the last month had chip machines.

This is my most dangerous card because of a high limit, and because of SBSA's poor security.

I don't use it in ATMs.
 
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Jola said:
I have stopped using credit cards at toll gates, I just pay cash now - a bit of a hassle but I would rather be safe!
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Yeah me too.. obviously lol. The thing is you can hardly see into those booths so if your card leaves your sight for a split second they could clone it. Now whos going to get out of their car and go into that ous booth and check if he has a skimmer just because the card left your vision briefly.
 
Falcon 6 said:
Debit Cards are most frequently skimmed these days. Cards that have Magstripes, the black strip on the back are being targeted for skimming. Whilst CHIP Cards are more secure , the industry is forced to create cards with CHIPS and Magstripes as not all retail merchants or ATM's can read a CHIP currently. Once all devices are capable of reading a CHIP , we remain exposed, but this may be short lived , fraudsters may find ways of 'cracking the CHIP' , they haven't as yet. Best advise, keep your card close, be vigilant , rather migrate all your accounts onto a CHIP card , if you have one with your Bank.
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You must work for a Bank or an associated industry.

If Chip & Pin is so secure, why did the banks in the UK try to stop a Thesis from being published on the Internet?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/dec/30/bankers-thesis-bank-card-security

When I read the thesis I was glad that I still have 2 years to go with my old stripe card.
 
Jola said:
OK, I have scraped the magstrip off my chipped Standard Bank credit card - I believe that their card security is the worst of all the local banks, and they also don't have the facility to have sms's sent when transactions take place.

The card still works fine, but it cannot be cloned and cannot be used in an ATM (but this is only because SA banks have been too slack to implement chip security in local ATMs). If the card does not work because some vendor does not have a chip machine, I have a backup
card.

But all the merchants that I dealt with in the last month had chip machines.

This is my most dangerous card because of a high limit, and because of SBSA's poor security.

I don't use it in ATMs.
Click to expand...

Chip & Pin is not necessarily secure. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10371659
 
Billy said:
You must work for a Bank or an associated industry.

If Chip & Pin is so secure, why did the banks in the UK try to stop a Thesis from being published on the Internet?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/dec/30/bankers-thesis-bank-card-security

When I read the thesis I was glad that I still have 2 years to go with my old stripe card.
Click to expand...

+1 .. although I am holding on to the strip card mainly due to the changing of the rules from the banks about who is responsible, due to their false belief(like so many others on this forum) that chip n pin is totally secure. My main gripe it that you are forced to enter your pin in plain sight of everyone in the store(with cameras etc.) and yet told that your pin must be kept safe/not shared or you will be liable.
 
Billy said:
Chip & Pin is not necessarily secure. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10371659
Click to expand...

Interesting! Of course they don't provide much detail as to exactly how the cards were cloned.

But that particular scam would only work in SA if the magnetic strip was also compromised, as the ATM's here read the magnetic strip, and not the chip.

So you couldn't do that with my credit card - although you could buy stuff with the cloned chip card, assuming that they managed to clone the chip.
 
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