Morten was skimmed, so avoid going in the same trap – Dagbladet.no

Your side – I should withdraw. At first I tried $ 100, but it did not. So I tried $ 50, then 20, without either went. Then I realized that something was wrong.

It tells DinSide motor journalist Morten Moum, who earlier this year was on tour in Panama in Central America.

Back at the hotel, he confirmed the suspicion: The card had been emptied of 21,000 kroner. And Moum had by all appearances has become one of many victims of skimming.

Here’s what you need to know to avoid ending up in the same situation.

What is skimming?

Skimming means copying a credit card illegally. To do this, you must first swindlers steal card information, directly from the motherboard itself. This makes swindlers by installing equipment at ATMs or payment terminals, which often can both read the card’s magnetic strip and intercept PIN entering.

With this information, the criminals make a copy of the card and use it in exactly the same way that you use your own credit card. This happens both in Norway and abroad, but as we will see, the problem is far greater for Norwegians on tour.

– Skimming is reduced after it is introduced chip at all DNB their cards. In Norway, we have learned that skimming is now mainly occurs on unmanned gas stations, where magnetic strip read in the terminal, said Vice Even Westerveld DNB to DinSide.

READ ALSO: See how scammers skimmer card

How much Skim it?

According to statistics from FSA became last year the stolen 524 thousand dollars just in Norway via fake credit cards. The figures from abroad is far worse 51.7 million went from false Norwegian bank card fraudsters abroad.

– We have around 300 cases each year, where the average amount per customer is NOK 20,000, says communications director Leif-Kjartan Bjørsvik in Skandiabanken to DinSide.

Sparebank 1 mean the average per skimmingsak is around 10,000 crowns, while Nordea will out with some money.

– It may motivate more people to engage in skimming, says communications manager Unni Strømstad in Nordea to DinSide.

READ ALSO: Skimming can be detected in your bank, why should you follow with

What happens skimming victims?

It is therefore high sums that could disappear by skimming, but that does not mean that you will lose something on it.

– If it is ascertained skimming, the customer will get their money back, promises consumer economist Magne Gundersen in Sparebank 1

The same says the other banks have DinSide talked to. And any problem will be to get confirmed that it is about pure skimming, and not that, for example, has “acted negligently.”

– Often we discover the equipment at the ATM, says Stromstad.

READ ALSO: Banks blame the customers by fraud, but they have been wrong all along?

How do I avoid skimming?

DinSide has asked banks about their top tips to prevent skimming. Here is a summary of the most important:

• Check how it looks around ATMs and other vending machines, payment terminals, parking meters and petrol pumps. Skimming devices is often set outside original equipment, and can for a trained eye detected at the time.

• Hide the keys when you enter your PIN code , and be wary if someone will help you or get aggressive when you use your card. Scammers will namely like to have your PIN. Sometimes captured this by the technical equipment, other times by cameras or long eyes.

• Do not give your card to someone , and never let it out of sight. Verify that amounts votes before signing or entering the code and check receipts.

• Learn your PIN by heart. And whatever you do: Do ​​not store the code anywhere. Although it is never so well hidden it can create trouble when the worst happens.

• Insert region lock on your card. You can, for example, blocking it from being used in the US or Asia, where much of the abuse going on. If you travel to these regions can catch quits and then opens again.

• Bring two cards , and store them separately. Being one abused and must be blocked, you have another use in the meantime.

• Withdraw money to shop rather than at ATMs. Although skimming in principle can happen everywhere, recommends Skandiabanken this. And remember that the chip is more secure than magnetic strip.

• F OLG with the movements on the card. The easiest way in internet banking. Looking consumption you do not recognize and you suspect comes from fraud, you should quickly tell your bank.

ALSO READ: Here’s why you should hide your PIN at the ATM

How did it go with Morten?

Moum used credit cards and so lost nothing directly from the skimming. And all indications are that Mastercard debt is never collected.

This case has taken some time: Skimming was detected on 4 April, but he had enough evidence to submit the complaint first 27. May . And he has not yet received a final decision on it.

One of the reasons was that the transactions did not come up in the systems until many weeks after the abuse; last movement was registered as late as May 20. Another reason is all the documentary requirements, which the police and statements of transactions.

– It has been a long process, sugar Moum.

– And many high phone bills.

READ ALSO: Stored PIN disguised as a phone? Forget replacement!

The case was originally published at DinSide Read here.