$3M credit card fraud in 2016

“A skimmer, is a malicious card reader that steals your financial data from the magnetic strip, they come in many forms. The dollar value for the same period in 2015 was $2.5 million TT, this reflects a 33 percent increase in the dollar value, and in the number of reports, it reflects 137 percent increase from 2015 to 2016.” He emphasised that, “In 2015 from January to September there were 157 reports at the Fraud office related to card skimming. In 2016 for the same period, January to September, it moved from 157 to 373.” Dookhie said 46 charges relating to credit card fraud have been made in TT. Some of the persons charged are from the United Kingdom, Spain, Dominican Republic and recently, police have charged two deportees from the United States. Dookhie made these revelations yesterday at the weekly police press briefing at Police Administration Building in Port-of- Spain.

“While there are several different methods of card skimming, there are about two that is trending,” Dookhie said. In a presentation, Dookhie displayed how the skimmer works on an actual ATM machine. Holding the device in his hand, he said, “it is inserted into the slot of the ATM machine where the customers insert their card and unknown to the customer when the device is inserted and the customer uses the ATM machine...

this device small as it is, electronically captures the financial data from the customer card.” He said, “The second method that is trending is the technology the fraudster use the Radio Frequency Identification Reader, commonly called RFID.” Dookhie said, “This (the device) goes into the card reader and it assists in the process and the card reader goes into a case and what the fraudster does, he would engage the unsuspecting victim, while pretending to ask for directions.

The fraudster will skim the victim’s card. This process takes place although the victim’s card is in their bag or a wallet in their pocket.” He said it is the most recent skimming method used by criminal syndicates, who are very “innovated” and they are very “technology elite.” “The process using the technology of RFID, the fraudster do not have to touch the victim, and the victim card is scanned in a few seconds.

I was informed that the RFID can steel the data from the magnetic strip of bank cards from three metres away,” he said.