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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Automated teller machines are convenient, ubiquitous and make life easier for anyone who needs access to cash. But wherever you find cash, you’ll find scammers trying to get it away from you. ATM fraud, especially “skimming,” the industry term for rigging ATMs with surreptitious electronics to read your card’s information when you swipe it, is on the rise. Some say thieves are getting away with two billion dollars a year, and that cost gets passed along to consumers. How can your audience avoid getting scammed?
As US News Money reports, one of the easiest ways is to use ATMs that are in or attached to banks. Security is much better on bank-owned machines than it is for ATMs in convenience stores or other remote locations where crooks can easily hide card reading gear. Security experts say if something doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t: Look to see if the card reader is askew, if keys on the machine have a different color or if other parts of the machine look out of place. And cover your hand when entering your pin to prevent people from seeing the numbers you enter. And if you suspect something isn’t right, talk to your bank, the sooner the better, to get most of your money back if it is stolen.
To help your viewers/readers/listeners learn more about ATMs and security, talk with a local bank in your area, as well as your local police department. They can tell you about recent reports of ATM fraud, and offer more suggestions to keep your money safe. Your state’s attorney general’s office may have statistics on fraud reports to add perspective about how the problem is affecting your community.
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For advertising/promo call Mike McCurdy at 877-634-9180 or [email protected]