Card Skimmers Are Popping Up In Bucks County: Here's How To Spot Them

There have been numerous reports of card skimmers being placed on ATMs and card reading devices throughout Bucks County, leaving residents wondering what they should be looking for to protect themselves when paying electronically or withdrawing cash.

But first, let's go over the basics: what exactly is a card skimmer?

It's a small device that affixes to a card reader, allowing a thief to illegally collect the credit and debit card information of unsuspecting customers. Most commonly, card skimmers are put on ATMs, gas station pumps or self-checkout machines.

The typical ATM skimmer is smaller than a deck of cards and fits over an existing card reader, says PC Mag.

In Bucks County, skimming devices have recently been located on Firstrust Bank ATMs in Doylestown, Northampton and Upper Southampton. Police in Solebury say a skimming device was recently located on a self-checkout machine at the New Hope Giant supermarket on Rt. 202.

But what should you look out for so that you can avoid having your financial information stolen from a skimmer?

If you see obvious signs of tampering, or the machine looks suspicious or different than normal, don't use it, experts say.

"One giveaway that you might be at risk is if a terminal looks especially wide — since any overlay skimmer piece will inevitably take up extra space," says Mic.com in an article shared by Solebury Township Police via Facebook.

If the keypad backlight is off, that's another warning sign that a skimming device could be installed, the Mic.com article says.

Also, if the chip reader is deeper than normal, beware.

A rule of thumb (no pun intended): if your card goes so deep into a chip reader that you can't keep a thumb on it, that's a sign there could be a skimmer installed, Mic.com reports.

Here are some images of what a card skimmer looks like on an ATM.

Here is some information on how to avoid skimmers at a gas pump:

PHOTO: Morguefile