FBI Warns: Watch Out For Skimming Devices This Holiday Season

With recent skimming device incidents at the King of Prussia and Willow Grove Malls, shoppers take precautions to be extra careful this holiday season.

Skimmers are small devices attached to credit and debit card readers or ATMs which secretly read financial information and record it for criminals to use.

Shoppers at Primark in both King of Prussia and Willow Grove found out the hard way in recent months, as it was discovered that the devices had been placed on multiple cash registers in the stores.

According to the FBI, skimming devices are usually installed for short periods of time, often just a few hours. They have traditionally been installed on ATM's, but their use on point of sale registers is increasing.

"Some of the initial devices we would find on ATMs were pretty primitive," Special Agent Brian Herrick, who heads the FBI's Philadelphia cyber crime division, told PhillyVoice. "Really, if you just took a close look at the ATM, you could probably see the paint color didn't match and a different kind of material was used in the skimmer versus what was on the machine. Now, they're getting so good, they're really hard to distinguish."

>>Skimming Device Found at King of Prussia Mall

If the FBI has trouble identifying skimming devices, shoppers in the midst of the holiday bustle probably don't stand a very good chance. But still, there are ways to minimize risks.

Shoppers should inspect point of sale machines for anything that looks suspicious. If you are inputting your pin number, make sure you cover the keypad, as hidden cameras can be used to steal your information. Furthermore, anyone who witnesses an individual tampering with an ATM or point of sale machine should contact authorities immediately. Finally, shoppers should always double-check their accounts to find and report any suspicious activity as soon as possible.

Patch file photo.