Beware of Debit Card Fraud and Traps

Credit cards have been overtaken by debit cards as the choice instrument of payment of Americans for in-store payments. So it is not surprising that the debit card has become the target of theives and scamsters. In the recent past there have been several instances of debit card frauds in which the thieves had stolen debit card numbers and were using cloned debit cards in stores across the country.

In this context you must know the various aspects of debit card fraud as well as the various aspects of using bank debit cards. Awareness about them will help you to avoid being scammed or trapped.

In one instance a gentleman handed his debit card to the waiter in a restaurant for payment. Unknown to him someone swiped the card through a handheld device called 'skimmer' which enabled copying of the account information and security code. The thieves then cloned the gentleman's bank debit card and used it.

Not surprisingly the gentleman found his account cleaned out whereas he had spent only $60 at the restaurant. There have been many such instances in the past. Thus it is not safe to hand over your debit card to anyone. You should use a credit card in such instances as you have some time in your hand before the payment is made and you can report any fraud

In many instances the theives have hacked or otherwise gained access to the computer databases of retail stores and have cloned and used hundreds of debit cards belonging to the store's customers. In early 2007 there was a major debit card security breach in which many customer's of a national chain restaurant located in Sioux City, Iowa had their debit cards cloned and used in various stores in California and New Mexico and many debit card holders were affected.

There have been many such instances where debit card information has been stolen and misused over a period of several months before the thefts came to light. By that time the original card holders have lost millions of dollars.