Simple tip could save your card - and your money - from skimmers



ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. -- A Kentucky woman used a simple tip she learned to discover a card skimmer at her bank's ATM.

“I check every ATM, every gas station -- anywhere there is going to be a card reader, I check,” Amanda Jones told WAVE.

Usually nothing happens and she proceeds with the transaction. But that all changed last week.

“I pulled on the card reader, and it came off!" she said.

Jones said the reader looked almost identical to the ATM. She called police who verified that it was indeed a skimmer.

Police also told her that it had a camera inside that would record your PIN as well -- giving skimmers everything they need to steal directly from your account.

Bank officials have another tip to help keep your money safe.

“Cover with your hand or your body, always above, the cameras are always above, because they’re always going to be focused on your key pad,” Marilyn Ford, president of First Citizen Bank, told WAVE.

Ford said bank employees check regularly for skimming devices.

Jones was surprised that more people didn't know about the simple trick and hopes her story will encourage others to do all they can to protect themselves.