Credit card skimming and shimming are modern-day forms of theft that impact businesses and their customers
Gone are the days when stealing a company’s credit card depended on a nimble-fingered thief sliding an employee’s wallet out of their pocket. Credit card skimming and shimming are modern-day forms of theft scammers use to steal your card details. Fraud associated with skimming costs businesses and their customers more than $1 billion every year.Disclosure 1
Video: Fraud prevention 101: Card skimming
Case study: First-of-its-kind law enforcement agency to combat card skimming prevents $100 million in losses.
In 2022, Texas created a law enforcement department to prevent credit card skimming. In its first 15 months, the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center drew national attention by preventing, intercepting, or recovering nearly $100 million. They also discovered nearly 400 skimming devices on fuel pumps throughout the state.Disclosure 2
Best practices and prevention
Card skimming and shimming devices can be installed quickly and are often hard to detect. Fortunately, there are precautions you can take to protect your corporate card details. Here are a few strategies to help you and your team avoid card skimming and shimming.
Use contactless payments whenever possible.
Train employees to use contactless payment options (such as “tap to pay”) on POS terminals. In addition, smartphone apps like Google Wallet and Apple Pay can save your corporate card details but can’t be skimmed or shimmed.
Choose the most well-monitored terminals.
Shimming and skimming credit cards only works when fraudsters can access and tamper with a card terminal. You can reduce the likelihood of using an affected terminal by sticking to highly trafficked, well-lit areas. Instruct corporate cardholders to seek indoor ATMs and gas pumps with security cameras nearby.
Inspect the device before inserting your card.
Knowing how to spot card skimmers isn’t always easy, as they often look like real card readers at first glance. Upon closer inspection, however, you may see signs. Put your staff on alert for terminals that look scratched from possible tampering, wiggle when touched, or stick out beyond the surface of the ATM or gas pump.
Stay alert and sound the alarm.
Having your accounts team carefully monitor bank statements for fraudulent transactions might not stop these attacks in the moment—but it can help lead to speedier removal of these devices and recovery of funds.
Talk to Truist.
Your relationship manager can help you set up and monitor your company’s credit cards. Truist’s commercial credit cards come with built-in fraud controls, including authorization and limit management, quick alerts, fraud monitoring, and detailed reporting.
FAQ on card skimming and shimming