Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: The FBI launches a national initiative to mitigate the evolving threat of skimming fraud and dismantle the transnational organized crime groups who commit it.

Skimming happens when crime groups use devices to illegally capture data from the magnetic strip on credit and debit cards used at ATMs, fuel pumps, and other terminals.

Skimming has evolved into shimming, which is a device used to steal data from the chips on credit and debit cards.

The impact is significant, causing the U.S. billions of dollars in economic losses a year, which Supervisory Special Agent Jeremiah Giron says …

Jeremiah Giron: … it falls back onto the U.S. customer because of higher interest rates and other economic impacts.

Halpern: Prevent becoming a victim of skimming and shimming.

Examine ATMs to ensure they haven’t been modified with pinhole-sized cameras and overlay devices. If something seems wrong, don’t use it.

Giron: Try to use machines that are within the bank itself—the standalone ones are more highly targeted.

Halpern: With FBI, This Week, I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau.