What you need to know about the Credit Card Cloning Machine

As more people use cards to make payments all over the world, scammers continue to come up with new ways to try to steal customer credentials as well as their money. 

The reality nowadays is that anywhere that you pay by card can be a risk. You need to make sure that you stay aware of how to protect yourself from various credit card scams.

One of the latest scams involves the use of a credit card cloning machine.

In the United Kingdom, where there are 86.5 million contactless card currently being used, there is a new credit card cloning machine designed as the first contactless bank card hacker.

Cards can be cloned by using a skimming process. The device may be concealed in the pocket of the person you’re paying or attached to the payment machine.

A scammer told the Daily Star:

“We designed and developed it. It can read any bank card from 8cm away and will read 1024 bytes per second, which is equivalent to 15 bank cards per second.”

“All you have to do is be in close proximity to groups of people with contactless cards – that’s around half of all debit card holders – and you’re in.”

How this credit card cloning machine works is by having the information from the magnetic strip on your card being copied and the PIN is observed and recorded as it is entered for payment.

How you can avoid becoming a victim of the credit card cloning machine:

Whenever you are paying with your credit card, make sure that you don’t let your card out of sight. You also need to ensure that the person you’re paying has nothing else in their hands.

Lately, criminals may not even need to physically clone the card. When shopping online, ensure that you use only secure, trusted websites and that you keep your computer’s security software updated.