Cyberthieves have a new target to get at your money: ATMs.
The automated teller machine is getting a security upgrade to accept debit and credit cards with security chips, like the check-out lines, but the slow transition is an opportunity for cyberthieves.
The number of ATMs compromised by criminals jumped more than sixfold from 2014, according to a report from credit-score provider and analytics firm FICO. The number of 2015 compromises was the highest FICO ever recorded, though it didn’t release specific numbers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
FICO analysis found nonbank ATMs account for 60 percent of recent incidents, up from 39 percent in 2014.
“The U.S. market is definitely being targeted with card skimming,” Owen Wild, global marketing director for enterprise fraud and security at NCR Corp., one of the largest makers of ATMs, told the WSJ.
Skimming is a method by which thieves steal your credit card information using small devices that can store card data from the magnetic strip.
Theft from ATM skimming can be more dangerous to consumers than credit-card fraud because the debit card is tied directly to a consumer’s checking account, according to the WSJ. Banks will typically reimburse customers for losses, but the process can be complicated.
Read more at WSJ.com.
