Credit Card Fraud Increases In California

Law enforcement officers say there’s a rise in high-tech crime this year throughout southern California. Criminals are using illegal electronic devices to steal credit and debit card users’ personal information. Armed with this illegal information, the crooks are able to extract money from credit and debit card customers’ accounts.

Jim Graham, working for the police department of Thousand Oaks, CA, stated earlier today that “there’s been a big jump in this [type of crime] from Bakersfield all the way down the coast of Southern California.”

It has been difficult for police departments to give precise numbers, as usually the victims tell their banks about these crimes, rather than the police.

Recent innovations in criminal technology have made this spate of crimes possible. These days, one of the easiest ways to break into someone’s credit or debit card account is through the use of a tool known as a “skimmer.” This machine can be attached to magnetic card reader, such as those found on ATMs. Once attached, the skimmer will gather the information stored in the magnetic strips of ATM users’ debit and credit cards, as the users pass these cards through the reader on the ATM.

Eventually, criminals collect the skimmers and use the data that the devices have gathered to produce their own duplicate credit and debit cards.  After having collected the users’ PIN numbers (perhaps through a hidden camera installed in the vicinity of the ATM), the criminals have enough information to commit credit and debit card fraud.

The innovation? Skimmers used to be much bigger. Recently, criminals have figured out how to make these machines small and easily concealable. They can be attached to unguarded ATMs without being detected for weeks, by which point it is too late.

According to recent statements from Southern California law enforcement, these types of crimes are very difficult to solve. The surveillance cameras mounted above many ATMs rarely provide clear images of the suspects. “We’re solving maybe 5 out of 100 [of these crimes,” reported Det. Rick Kline of the Oxnard, CA police department.

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