Crisis events such as the current COVID-19 pandemic often lead to a change in habits that captures the attention of cyber criminals. With the confinement measures imposed in many countries, online shopping has soared and along with it, credit card skimming. According to data gained from Malwarebytes, web skimming increased by 26 percent in March over the previous month.
What is credit card skimming
Credit card skimming is a type of credit card theft where crooks use a small device to steal credit card information in an otherwise legitimate credit or debit card transaction. When a credit or debit card is swiped through a skimmer, the device captures and stores all the details stored in the card’s magnetic stripe.
The stripe contains the credit card number, expiration date, and the credit card holder’s full name. Thieves use the stolen data to make fraudulent charges either online or with a counterfeit credit card. They normally have a camera to spot the credit card PIN being keyed in as well.
Online credit card skimming occurs when online sites are badly coded or maintained. Update patches for all sorts of plugins and platforms keep them secure from hackers. If the sites are not maintained then hackers can get in and steal data past and current, selling it on to people who use the data to defraud you.
Minimizing risks: a shared responsibility
As we see with other threats, there isn’t one answer to mitigate web skimming. In fact, it can be fought from many different sides starting with online merchants, the security community and shoppers themselves.
A great number of merchants do not keep their platforms up to date and also fail to respond to security disclosures. Often times, the last recourse to report a breach is to go public and hope that the media attention will bear fruit.
Shopping online is convenient but not risk-free. Ultimately, users are the ones who can make savvy choices and avoid many pitfalls. Here are some recommendations:
- Limit the number of times you have to manually enter your credit card data. Rely on platforms where that information is already stored in your account or use one-time payment options.
- Check if the online store displays properly in your browser, without any errors or certain red flags indicating that it has been neglected.
- Do not take trust seals or other indicators of confidence at face value. Because a site displays a logo saying it’s 100% safe does not mean it actually is.
- If you are unsure about a site, you can use certain tools to scan it for malware or to see if it’s already on a blacklist. Sucuri.net offer a free tool to check site from here: https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/
- More advanced users may want to examine a site’s source code. Using Developer Tools for instance, which as a side effect may turn off a skimmer noticing it is being checked.
We expect web skimming activity to keep on an upward trend in the coming months. The online shopping habits forged during this pandemic will continue.
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