Anyone can fall prey to a criminal when taking out cash, which is why this week on the Kiran Trivedi blog I let you know how to protect yourself from cash machine crime.
Criminals Are Getting More Sophisticated Than Ever
One of the most common ways criminals try to steal your cash in the modern era is card machine crime. This is where they counterfeit your card at the point it’s most vulnerable – as you’re getting cash out of your local cash machine.
And they’re getting more sophisticated to. Just last week, a gang was jailed for fitting spy cameras at cash machines, to get people’s details and counterfeit cards. With the criminals using more sophisticated technology than ever, you need to be ever more vigilant when you’re getting money out of your local cash machine.
One of the most common ways criminals try to steal your cash in the modern era is card machine crime.
Five Protective Measures to Prevent Cash Machine Crime
In actual fact, it’s fairly easy to protect yourself from cash machine crime. You just need to take the following five protective measures…
- Cover Your Pin: A vital one, if a criminal sees your pin, then they have a thousand ways to access your cash. That’s why whenever you’re putting your pin into the machine, you should cover the keypad with your hand.
- Destroy Receipts: With increasingly sophisticated technology at their disposal, if a criminal gets a hold of even one receipt, then they can use it to hollow out your bank account. That’s why you should always destroy it; shred it, burn it etc.
- Put It Away: You need to make sure that you put your cash and card back in your wallet before you leave the machine. If you don’t, and a criminal has fitted a spy camera in the vicinity, they’re far more likely to see your details.
- Don’t be Social: The cash machine is not the time to start networking. If someone tries to talk to you, they might have an ulterior motive, they might be trying to distract you. Don’t get social at the cash machine.
- Report any Discrepancies Straight Away: If a machine swallows your card, it might be because a criminal has fitted it with a device to trap said card. If this happens, cancel your card that second, then report it to the police.
Anyone Can Fall Victim to Cash Machine Crime
As the criminal gangs start using more sophisticated technology, it’s more important than ever that you stay vigilant. Kiran Trivedi readers, if you take nothing else away from this, then please remember that anyone can fall victim to cash machine crime.
Kiran Trivedi 