Identity theft is no longer a
word confined within the pages of a dictionary. It is something many of us have
had to contend with in our daily lives as personal information gets hacked into
for monetary gains. One of the most often repeated crimes has to do with credit
card skimming, easy to execute once you have figured out the basic modus
operandi. While we might be choosy about which retail stores we swipe our
credit cards in, both online and offline, we don’t tend to think twice before
swiping our credit cards at gas stations and then have to make the rounds of
courts to fight credit card skimming lawsuit.
All of us need to make a trip to
the gas station at least once a week and since the easiest way to fuel up the
car is to swipe in your debit or credit card, most of us don’t even think twice
before doing so. But as the many complaints reported at police stations go to
show, a majority of credit card skimming happens at gas stations, probably
because they come with the least amount of security. Unlike department stores
and other retail outlets which have built in many security features into their
online programs chiefly to prevent such skimming from happening, gas stations
come with no added security features to prevent information from being stolen.
All that a thief needs to do is to install a skimmer which is basically a
portable electronic device just beneath the point of credit card scanning. As
soon as you swipe your card the skimmer picks up all the information stored on
the magnetic chip including the credit card number and the PIN. Once the data
is obtained, it is easy to get a duplicate credit card made of the same number
after which he has an open field to play in.
The good part is that most banks
and retail outlets take serious cognizance of your complaint and return most of
the money skimmed through the card. But incase you do end up in a bad situation
where the bank or third party is not willing to wipe away the transaction and
your credit history is at risk, then you should consider hiring the services of
a lawyer to launch a credit card skimming lawsuit against the other party.
While you can launch the lawsuit by yourself as well, engaging the services of
professional lawyers helps you navigate the complex world of legal terms far
more easily and is more likely to guarantee you success.
