A bank card is not just a piece of plastic, but your financial security
A bank card is not just a piece of plastic – the card contains encrypted personal information that should not fall into the hands of criminals. A regular embossed card contains basic information about your identity through embossing on the surface of the card. And chipped cards can act as identification when conducting various financial transactions. If such a card falls into criminal hands, there is a high probability of losing all your savings. This does not even require an ATM. Therefore, you should carefully monitor the safety of your bank cards.
As noted by the financial portal Minfin.com.ua, the most common method of fraud with bank cards is an SMS notification allegedly from the bank, stating that your card is blocked or the bank is conducting a data verification. And other methods aimed at extracting confidential information from you. The methods of fraudsters and their imagination are constantly improving, but you should understand that banks do not act in this way. All information regarding a personal account is verified or changed only in the presence of the cardholder at a bank branch. Therefore, you should not respond to such messages or calls. It is not superfluous to call the bank back and clarify these points.
The next deception option is phantom ATMs and special traps that attackers install in a working ATM. Such a fake ATM or trap will “eat” your card, and micro-cameras will allow them to learn the PIN code. There are cases where the victim of fraud leaves, thinking to sort things out with the bank, but upon returning to the place, does not find the ATM at all. If you find yourself in a similar situation (and a real ATM can also retain a card due to mechanical failure or software glitch), you should immediately contact the bank to block the card until all circumstances are clarified. You should always have the bank's phone numbers at hand.
By following these simple rules and recommendations, you can protect yourself from the schemes of dishonest individuals. In general, it is better to use familiar ATMs and withdraw large amounts of cash during daylight hours.