GET REGISTER YOUR PHONE NO. WITH YOUR BANKS FOR SMS ALERTS TO AVOID CARD FRAUD

ATM skimming , a sophisticated fraud involving capture of card information as well
as the user's PIN, has landed up on Indian shores. The new fraud is prompting banks to relook at old machines and step up registration of mobile numbers of customers for alerts.
Officials of ATM industry say that while the industry is coming up with technical solutions to check fraud, ATM users must ensure that their mobile numbers are registered with their banks as RBI has made it mandatory for banks to provide SMS alerts for all debit card transactions from July 2011, irrespective of the amount.
Incedentally The skimming fraud which took place at an Axis Bank ATM came to light immediately after customers who got SMS alerts of large withdrawals raised an alarm.
Axis Bank's ATM at Oshiwara in Andheri was the target of fraudsters who had managed to attach a small card reading device over the mouth of the card slot and a matching
keypad over the surface of the existing keypad. The ATM card information and pin numbers were captured by two add- on devices and transmitted to the fraudsters
through a GSM connection. This information was used to clone cards at a remote location and withdraw cash from other automated teller machines.
The other fraud that is prevalent abroad is one where the fraudster places some block within the card slot to prevent it from being
returned. The fraudster then gets the pin by pretending to assist the victim. Sometimes, fraudsters attach a small webcam within the ATM kiosk to record the PIN.