"Skimming": a new type of fraud in Spain
Scams are the order of the day, and it is common to hear many of them related to credit cards. And it is that being able to pay without having to carry cash implies great advantages and comforts for consumers, but it also implies a series of risks, and this is what the Civil Guard warns.
The benemérita often warns Spaniards through her social networks of possible dangers related to scams and how to prevent them, and this time, she has put all credit card users on alert, warning them that they should take certain precautions when using them.
Dangers of 'skimming'
Through its social network account X (formerly Twitter) the Civil Guard warns Spaniards about the dangers of ‘skimming’. This scam, whose name comes from the English term ‘to skim’ which means to browse, is nothing more or less than what is known as cloning a credit card.
How to avoid "skimming"
To avoid this, the authorities recommend not to lose sight of the card when making payments with it in stores and supermarkets. And it only takes a few seconds to clone them, which can have serious consequences, since once the data is captured, it can be used to make payments.
To avoid this, in addition to keeping the credit or debit card always in sight when a payment is being made at any merchant, it is necessary to remember not to share the PIN with anyone, avoid using the ATMs located outside and look for signs of possible alterations before using them.
It is also convenient to regularly review bank statements with card movements to detect possible charges that have not been made by oneself as soon as possible.
Refund of money in case of fraud
The bank returns the money spent with the credit card fraudulently up to a certain limit. The Directive (UR) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament, limits the user's liability to 50 euros in case of fraudulent use of his credit card. Thus, in case of a scam with a charge of 200 euros, the consumer would respond for 50 euros and the bank would have to refund the remaining 150 euros.
In the event that there is a report of theft or duplicate of the credit card, the bank will have to answer for 100% of the defrauded money.