[94cobra69ss396]

Originally Posted by Vettezuki

Who knows. There's lots of ways to get those numbers. I have a friend who will sometimes just sniff unencrypted network traffic and there's all kinds of financial data flying around. This is pretty common at restaurants that use wireless ordering/payment systems.

At times I travel a fair bit and it sometimes results in amusing situations where I'll have one purchase in one city in the morning, then at a restaurant/bar later at night the same day thousands of miles away and it's legit. But because it's not all the time, it gets flagged. So I'm tired and possibly drunkish in a loud environment trying to explain what happened.

The way they get the info is with a skimming device. They install the device in the pump which stores the data for them to retrieve later. I believe this is what happened to me and my wife. This is the reason I also only use my ATM card as a credit card because it is then protected. PIN based debit is not.

As far as wireless transactions go the data that is being transmitted (by a VeriFone terminal at least) is SSL encrypted so your friend wouldn't be able to read the data. We are currently working with the processors to have an complete end to end encryption so that the data is actually encrypted at the card swipe. We currently have this technology available on the card reader sleeve we sell for the iPhone which transmits through our own gateway.

[kdracer73]

I try to pay cash at the gas station, but don't always have it. I grab the card reader and twist and pull and inspect that POS every time now. The skimmers are sometimes just attached over the slot. It may not save me from the a-hole that works there if he is the one scamming, but trying to be careful !

[jedhead]

Skimmers are also sometimes installed on ATM machines. So if you go to an ATM machine and the card reader looks weird, be aware. I think I had my debt card information ripped off at a restaurant. Two days after I last used my card, someone was buying a pair of limited edition Air Jordans on line from New York. I called my credit union and they put a stop and sent me a replacement card. I also contacted the on line store and let them know about a fraudulent purchase and to cancel the order.

Bob