Keep an eye out for any unfamiliar charges when you look over your monthly billing statement.
More and more card skimmers are being seen by investigators: devices that can steal your banking information from a credit or debit card.
Sergeant Darren Moss, a Pierce County sheriff's department spokesman said it slides right over the top and you can barely tell that they are even there.
Thieves plant those at all kinds of businesses, including gas stations and grocery stores.
TrustedSec consultant Alex Hamerstone said it captures the information that is on that magnetic stripe. The attackers or the scammers can use the card numbers online to create new cards, or even to use those numbers online. More than 30 U.S. cities have Moss said that a lot of them go unnoticed in the last three months.
Moss said that it is not often that they are found. The thieves will put them on there, maybe leave them up for a couple of days, one night or a week, and then come and take it away. Skimmers have been around for a while, but thieves are getting smarter.
They were often very recognizable in the old days, said Hamerstone. They were clunky, they looked like they didn't belong. They are often inside the card reader, but they are inside the slot. They are almost impossible to see. It is possible to use that machine inside the store, because there is a clerk always at the counter. Moss said something. It is a lot harder for them to try to install it at the counter.
If you avoid the swipe and use a tap to pay, that is another way to avoid card scammers.