A lot of the times the owners have no idea about the skimming taking place, these devices are amazingly unnoticeable in some instances.

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Hey All, I use this business (Broadway Gulf) fairly frequently. Have always been ecstatic with their service. Owned by one family owned for like 40 years or so.
I doubt this is where the skimming occurred based on my numerous interactions with the brothers.

Guys, just left JC for Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago and it seems I got a lovely parting gift: My card was skimmed and someone went on a spree in Brooklyn to the tune of $900. Luckily Chase is covering it (but of course we all know this fraud comes back to bite us all in increased fees, etc.) but it still sucks to know this can happen so easily.

The last place I used it locally was at Broadway Gas on Broadway to top off the UHaul. Not sure yet where the skimming actually happened, but FYI.

last summer i had someone charge up about 10 porn site subscriptions on my debit card (overdrew my account) and my bank still would not reverse the charges even after filing a police report. instead i had to call all of the 1800 #'s in my bank statement and have the charges reversed by the companies and then i had to get a new debit card... it was a major pain in the rear to say the least.

If your card has an RFID chip (that enables payment by holding the card near a reader) it is possible that the information was cloned by thieves wirelessly.

The scary thing is, they can get the most information from bank ATM machines due to increased amount of space to place not only the skimmer, but a camera to record your pin number.

http://nerdtrek.com/keep-credit-cards-safe-skimmers/

I know it sounds crazy and if there's a line you may get a few weird stares, but you should give the machine a quick once over before using it...

I think the banks should have a daily check list posted. A bank employee could check off that the ATM has been inspected varifying that the unit is free of a skimming device. This idea could be similar to the portable bathrooms that are positioned at special events and restaurant bathrooms showing that proper attention had been given. And I would only go to a bank ATM machine.

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The increased danger from fraud while you're using a debit card is that the money is pretty immediately taken from your account and it could take the bank a while to put it back once you dispute the charges. This could result in bounced checks, running low on cash, etc. With a credit card, you don't have to pay any charges (or interest on charges) that are in dispute, so the risk to you is much lower.

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I would think both, however the machine should ask you to manually enter that 3 digit number on the back of the credit card no matter what machine you are using it in, such as the supermarket. Skimmers cannont read smooth printed manually entered numbers.

I've actually had difficulty inserting a credit card many times at various PATH machines. Also, sometimes it tells me that the transaction was not able to be completed (after a brief delay, like 15 or 20 seconds). Strange. Are these skimming devices dangerous only with debit, or credit also?

The weird thing is, I was in a rush and had a difficult time inserting my card at the PATH station--almost had to force it. And yes, I agree that it is bad thievery doing this at that location, but my gut tells me that was it. Anyway, I am going to send the detective to the Shell station as well.

Personally I am going back to cash.

It could have easily been the gas station attendent.

The lesson here is to use credit cards rather than debit.

A few observations.

Grove St Path station is underground. That likely means that:

- The vending machines are under camera surveillance
- A skimming device would have a hard time transmitting a signal above ground.
- Such a device would likely need to be removed to transfer "skimmed" details.

Gas stations? Most gas stations have pump attendants 24x7 in NJ. Unless the attendants are in on the scam, it's unlikely there are skimming devices on NJ gas stations. And I'm pretty sure they'd be easily caught if they were.

I have had charges racked up on credit and debit cards issued to me that I have never even used. Anywhere. It's in the banks interest to make you feel responsible, and shoulder some of the blame when money is stolen from your account. They'd almost never admit if your account and card details were lost/stolen from the bank itself, but I'm convinced it happens much more frequently than made public.

Good idea, I just reported it and a detective is going to check the PATH out.

It was probably the Shell gas station. These computer devices are getting out of hand. I use cash everywhere I go. Plus it is easier to keep track of money spending that way.

Thanks for the heads up. Did you call the PA police to report the issue?

It's the only place I used my card with the exception of the Shell Gas Station outside the Holland Tunnel. Google: skimming device and see what they look like. I have had about 200 dollars worth of charges charged to my account.