Even though it looks like a new system, the "shimmer" is not
more than the improvement of the one that consisted of a bulky reader of
credit cards that replaced the ATM called "skimmer", evidently
this system was cumbersome for its installation and on many occasions
relatively easy to detect.
The new reader consists of a small device whose size
is similar to credit card but much thinner, is entered in
the ATM or on the dataphone of the place where we are going to pay, in it
slot through which we insert the credit card, what makes the
credit card offers a certain resistance to enter but that with a little
of effort is achieved.
Since the "shimmer" overrides the action of the dataphone, this gives an error as
if the card is damaged or cannot be read, then we made the decision to simply go to another ATM, without
think that the card data has already been cloned.
To avoid this new card counterfeiting system
of credit we must follow a series of precautions: Use
credit with chip since it is not necessary to introduce them in the readers, but yes
given the case the dataphone does not have a chip reader or is damaged we must
notice if both the mouth of the card reader and the keyboard seem to be
Overlapping, or have an aesthetic not in accordance with the general state of the
terminal.
Obviously if the card enters with difficulty in the
reader slot we should not force it to enter since possibly this is the “Shimmer”
waiting inside. It is also advisable to cover with the other hand at the time of
the one we are going to insert the PIN, and this applies in any circumstance
(shopping in a supermarket, payment in a restaurant).
Of course we must never allow the employee on duty to take away
our card or place it in a place where we can't see it. Cloning it is as simple as passing the band
magnetic by a cloner. Something a cybercriminal surely won't try
do right in front of us (it would catch our attention too much), But what
they do perform by hiding the “Shimmer” under the dataphone itself or with the excuse that just
on that site they have little coverage.
However, we can prove that it is indeed a theft,
the bank bears the expenses. But you have to prove it, and it's not always so
simple as a priori it seems.