The major difference is that the hardware goes inside the card slot instead of being fit on top. Shimming is basically the little brother of skimming. However, the newer Skimming devices have become much smaller and even harder to detect. The old devices are still in circulation. The thieves would then come back after a period of time to collect the data and clone your credit card. It’s made to look identical or close enough that most people won’t ever notice it… and it silently collects card swipe and keypad data. Thieves scout out a spot for the right time to place the counterfeit piece over top of the actual reader. In the case of the original skimming devices that popped up years ago, they look and function exactly like the machine’s actual card reader, at least by external appearances. In other words, the device “skims” information while still allowing a gas pump or ATM to function normally. Skimmers are often connected to the magnetic stripe reader or keypad, and can not only steal your credit card number, but also your PIN and ZIP codes. A card skimmer is a physical piece of technology that steals your card information from an already established card reader.

Credit card slot machine scam