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Jiggling isn't enough: Colorado hit with 'undetectable' credit card skimmers

Posted at 9:19 PM, May 30, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-31 00:29:35-04
AURORA -- Credit card skimmers that steal personal data aren't anything new in Colorado. Credit card skimmers you can't see are new, however, and they're turning up in several areas.
 
"This kind is completely undetectable from the outside. You have no idea it's in there, and that's what concerns us," Aurora PD Sgt. Dan Courtenay said.
 
Aurora Police showed Denver7 a new, thin type of skimmer that they found inside a TCF Bank on Chambers Road late last week. The metal piece, with circuitry normally attached, is inserted into the credit card slot and remains there, scanning your credit card as you come in to take out a deposit. 
 
"Things like this are making it easier and easier for the bad guys," Sgt. Courtenay added.
 
Aurora PD says these type of thin, inside skimmers have popped up in Wheat Ridge and Denver. They are believed to be coming from the same local crime ring. 
 
"We have one group that is targeting ATMs," Courtenay said. "This would be to my knowledge the third or fourth. They're even numbered."
 
Are there even more out there?
 
"Yes," the Aurora Sergeant said. "I would put money on it that there are others out there."
 
How can you protect yourself from something you can't see? Police say cover your hand when entering your pin, so skimmers that usually place cameras above the pin pads can't steal that too. They say you should always check your bank statements, and even go into the bank if you can to make sure you don't get skimmed.