Credit Card Shaving: A Scam You Should Know About

When you think about the different credit card scams that you have heard of over time, what comes to mind? Most likely you will be thinking of some form of identity theft that occurs through the Internet in the form of phishing or hacking. That’s because this is the type of credit card scam that is most common today. But that doesn’t mean that it’s the only credit card scam that is taking place or the only thing that you should be aware of if you want to make sure that you are doing all that you can to protect your own credit. There are other scams out there as well. For example, there is credit card shaving.

Credit card shaving is a fairly elaborate scam but one that an amateur criminal can accomplish fairly easily. It involves the following basic steps:

• Get the number to a credit card that is valid. This may be done in any number of ways including purchasing such numbers off of the black market and copying numbers down when you see credit cards in public places (such as on tables in restaurants or in stores where you work).

• Peel these same numbers off of invalid credit cards and gift cards. For example, if your valid credit card consisted of sixteen 1’s, you would shave those 1’s off of whatever credit cards or gift cards you could get your hands on.

• Apply the numbers in the correct order to a blank credit card. This is done easily with basic glue and a little bit of patience.

• Scratch part of the magnetic strip on the back of the blank credit card. This will mean that the clerk at any store that you use this credit card at will then have to go ahead and enter the number that has been so carefully glued on to the credit card.

• Use the credit card. It’s that simple. Once you have a number that you can use and a card that it’s on, you can purchase items on the card without arousing much suspicion.

The truth is that these credit cards do look a little bit sketchy if you take the time to look at them carefully. However, most cashiers aren’t going to bother doing so because they are too busy and just really don’t care all that much. This means that the people who need to be most active about learning of and preventing this type of scam are those people who work in retail positions where the scam may take place. By spotting these credit cards, they can help to reduce this method of credit card scam.

As for you, the most important thing that you can do to protect yourself from this kind of scam is to reduce the risk that your credit card number is going to get seen by people who shouldn’t have it. You should also make sure that you are regularly reviewing your credit report and your credit card statements so that you know immediately if you have become the victim of this type of credit card scam.