Chile Forum

According to today's EMOL, a waiter in the "Dublin" pub in Bellavista was caught red-handed skimming a client's card right at the table:

...el dueño de la tarjeta no le quitaba los ojos encima al mesero y a la máquina, cuando, de pronto, se dio cuenta que había un dispositivo extra agregado a ésta. Era "algo" que tenía en la mano izquierda, que casi no se veía, relata María Jesús en su historia...

http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/2 ... iales.html

Shame, that. Sad part is that any enterprising geek can build one in his basement with plans downloaded on the internet. Or order one from China for a few dollars.
Just wait until they start using the RFID ones, which don't require a physical swipe through the machine. If they haven't started already.

ExpatBob wrote:Shame, that. Sad part is that any enterprising geek can build one in his basement with plans downloaded on the internet. Or order one from China for a few dollars.
Just wait until they start using the RFID ones, which don't require a physical swipe through the machine. If they haven't started already.

Are these only effective on cards that require a signature or could they steal the info and use a debit card with a pin?

The data on the RFID cards is "encrypted" but that kind of encryption is weak and most of the codes are broken before the cards even leave the facilities that make them.
Lots of places, by card-processor regulations, do not require a signature. Address verification systems are not very good either.