From Nightline:

“Even though they’re criminals, you’ve got to marvel at their ingenuity. You are about to see the extraordinary lengths to which identity thieves will go to steal your credit card information. So will those new chips on all of our cards make any difference? ABC’s Nick Watt tonight on what you can do to protect your money. Reporter: A gas station in Miami beach, Florida. Watch the chatty guy in the tight aquamarine polo. He points. The clerk, distracted. While she’s gone, watch his alleged accomplice. In mere seconds he slips an identical cover over the store’s card reader, a device police believe will automatically steal your card details when you think you’re just making a purchase. You’ll have no idea you’ve just been skimmed. Robert Siciliano is a cybercrime expert. Unfortunately, when it comes to stealing credit card information, it’s as easy as swiping your card in any skimming device.”

This is an excellent video to bring identity theft home to students (with surveillance cameras, they actually get to see skimmers in action and how they operate). As they watch..

• Have them list the ways that they see thieves steal debit and credit card numbers
• Identify ways that they can protect themselves from having their financial lives upended

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.