Fraudsters are ruthless when it comes to devising cunning ways to empty your hard earned cash. Debit and Credit cardholders are always at risk each time they insert their cards into an ATM. Here are a number of useful tips you can adopt the next time you plan to make a cash withdrawal:

• Try as much as possible to use ATMs located inside Banks or Building Societies. Such ATMs are difficult for fraudsters to sabotage during opening hours. ATMs located outside are less secure and could have cloning devices inserted into them, especially if the ATM provides 24-hr service.
• Take a careful look around the ATM for anything suspicious. If it is an ATM that you are used to then you would notice if something looked odd about the card slot or the keypad. If in doubt, don’t use that suspicious ATM and report it to the relevant financial institution that owns the ATM. This way you could help to protect other users from falling victim.
• Use ATMs that have moderate human traffic. In other words, try not to use ATMs that appear abandoned. Imagine your ATM card gets trapped after using such an ATM. It may be that a fraudster has used a card-trapping device in that ATM with the intention to retrieve the card the moment you are gone.
• Shield your PIN (Personal Identification Number) with one hand whilst you enter it into theATM keypad. Even if there is no one close behind you just do it to be safe. Your PIN is a gateway to your bank account so guard it.
• Do not phyiscally assist anyone who asks you to help them with an ATM transaction. I know it sounds a little hostile but how do you know the ATM card in question is not stolen? When someone gives you an ATM card for assistance (e.g. with a PIN change) YOU will be the one on camera – Yes, all ATMs have a hidden camera that captures the face of every person that does ATM transactions and the time they were done. Some fraudsters may know this fact.
• Do not print ATM receipts if you are not going to keep them. It is still argued that ATM receipts thrown in nearby bins could hold sufficient information to allow fraudsters to perpetrate ATM fraud. Whatever the case, don’t be a scapegoat.
• If you have ever heard the expression ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ then you probably have more than one bank account already. Keep the bulk of your money in an account that does not have an ATM card or is even linked to one. Let only the funds you need on a day-to-day basis be accessible via ATM card. This way if you became a victim of fraud then you wouldn’t have lost your life savings.
• If you have not done so already, save the contact numbers on the back of your ATM cards NOW! These may be termed as ‘Card Lost or Stolen’, ‘Customer Care, etc. There is less likelihood for a fraud to take place on your account if you stop the card the moment it becomes trapped in an ATM, lost or stolen.