NEWS BLIPS
App Designed To Detect Credit Car Skimmers at the Pumps
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through Engadget's website.
Engadget reports that a new app developed by scientists at the University of California San Diego can help law enforcement catch thieves before they take off with your card data. Known as Bluetana, the app works by detecting the Bluetooth signature of credit card skimmers that are placed on card readers at gas station pumps.
According to Engadget writer Amrita Khalid, "In the study, a total of 44 law enforcement and state government volunteers were equipped with the Bluetana app over a period of one year. Bluetana found a total of 64 skimmers over this period, after performing Bluetooth scans at 1,185 gas stations across six states." Gas pumps will begin integrating EMV chip technology in 2020, after being granted an extension from Visa and Mastercard. Delaying the transition from magnetic stripe cards no doubt created a ripe field for fraudsters.
For more on the story, read here.