Credit Card Fraud at Airport Kiosks

Written on June 22, 2010 – 10:43 am | by Nicole Gutierrez

Credit card fraud can happen when a person swipes a credit card as confirmation of ID when printing out his or her own boarding passes. This type of fraud is known as skimming, which is the term used when a potential identity thief puts a reader device on the kiosk and uses it to capture a person’s credit card number. Frequently, this happens without the user even realizing it.

This issue first made headlines in 2008 when officials from Visa Canada reported that they were investigating potential fraud at the Toronto airport. Due to this investigation, one airline, WestJet, decided to dismantle all of its credit card kiosks in favor of having each passenger checked in manually by an airline representative. The name of the airline that was the initial subject of the investigation was not revealed to the public, and it is unclear whether or not any kiosks were taken offline as a result of the probe.

How to Prevent Credit Card Fraud at Airport Kiosks

This type of fraud can occur in any nation around the globe since most airport kiosks are similar in design. The easiest way to prevent credit card fraud at airport kiosks is to avoid swiping your credit card at check-in terminals. Most of them will also accept a passport or a driver’s license, since these documents also contain your name. You can also type in your ticket’s reference number, which is not tied to your credit card information.

If you would rather not risk having either of these documents compromised, you can always skip the kiosk altogether and check in at the desk or online at the airline’s website before you reach the airport. Although this may require a little extra time or planning on your part, it may be worth it for the peace of mind.

Spotting Skimmers

Since the technology of skimmers is getting more and more sophisticated all the time, it can be difficult to spot. Here are a few things that you can look for:

The shape of the frame around the kiosk screen looks different from the ones of the surrounding kiosks.
The kiosk has tape residue, scratches, dark marks or other signs that someone may have been tampering with it.
There is unusual text printed on the kiosk near the area where you would swipe your card.

If you notice anything out of the ordinary about an airport kiosk, it’s important that you report it to an airport official as soon as possible so the kiosk can be taken out of order until it is deemed safe for use. Also, since the thief may be sitting nearby recording people’s card numbers with a wireless device, it is possible that he can be caught before he gets a chance to leave the airport if the suspicious kiosk is reported promptly.

Keep track of the charges on your credit card statement. If you do become a victim of fraud, it’s easiest to recoup your money if you can contest the charge and report it as fraud. It gets more difficult the longer you wait and if the charges become delinquent they may end up negatively affecting your credit report and score until the issue is resolved.

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