ATM skimming, the art of stealing ATM card info, and PIN capturing are becoming more and more prevalent. Thieves apply electronic capturing devices and miniature cameras to steal your card information, shortly thereafter, your precious green.
ATM Skimmer: An electronic card reader (to steal data from your card) placed in front of the real card reader.
The thieves use a two-fold attack:
1. Data is captured from the magnetic strip on the back of the card through an electronic “skimming” device attached to the front of the card reader. This device looks exactly like a normal card reader.
2. Your PIN is stolen through the use of small spy cameras facing the keypad or even by a fake keypad placed over the real one.
What to do?
Obviously, be very careful to not do anything to get yourself arrested (modern ATMs have security cameras), but you may want to wiggle the card reader a bit to see if a skimming device is attached. Also, keep an eye out for the little spy cameras, but your best bet is to simply verify the keypad doesn’t have a fake one placed over it and then cover the keypad as you enter your PIN, effectively shielding any peeping cameras.
I highly recommend you check out this little guide which shows you exactly what the skimming devices, cameras, and fake keypads look like. If the guide isn’t working, post a comment below and I’ll provide instructions to enable you to view PDF documents. [That last sentence was for my technically challenged readers. You know who you are.] 
