Avoid ATM Skimming

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.]

The Right to Bear Arms

COPYRIGHT © 2007-2009 Connected Ventures, LLC

We have the right to surgically implant bear arms whenever, wherever and however we want.

On a serious note, let’s talk about gun rights. Firstly, I’m not suggesting that there is or that there is not movement in Washington toward making individual gun ownership illegal in the United States. I simply want to state the importance of the right to bear arms and shed light on the difference between a responsible gun owner and a murderous individual who uses firearms to accomplish his means.

The Brady Campaign, which seeks to ban certain types of guns, claims “About 30,000 people a year in this country die from gun violence, about 80 a day, 32 by homicide.” First of all, if 32 of 80 deaths caused by gun violence are by homicide, what are the other 48 “deaths from gun violence” caused by? I find that hilarious. Secondly, when comparing their stated 30,000 deaths caused by gun violence to the FBI’s number of total murders per year (2007) of 16,929, something doesn’t really add up (source 1, 2).  Let’s take a look at at few more stats: handgunpodcast.com podcast 042 states that 1,500,000 crimes are prevented each year by gun wielding citizens. Also, this article, from learnaboutguns.com says, ” Americans use guns in self defense 2,500,000 times per year” -their source here. If you ask me, a lot more lives are saved by law abiding, gun totting citizens than would be if guns were banned.

Let’s compare a responsible gun owner versus a murderous individual with a gun:

A responsible gun owner:

• Must pass an FBI background check when purchasing a gun.
• Uses his gun for the prevention of crime, not for the causing of it.
• Has a desire to protect oneself and his/her family.
• Uses his gun as a tool for good.

A murderous individual with a gun:

• Does NOT need to pass a background check because he obtains guns illegally. Banning guns will not change this; he will still obtain guns illegally.
• Uses his gun for the causing of crime.
• Has a desire to inflict harm or death on others.
• Uses his gun as a tool for evil.

In both cases, the gun is a tool. It is not the cause of protection in the former, and it is not the cause of murder in the latter. The individual is the cause in both cases.

There are laws and punishment for those who use their guns irresponsibly. When a person takes upon him a firearm, he takes upon him the chance of heavy punishment if he cannot control his firearm as the law permits. As long as the law is congruent with moral rightness (this is the determining factor in our society’s prosperity), it will say, “Our citizens have the right to bear arms. However, if an individual uses the armament to harm innocent people, heavy punishment will be inflicted upon the individual”. This moral law is what keeps most people from using their guns over parking space feuds. If a person chooses to transgress the law, he will have to pay the consequence, or spend his life running in fear, shame and guilt.

This article is already longer than I wanted it to be, but I just want to state a few more things. There needs to be a clear distinction between crime and the tools used in crime. This reasoning is simple enough for a child to understand, yet is completely disregarded by the anti-gun crowd. While I do understand their desire to see a decrease in murder, they are simply trying to stop it in a way that will only hurt law abiding citizens. Here is the ever so obvious distinction:

• Arson is illegal, the use of fire is not.
• Rape is illegal, reproduction is not.
• Speeding in a school zone resulting in the death of a child is illegal, vehicular transportation is not.
• Murder is illegal, the tools (gun, knife, teddy bear, etc.) used in murder are not.

Firearms are just one of many possible tools used for murder. Take them away and the murderous individual will find a way to murder by other means. There is a murderer, and there is a tool. I say, fix or imprison the murderer, don’t take away the tools -which by the majority of people are used for good. Making guns illegal will not prevent people from committing crimes with them. Cocaine is illegal, but still the transgressors of the law find and use cocaine. The evil and/or psychotic person who uses a gun to unrighteously kill will still use guns to unrighteously kill if gun ownership becomes illegal. The only difference now, is that there are no longer millions of responsible gun owners to prevent this unrighteous abuse; they’ve obeyed and adapted to the new law, surrendering their guns in compliance. Those 1,500,000 (annual avg.) lives saved by gun owners are no longer saved. Those  16,929 (annual avg.) wrongfully killed by murderous psychopaths are now joined by millions.

The Arizona Rifleman says it better than I can:

More bans or restrictions won’t prevent people bent on a murderous rampage from committing such heinous crimes — they already need to violate numerous laws and societal norms to do so. The mere presence of such laws, however, cannot prevent one from doing something illegal — it simply provides a means of punishment afterward. With sufficient motivation, one can acquire weapons (or drugs, or other restricted items) regardless of laws prohibiting them from doing so. Clearly, the murderer had little qualms about acquiring weapons and then going on to commit mass murder.

To take away the right to bear arms from the individual is to nationally socialize gun rights.

Understand that the term “Nazi” comes from Nationalsozialistische, that is, “National Socialist”.

-examiner.com

For more, check out the following:
If you read only one of these -read this one-

From concealedcampus.org:
Common arguments against responsible individuals carrying guns publicly. The arguments are centered around campus gun carrying, but could be applied universally.
My favorite argument
Argument: The answer to bullets flying is not more bullets flying.
Answer: Actually,  the answer to bullets flying is almost always more bullets flying.  That’s why the police bring so many guns with  them when they respond to a report of shots fired.

This Washington Times article would convert any good-hearted person.

Criminals know which states disallow citizens to carry loaded handguns (this information is public). Illinois is one of those states. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of criminals relocating to Illinois for this very reason.

Interested in self defense? Learn more here