Lee sheriff provides tips to avoid holiday identity theft

FORT MYERS, Fla. — With the holidays in full swing, scammers are out in full force.

Kim Swanson, crime prevention practitioner for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, offers advice on Nextdoor about how to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft this holiday season.

• Pay at the register. If there is a choice between paying at the register and handing a credit or debit card to a waiter, pay at the register. Paying at the register decreases the risk of skimming, a scam in which an employee takes an unauthorized scan of your card. If the card must be handed over to a waiter or salesperson, keep the card in sight at all times if possible.
• Get your card back quickly. The shorter the time that your card is away from you, the less chance there is of a fraud. So, if you open a tab at a bar, make sure you get your card back. Don’t let the bartender hold it at the cash register. If your card sits on the bar or at the register, it might get skimmed, or an employee or another person could take a quick picture of it with a cellphone camera.
• Look for security cameras. Some businesses have security cameras focused on the cash register area, but many do not, meaning the retailer, restaurant or other merchant is more likely to be subject to internal credit card fraud by employees. If employees know that security cameras are monitoring them, they are less likely to try to commit fraud.
• Beware of tip fraud. When adding a service tip onto a credit or debit card charge, the risk of tip fraud increases. Tip fraud is a scam in which a service employee alters the tip amount when entering the final bill at the cash register or point-of-sale system. Most consumers, even those who actually go over their credit card or debit card charges with a fine-toothed comb, won’t notice an extra 75 cents or dollar tip. This scam can be prevented by leaving a tip in cash.
• Check for skimming at ATM and PIN entry terminals. If an ATM or PIN entry device looks odd or different, don’t use it. Skimmers frequently attach devices to ATMs or PIN entry devices — especially those that aren’t monitored by merchants — to steal card data encoded on magnetic stripes.