LAS VEGAS - Skimming equipment costs about $1,000, but it's a small investment for an identity thief who could make thousands more in just minutes by stealing from you.
Tami Nealy with the identity theft protection company LifeLock warns how we all engage in risky business whenever we use our debit our credit cards.
"This is called a credit card skimmer, so it skims the information on a magnetic stripe. This is called a card reader and a card writer," she said.
We also become vulnerable anytime our credit or debit cards leaves our hands and goes to a waiter in a restaurant.
"We have become very trusting in our society," Nealy said. "We put the credit card in that super secure leather billfold, and we hand it off - thinking that they're only going to run it through the machine once to pay our meal."
A dishonest worker could use the skimmer and grab your personal information with a simple swipe. A small skimming device can hold key data for 500 stolen credit or debit cards at a time.
Criminals can even copy your card. Nealy duplicated her own American Express card, demonstrating what a con artist would do. In about 15 seconds, she created a duplicate on a blank, white, plastic card that works just like the real thing. Crooks can go on a spending spree, and you pick up the tab.
Diners at Ricardo's Mexican Restaurant never have to worry about identity theft. When the check comes, customers pay with plastic at the table - a practice more common in Europe.
"The credit card never leaves their hand, which completely eliminates the potential for fraud," Ricardo's owner Bob Ansara said. "We love it."
Nealy, meanwhile, urges consumers to be more cautious.
"It's awkward. It's uncomfortable. But the next time you go to a restaurant and you pay with a credit card, you need to say, ‘You know what? I'm so concerned about identity theft. I live in Nevada, and it's a top five state in this country for identity theft. I'd like to walk you back to watch you run my credit card. It's not that I don't trust you. It's the system. I want to be able to sleep good tonight,'" she said.
Nealy says with her phony card, she bought gas, went to a chain drugstore, a big discount retailer, and her local grocery store - spending hundreds of dollars. No one asked a question about that plain white card. All the charges on the fake card showed up on the bill just like they were done with the real card.
Experts say once your identity has been stolen, it can take years to get it back.
