How to protect yourself from cell phone scams — new scams to watch out for…

New cell phone scams are now making the rounds…

Next time you use your credit card in a convenience store or restaurant, be aware that scammers can now use camera-equipped cell phones to snap pics of your card number and name.

Cell phone scams are multipying — fast…

Frightening fact: It takes the scammer less than a minute to take the picture and transmit the account name and numbers — locally or even overseas!

Some cell phones are even capable of shooting short video ‘clips,’ so scammers are using these near ATMs to capture not just the image of your card, but your PIN # as you enter it as well.

Whereas some claim that the resolution is not yet good enough to make this work, it’s just a matter of time for these cell phone scams to really take off.

To protect yourself from these cell phone scams happening to you, don’t let your credit or ATM card out of your sight. And when you’re punching in your PIN # at the ATM, cover the hand you’re using to type with your other hand.

This article on cell phone scams was originally published in Internet ScamBusters issue #76. Click on the link to see the articles on topics other than cell phone scams in this issue.