by: Art Ladaga

Few days ago, news got out about a woman who lost her retirement fund of P400,000 from her ATM account. For 31 years, she worked hard to earn and save that amount. Investigation revealed that her bank account details were obtained without her knowing it. Apparently, someone installed a device in the ATM machine she used and copied her card’s details (for more details of the story, click here).

The woman was one of the victims of card skimming, a dubious practice where criminals install a device within an ATM machine to obtain card details of ATM holders. Most of the victims are those who have a big amount of money in their ATM accounts. In just a blink of an eye, they can lose everything they had worked for.

We at the Colayco Foundation would like to remind everyone NEVER to have a big amount of money in your ATM account. It’s important to spread your money in different investments. Mr. Armand Bengco, the foundation’s Executive Director, recommends having only an amount up to P5,000 in your ATM card, especially if it’s your payroll account. Life savings (if one already has it) should be placed somewhere safer like a time-deposit account.  Putting it in an ATM account is highly vulnerable to ATM skimming.

When handling your ATM card, you must always exercise caution. Here’s an infographic from Inquirer.net on how to protect yourself against card skimming:

There’s a deep truth in the saying “Prevention is better than cure.” And this is highly applicable in personal finance. If you do not exercise it, then you risk losing the wealth you worked hard to achieve.

Sources:

http://http://kickerdaily.com/ex-cop-loses-p400k-retirement-fund-to-atm-fraud/

http://business.inquirer.net/176605/bsp-officials-downplay-atm-fraud-in-ph#ixzz3AM77rF8C

*Art Ladaga is the current Programs Development Officer of Colayco Foundation for Education