Skimming scams: How to prevent crooks from stealing your money at the ATM

Thieves don't need sticky fingers anymore to take your hard-earned cash. They're getting your ATM to spit it out for them. And they're doing it a rate that might make hiding your loot under the mattress is the smartest move you can make.

ATM skimming, in which crooks gain access to the PIN encoded on the magnetic stripe of your debit or credit card and withdraw at will, is going to be one of the top forms of fraud this year, according to a BankInfoSecurity report published in Consumer Reports.