Card safety on a road trip.

Why road trips are risky

Every stop is a reader you've never seen.

At home you use the same few pumps and ATMs and you'd notice if one looked off. On the road, every stop is new, often at a highway exit you'll never visit again. Skimmers turn up more along busy highways and in tourist areas. A few habits close most of the gap.

1. Wiggle before you payA firm tug on the card slot takes two seconds. Loose, bulky or rattly means walk away.
2. Tap or chip, don't swipeThe magnetic stripe is usually what a skimmer copies.
3. Credit, not debitFraud on a credit card is a dispute. Fraud on a debit card is your own money, gone while you sort it out.
4. Cover the keypadAnd pick ATMs inside banks, and pumps you can see from the store.
5. Check your statements afterLook over the week after your trip for any charges you don't recognize.
6. Check stops with SkimGuardOpen the free app at each stop before you pay.

Check ahead

Check from the car, and look at the road ahead.

SkimGuard works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so a passenger (or you, safely parked) can check the next stop from the dashboard. At the stop, the app listens for a skimmer and shows one result:

• 🟢 Good: checked, and nothing suspicious found. A good sign, not a guarantee.
• 🟡 Warning: something worth a closer look before you pay.
• 🔴 Alert: a likely skimmer nearby. Use a different machine, or pay inside.

Android phones can pick up a few older kinds of skimmer that iPhones can't, because Apple limits what iPhone apps can listen for.

More shopper safety tips →