It's Good to Know: The New Generation of ATM Skimmers

Skimmers are small electronic devices that identity thieves attach to ATMs, gas pump card readers, and other places where you swipe credit or debit cards. They are used to steal card numbers, expiration dates, and PINs. And now criminals in Eastern Europe have come up with a new twist: a software skimmer that is inserted in the operating code (usually Windows-based) of the ATM's computer. The program allows them to access all the personal data for all the cards used in the machine.

Security experts predict that the new skimmers could make an appearance in the U.S. soon.

(Source: Scientific American)

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Word to the Wise: Occiput

The "occiput" (AHK-sih-put) - from the Latin for "against the head" - is the back part of the skull.

Example (as used by Alan Falk in Michigan Lawyers Weekly): "So let me suggest that everyone put away their pitchforks and firebrands and stop trying to 'bury the hatchet' by planting it in the other fellow's occiput."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2723, 07-17-09], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.