People need to be aware of anything funny-looking about the ATM or the door lock. If there’s a piece of plastic sticking above or below the door lock, don’t use it. Personally, I don’t use the ATM anymore. I go inside to a teller to get cash.

Answer: People can be remarkably trusting when it comes to using ATMs. Stand-alone ATMs may be phonies, designed just to take your bank card information and PINs. Even ATMs attached to banks can be compromised, as your experience shows.

Some security experts advise avoiding stand-alone ATMs, and all advise being cautious about using any cash-dispensing machine. Before sticking your card into one, you should grab the slot where your card goes in and see if you can move it. If you can, don’t use the machine. If you enter your card and PIN into an ATM and get any kind of error message, alert your bank immediately, as that can be a sign of a compromised machine.

You don’t have to avoid using ATMs, but they should be used with caution.

A few minutes later I got an email from American Express emblazoned “Fraud Protection Alert.” I called the toll free number and identified the attempted charges as legitimate. Then I called the main number to ask why the Girl Scouts was suddenly considered a risky operation.

The rep first tried to blame it on the fact that there were “multiple transactions,” but she had to back off when I pointed out there were only two, and that didn’t explain why the first charge was declined. When I asked her if there was a way to get American Express’ overly vigilant fraud protection software to back off a bit, she said no.

As I wrote in “Big Brother is helping you?“, these programs flag about 20 transactions for every one that’s truly bogus. It’s up to the card issuer to decide how and when to follow through. American Express has obviously set its bar pretty low, opting to inconvenience and possibly embarrass customers rather than risk a loss.

A surprising number of people tell me they appreciate these alerts and blocked transactions. They feel like the card issuers are looking out for them. But the card issuers are really only looking out for themselves, since customers aren’t on the hook for fraudulent transactions if they’re reported promptly.

Issuers certainly have a right to try to protect themselves, and reducing fraud theoretically reduces costs for everyone. But they should find a way to do so without needlessly annoying their customers. Otherwise, we’ll take our business elsewhere. As I did. The charge using my Visa went right through.

Apparently, many older gas pumps don’t encrypt the PINs you enter when you use your debit card. If a criminal can get a key to open the pump—not all that hard to do if you have a disgruntled or otherwise cooperative gas station employee to help—then a card-skimming device can be installed inside to scoop up the PINs along with the information contained on the magnetic stripe.

So far from being safer to use at the pump, as this horribly incorrect Yahoo! Answers entry contends, debit cards can be far more vulnerable than credit cards. A bad guy with your debit card info and PIN can swipe money directly from your bank account. (The criminal gang that compromised debit cards at Michaels recently did exactly that.) With a credit card, on the other hand, you don’t have to pay bogus charges. Those are typically removed as soon as you report them, while a compromised bank account may take weeks to fix.

A couple of years ago, VISA made a push to require that all newly installed gas pumps encrypt this crucial data, but gas station owners howled at the idea of retrofitting older pumps at a cost of around $10,000 each. So many pumps still lack encryption.

I don’t know about you, but the few pennies I used to save at the debit-only gas stations aren’t worth potentially compromising my bank account. Until gas station owners fix this issue, I’m sticking to my credit card.

photo credit: EmilianT

One of the few disadvantages of working from home is that I meet more than my share of door-to-door salespeople—typically people hawking overpriced magazine subscriptions or books.

Rather than blow them off, lately I’ve been listening to their raps to see how they try to rope in unsuspecting marks. Here are the five lies they tend to have in common, and three sure-fire ways to make them go away.

Lie #1: “I’m from around here.” The salespeople might claim to be the child of a neighbor or to attend a nearby school or college. In reality, they’re often from another state and were dumped off in your neighborhood with a mini-van-load of other sellers. They understand that it would be tough to start a relationship by saying, “I’m an outsider trying to hustle up some business.”

Lie #2: “I’m really close to winning a prize.” They probably do have a sales quota to meet to keep their jobs, but what they’ll tell you is that they’re earning “points” toward a trip or a scholarship or some other goal and they just need a little help from you to get to the prize. Since he’s a neighbor, you’ll feel an obligation to help, right? Especially since:

Lie #3: “Your neighbors have really been generous.” The wording on this may vary, but the obvious implication is that people you know are handing over their cash, so you should, too.

Lie #4: “This is a good deal” or “It’s for a good cause.” Except it’s not. You can get most magazine subscriptions for $10 or less online and books for $10 to $20. The salesperson is charging three to four times that amount. And this assumes that you, or the charity to which you’re donating the items (another version of this rap), actually get what you paid for. Since these guys only accept checks or cash, you can’t use a credit card to cancel the deal if he simply disappears with your money.

Lie #5: “You have to act today.” It’s the salesperson’s job to create some kind of pressure that will get you to buy, and your job to resist it until you’re sure you’re getting a good deal. If you aren’t given time to research the product or the company, then steer clear.

Some ways to head door-to-door salespeople off at the pass:

Don’t answer the door. You shouldn’t be opening the door to strangers, particularly if you’re home alone.

Answer the door with a phone in your hand. Pretend to be having a conversation. Each time he gets his rap going, start talking into the phone. “Well, that’s what I said, but she wouldn’t listen….” Keep up your end of the bogus conversation until the salesperson gives up and goes away. If he or she is particularly tenacious, you may have to finally say, “I’m sorry, I have to finish this call” and close the door.

Blame your spouse, even if you don’t have one. Let’s say the salesperson catches you when you’re already outside and you don’t have your phone with you. Cite marital responsibility. “I’m really sorry, but I can’t make any decision without

First the bad: In 2008, the number of identity theft victims surged 22 percent to 9.9 million over the previous year, says a study released this week by Javelin Strategy & Research. That reverses a previous trend in which identity theft had been gradually declining.

But the good news is that the cost to consumers fell 31 percent to $496. Victims and companies are able to detect the fraud more quickly and are limiting how much is stolen, Javelin says.

It comes as no shocker that the report lists the failing economy as a primary reason for the spike in identity theft. (“Overall criminal activity tends to increase when there is a recession,” Javelin says.)

But what might surprise some is that despite all of the news about hacking attacks and phishing, low-tech methods are still favored among thieves. Lost or stolen wallets represented 43% of all incidents, the report said. That compares with 19% of thefts that occurred during a transaction; 13% of thefts committed by friends, family or employees; 11% online theft; 11% data breach; 3% stolen paper mail.

Other findings:

• Women were 26% more likely to be victims of fraud than men in 2008

• 71% of the fraud started occurring less than a week from when the data was first stolen, up from 33% in 2005

• The total annual fraud amount for 2008 is up 7% from last year to $48 billion. That is substantially lower when compared to the 2004 level of $60 billion

Hear me discuss tips for stopping identity theft cold by CLICKING HERE.

Also, check out my other advice on ID theft:

• How can I freeze my credit?

• What should I do if my sister is an identity thief?

• Do dead people have to worry about ID theft?

• Dangerous checks in the mail

• The hysteria over identity theft

• Banks hang fraud victims high and dry