Skimming refers to the replication or copying of account information from the magnetic stripe of a credit or debit card (including a prepaid debit card) for use in making fraudulent transactions.
Skimming of magnetic stripe information from prepaid debit cards, credit cards, and other payment cards allows thieves or other scammers to fraudulently replicate a payment card and then use the card to make unauthorized transactions. The account information is captured from a valid card and then re-encoded on a magnetic stripe of a counterfeit card. The term “skimming” is also used to refer to other techniques which thieves use to capture payment card account data for use in creating counterfeit cards.