The Christmas shopping season has a digital dark side.

Whether shopping online, or at a brick-and-mortar store or filling up your gas tank, consumers could be exposing their personal financial information to cyber criminals.

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities and Pennsylvania State Police have joined to warn holiday shoppers to be especially vigilant in protecting their financial information.

People should be extra watchful for fraudulent card-skimming devices, which can be attached to automated teller machines, gas pumps or other payment-processing machines in retail stores, and to exercise good cybersecurity practices when shopping online.

At the end of September, state police were investigating reports of skimmers found on gas pumps near Kittanning, Elderton and Rayburn Township in Armstrong County.

Lt. Dan Hines, patrol commander of Troop D of the Butler barracks, said there were a scattering of skimmer reports in Butler County about the same time.

“Back in that time frame, we had a cluster of them. Things seemed to have died out a little bit,” said Hines.

To avoid having their financial data fall into unknown hands, Cpl. Adam Reed, director of the communications office of the state police suggested using ATMs and gas pumps in well-lit, secure locations.

“Only use a gas pump in a well lit area in view of the window of the station,” said Reed.

Troop D's Hines said, “The thing I tell people, with any device you slip cards into, grab a hold of the slot and give it a tug. If there's any kind of movement, don't use it.”

Reed said examine the card reader slot and surrounding areas to see if anything looks out of place, mismatched, or loose.

“If anything is loose or looks mismatched, let the attendant know,” Reed said.

“We also recommend that you use a credit card over a debit card for these transactions,” Reed said.

A full story appears in the Sunday Butler Eagle.