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.

“This is part of a multiagency initiative,” said Ed Novak, a spokesman for the Banking and Securities Department.

“The skimmer reads the data on a card's magnetic strip,” said Novak.

Skimmers are easy to install on gas pumps, ATMs and any other device that reads a debit or credit card.

“Card skimmers can be taken on and off very easily,” said Cpl. Adam Reed, director of the communications office of the state police.

“They collect information and store the information. The criminals come back and take the skimmer out, and they can read everyone's credit card information. They can make fraudulent credit cards,” said Reed.

Reed added skimmers can be quickly assembled from parts available online.

“Card skimmers on gas pumps are the purview of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Department of Weights and Measures,” said Novak.

Walter Remmert, director of the Division of Weights and Measures, said gas pumps at the state's 4,000 gas retailers are inspected a minimum of once every 18 months, usually more often.

Recently, according to Remmert, the division's inspectors themselves have discovered skimmers on gas pumps.

“It's our practice to bring local authorities in should we find them,” said Remmert

“We don't really have a grip on how widespread these things are,” said Novak. “We want the police and the public to report these things

“For example, in Cumberland County, a bank teller noticed an employee taking too much time in front of an ATM,” said Novak, adding it turned out the man was installing a skimmer.

The issue is important enough that the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, a group that represents grocery and convenience stores, wholesalers and product manufacturers in the state, is working with the state agencies to publicize the hazards, said its president and CEO Alex Baloga.

“We are actively working with them to educate the public,” said Baloga.

Baloga added his association has no figures on the number of skimming incidents at member locations because incidents are reported to individual companies.

Baloga said his group backs a bill by state Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York County) to make it a crime to possess skimming devices. The bill was passed unanimously last week in the Pennsylvania House and now goes to the state Senate.

According to Phillips-Hill's office, more than $2 billion was stolen last year in Pennsylvania by crooks using credit/debit card skimmers or scanners.

Her legislation, House Bill 1918, updates and upgrades Pennsylvania law to help prevent, eliminate and punish the use of fraudulent credit/debit card devices.

Her bill makes it illegal to use or possess any device capable of accessing information encoded on the computer chip, magnetic strip or stripe or other storage mechanism of a payment card. Current cases are prosecuted under theft and identity theft statutes.

Under Phillips-Hill's legislation, first offenders face a third-degree felony charge, while a second or subsequent offense would result in a second-degree felony charge.

Phillips-Hill said, “When I first started working on this bill, I was questioned as to the need for such legislation. Simply put, possessing these devices is currently not illegal, even though they have no use other than for criminal, deceitful and deceptive purposes.

“My legislation would give law enforcement one more tool to use in prosecuting these thieves,” said Phillips-Hill.

Closer to home, 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, Reed 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 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.

“With a debit card they will be able to access all the money in your bank account very quickly. Your accounts could be drained before you know it,” Reed said.

Also, while it won't prevent your information from being read, Novak said victims can limit the damage a crook can do by checking bank and credit card statements frequently to watch for fraudulent activity and report any unfamiliar activity immediately.

Here are ways experts cite for protecting your financial information:- Look for signs of an encrypted website when providing sensitive personal information such as credit card, banking information, or Social Security numbers online; key identifiers include a website address for the website's login page that begins with “https” and a padlock icon in your browser status bar.- Do not open links or attachments in unsolicited emails from any person or vendor you do not know.- You can also give yourself a gift this holiday season — order a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com at 877-322-8228- Warning signs of possible cash skimmer presence include: Poorly-lit gas pumps closest to the street; out-of- date pump inspections and no tamper-resistant tape on pump.- Consumers should report suspected card skimmers to police, as well as the institution or store manager.Consumers can contact the Department of Banking and Securities at 800-PA-BANKS or 800-600-0007 to ask questions or file complaints about financial transactions, companies or products.If you believe you've seen a gas pump skimmer, report it to local police. The Office of Attorney General is here to help anyone in Pennsylvania who feels they have been victimized by a gas pump skimmer. Call the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or email scams@attorneygeneral.gov to file a complaint or contact the Department of Agriculture Weights and Measures Hotline, 877-837-8007 or online at www.pda.pa.gov/Weights and Measures Complaint.