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You may want to be more cautious the next time you use an ATM.

A recent spike in stolen bank account data has been attributed to a global network of thieves who are exploiting ATMs with inexpensive technology.

It is called ATM skimming, and it involves the scanning, or skimming, of your credit card’s magnetic strip, and the capturing of your PIN number from a nearby camera.

Thieves use inexpensive parts, many available online, to construct authentic looking facades on ATMs. They place a dip reader, or card reader, over the debit card entry slot. Your card is skimmed as it slides into the bank’s official card slot.

The card’s data is harvested along with a video capture of you entering your PIN. The contents of your card’s magnetic strip are cloned onto blank cards where thieves quickly visit different ATMs and drain all of your funds.

You can see a breakdown of the components here.

Click the link below to see a list of three important steps you can take to protect yourself from this growing fraud.

Growing frustration with the financial industry has inspired many people to reconsider their banking options.

The role that many large banks played in the near collapse of the US financial system has sparked a recent grassroots movement that encourages people to move their money away from large institutions and into community banks and credit unions.

Many people are discovering that local community banks and credit unions represent values that are more aligned with their own.

Local banks often invest most of their profits back into the local community, have their top executives living in the community, and can quickly make business decisions since they are owned locally.

The “Move Your Money” campaign spearheaded by Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post and Rob Johnson of the Roosevelt Institute is leading the charge.

It’s important to identify your local community banks and credit unions and see if they are a better fit for you than a larger institution.

The following list of actions offers an easy and useful way to locate and evaluate your community banking options.

A bevy of complaints and expressions of outrage erupted last week when The New York Times reported that Swedish clothing retailer H&M destroyed and trashed unsold merchandise.

With much of the US and Europe gripped by a cold snap, many are concerned about the safety of those without warm clothing.

Those who were outraged took their complaints to their favorite social networking sites and created a public relations fiasco for the company. H&M responded and assured the public that they would cease this practice and promised that it would not happen again.

Those outraged by this behavior should consider actions they can take in their own life to put their old clothes to good use.