this is "nightline." >> tonight, skim bilk. the sophisticated and diabolical new ways scammers are helping themselves to your hard-earned cash. >> this is very easy, and it's a lot of money. >> and that chip that was supposed to do the trick? don't count on it. but there are new ways to protect yourself from high-tech credit and debit card skimming. plus, it may have the look and the luster of the city of light or the romance of venice, but don't be fooled by these far east fakes. >> the eiffel tower. >> our bob woodruff taking us on a colorful journey of copycat towns springing up all over china. even a wild, wild west. but where is everybody? plus, the apocalyptic prank two brothers pull on the

little sister. >> zombie? procedure. taking zombie prep and hysteria to a whole new level. but first the "nightline" 5. number 1 in just 60 seconds.

good watt tonight on you can do to protect your moy. pice believely steal your card details when you think you're just making a purchase. you'll have no idea you've just been skimmed. robert siciliano is a cybercrime expert. >> unfortunately, when it comes to stealing credit card information, it's as easy as swiping your card in any skimming device. >> reporter: now watch this. a hidden camera inside a

pump in arizona. those fingers an alleged thiefr there anymore. i know why. because i have skimmers. a $16 billion a year rd fraud problem in the u.s. alone. skimmers every day, every hour stealing your digits. >> they can use those 16 digits over the phone to place a phone order. they can use them online to plug it into a website. or they can actually clone a card. they can burn the information onto a blank atm or credit card and use that out in the wild. >> reporter: still not afraid? listen to this reformed credit card thief. >> it'

lot of money. so anything i wanted i would just gofi is poacher turned >> somebody tur and he turned me in. >> reporter: then started working for the secret service, teaching agents how to stop skimmers helping themselves to the data on our magnetic strips. >> when the magnetic stripe was created identity theft wasn't an issue, and so the data was never properly encorrupted. once criminals figured it out, obviously it has become a huge issue. >> reporter: now this is the latest weapon in the fight against credit card triem. >> this right here is the recently issued standard chip and signature card. it is supposed to eliminate the cloning of your credit cards. >> reporter: because the chip holds your data encrypted. you may have recently received one in the mail from your bank. it's the panacea. it's going to solve the whole problem. no, it's not. >> skimming is still alive a

well, and it will continue to be alive and well as long as thatb. >> i'll have that cheesy tomatoey one and water. >> reporter: still there because it's taking a long time and a lot of money --? you don't do chip? >> no. it's just a swipe. >> just a swipe. >> reporter: to make the switch. so most cards now have a chip with all my details on it. >> it's not actually encrypted because they can easily have what's called a wedge-type device, a small skimming device that can grab all the information off of it, and they could actually create a whole other credit card. so watch them closely. >> reporter: watch this mcdonald's drive-thru clerk in florida swipes once through the skimmer, once through the register so fast you have no idea. cops say he was stealing digits from up to 70 cards every shift. >> and they actually were able to catch the individual sliding the card and then grabbing the receipt and hand it to me, all in one nice movement. you'd never know that he was

doing anything wrong. he seemed to always be smiling. he was getting more than crk pl guilty, got two years probation. or there's this. i'm about to steal this coffee drinker's credit card details with an app on my phone. surreptitiously placed on her wallet for just a few seconds. so to stop that happening to you you can buy what's called a shielded wallet like this. a wallet that blocks scanning devices. there's also the signal vault, as seen on abc's "shark tank." >> our efield technology makes your information invisible to hackers. >> reporter: looks like a credit card, has the same blocking powers as the shielded wallet. or the cheaper option, you can cover all of your credit cards in aluminum foil. kool and the gang. and with that magnetic strip still in place, the atm also a potential danger. >> be aware that at any given point in time there could be a skimming device on the face of that

>> reporter: this might sound stupid but check that there's nothing jiggling been brazil. looks like a normal ain.h this false fronthallround money. >> also make sure that you cover up the actual keypad with your other hand as you punch in your pin code because there could be a camera anywhere recording your pin number. >> reporter: robert siciliano has an atm in his garage. >> when criminals set up a skim scam, there's generally two parts to the scam. one would be a small wireless camera here hidden behind this mirror. this takes video footage of the keypad as you're punching in your pin code. in addition to the camera, of course, is the skimming device. ce of the ng device fits on the so when you swipe your card through, it grabs the information off the back

even if a consumer has a chip card, it doesn't make aincreasi card not present transactions, where the chipnoing. like online shopping. >> sweet procomplex clothes dryer transition duct 1098. just tap in the digits. >> nick, stop what you're doing. whenever you use free public wi-fi, always know that somebody within 500 feet can always sniff your data. the problem with free wi-fi is that it's unencrypted and unprotected. make sure you have what's called a vpn, a virtual private network that encrypts and locks down your information on free wi-fi. >> reporter: and three top tips in that same vein. don't use 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 as your password on accounts. get complex. it helps. >> and making sure you have strong and long passwords and have a different password for every account and also consider a password manager. >> ror

statements. it's the only wl kskimmed. >> some studies show that as many as 9 outly eir creditar statements. >> reporter: even sign up for alerts that ping you every time your card is used. banks and businesses are now spending billions to change to the chip. but will they be able to stay one step ahead of the skimmers? >> researchers in a controlled environment have been able to get information off of chip cards. whereas out in the wild criminal hackers haven't actually been able to crack the code as far as we know. >> reporter: as far as we know. are you reassured by that? oh. and miami beach detectives say that these men, yep, slipping that skimmer over the gas station card reader, detectives say they are still at large. i'm nick watt for "nightline" in los angeles. next, house hunting? there's plenty of room in paris.

paris. they've also got a venice a gho? abc's bob woodruff on a bizarre odyssey. i struggle with bipolar depression, and it's hard. i miss out on life's little moments. ♪ so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed latuda. there are many forms of depression. latuda is fda approved to treat bipolar depression, which is different from other types of depression. in clinical studies, once-a-day latuda was proven effective for many people struggling with bipolar depression. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients on latuda have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles and confusion, as these may be signs of a life-threatening reaction, or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these may be permanent.

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♪ okay. so now one of the strangest real estate stories you may ever see. entire cities designed to look like paris, venice, london, even jackson hole, wyoming. so why doesn't anybody want to live there? here's abc's bob woodruff. >> reporter: ah, paris. one of the most beautiful cities in the

>> [ speaking french ]. lltiend. an entire city built to look live in. me inhabitants. rachel moved here six years ago. so what do you think of this being paris right here? >> yeah. how do you think? >> reporter: is it strange to you? >> yes. i think a little strange. >> reporter: you live here? >> i don't like it here. >> reporter: she says she is not exactly feeling the joie de vivre. and apparently almost no one else is either. >> these

may have copied so much else about the west in these developments, they mf hnd deman. oth spul real estate currently gripping china roiling stock markets worldwide. paris now virtually a ghost town. streets empty. stores vacant. they've got the laundry hanging right in front of their house. for so few people there seems to be quite a lot of laundry hanging almost everywhere. there's laundry on the tree. fourth floor. >> yeah. >> reporter: so you have the penthouse. >> yeah. you want to see? >> reporter: yeah, yeah, yeah. the very top. in paris it would be a dream to have this view. wow. >> the view is good. >> reporter: yeah. >> the view. >> reporter: in fact, the view is getting better and better because this is no isolated phenomenon. all over china copycat european cities from mock london to faux venice sprouting up by the hundreds. >> these are not just

knockoffs. >> reporter: bianca bosker, an aue architecture and waterways, this venice of china ye reason, says boscer, is a nst reaction against a long history of communism. >> even a generation ago, for example, it wasn't up to individuals and families to really decide how they were living, where and in what way. and be able to make that chase is in its own way a very important kind of revolutionary option for contemporary chinese families. >> reporter: if you want to get

out of beijing, past china's great wall, cowboys and of course route 66. it doesn't actually go through wyoming. get the snow right. but even that's a duplication. if you thought this was real snow, well, here's the secret. they make it, fake. unlike other duplitecture towns, this one sold well. this one the realtor showed us cost almost $2 million. >> this is gigantic. >> reporter: perhaps because it's only about an hour and a half away from the often polluted chinese capital. why is it a lot of people want to live in an american type

>> reporter: oh, you want the i before. >> reporter: do you like it? >> ye.is? 's winston churchill. then there's the tudor architecture. little neighborhoods like this remind me a lot of london from when i lived there. it's got the same doors, the same walls. >> reporter: the iconic red phone booths. and security guards dressed in british uniforms. what's it like to wear a british uniform like this?

like paris, it was supposed to be a busy town, filled withno one. three. four. five.x. six. and now these ghost towns are endangered in a whole new way. the chinese government has recently announced that these knockoff cities are at odds with socialist c

ubstance. flonase controls six.

r...on every plate - and we're about to keep it going. yeah, you' g i'm billy, that's who i was. after one week of chantix, i knew i could quit. stop. some had seizures while taking chantix. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse or of seizures. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you have these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away as some can be fe-threatening. tell your doctor if you have heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke.

taking chantix. use caution when driving

leave a child having less just because they lived in a region that was poor. joanne benson: he has not just talked about it. he is going to stand tall for all children to succeed. i'm chris van hollen, and i approved this message.

i don't want to do this. >> this is mi teethn that post- haze when all of a sudden an alert comes across the radio. >> state and local officials have reported cases of high fever, nausea, death and even cannibalism. >> reporter: a call from mom confirms the news. >> you need to get home right now. >> don't move. >> what? ♪ cannibals? zombi zombies? >> reporter: no, it's not a scene out of "the walking dead." it is a prank

brothers, they say, who posted the hoax online.ea --

what is this supposed to do for me? get me a off th i told you it might be a little crazy. marie: hi, dear. hi, marie. i just brought hilda and artie over 'cause i wanted them to see the kids do their "knock, knock" joke. we hear it's a hoot! now's not the best time, i'm tryin' to get 'em upstairs. michael, "knock, knock"--

knock." knock, knock! knock, knock! nokndea: let's go. co o well.