Detecting a skimmer via a vibration sensor

A method comprising:

• determining an intent of a holder of a transaction instrument based on movement data received from at least one of an accelerometer or a gyroscope of the transaction instrument;
• in response to the determined intent corresponding to an interaction of the transaction instrument with a transaction instrument reader of a point-of-service (POS) terminal, turning on a microphone of the transaction instrument to record vibration information as sound capturing the transaction instrument contacting the transaction instrument reader;
• storing the vibration information on memory of the transaction instrument;
• and
• transmitting the vibration information from the transaction instrument to an external device.

A transaction instrument, comprising:

• an accelerometer;
• memory;
• and
• one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the memory, configured to perform operations stored in the memory, the operations comprising:
• determining an intent of a holder of the transaction instrument based on movement data received from the accelerometer,
• in response to the determined intent corresponding to an interaction of the transaction instrument with a transaction instrument reader of a point-of-service (POS) terminal, recording vibration information associated with the interaction using the accelerometer and transmitting the vibration information to an external device.