ATM at Bank of America branch in downtown Chappaqua
January 29, 2010
by Christine Yeres
On Wednesday, January 20, at 6:00 p.m. a person entered the vestibule of the Bank of America branch at the corner of Woodburn and South Greeley Avenues and planted some kind of recording or photographic device on the single ATM machine inside, reported Detective Sergeant James Wilson of the New Castle Police Department. For the next 23 and a half hours, he explained, the device captured the ATM card numbers and PIN codes of about 50 of the bank’s customers who used the single ATM machine in the vestibule.
The next day, said Wilson, at 5:30 p.m. someone entered the vestibule and removed the device. The bank learned about two days later that something larcenous had taken place when several customers called to report details of withdrawals they had not made themselves. Bank officials called the New Castle police, who helped determine the hours the card-skimming scheme had taken place by viewing video footage from the bank’s surveillance camera. Bank personnel then contacted about 50 patrons who had used their ATM machine during those hours, blocked their cards and reissued new temporary cards, according to Wilson.
“We encourage customers to monitor their accounts,” explained T.J. Crawford, spokesperson for Bank of America, “and we monitor for suspected fraudulent activity as well. We have a variety of security measures in place, but in order to maintain the integrity of those measures, we don’t reveal them entirely.” He added that in such cases as last week’s card-skimming, “the bank’s customers are protected against unauthorized activity on their accounts,” indicating that the customers would not be out the money fraudulently withdrawn.
A first for New Castle, but a common technique elsewhere
“It’s pretty common in the City,” reported Wilson, “but this is the first time we’ve seen [this type of activity] here in New Castle.” Although police are still unsure of the particular type of card-skimming device used in the Bank of America case, according to Wilson, some devices are card-readers themselves, look-a-likes that are hard to distinguish from the real ATM front. The devices are sometimes paired with a fake brochure holder attached to the side of the ATM machine booth, containing a camera trained on the PIN keypad. The camera is capable of transmitting the photos wirelessly to a receiver stationed nearby. Once collected, said Wilson, the card numbers and PIN number data are matched, fake cards are fabricated and either used by the thief, or sold on the black market along with PIN information.
“Know what your ATM looks like,” advised Wilson. “Look for any foreign objects attached to the ATM or damage to the ATM, and cover your hand as you punch in your PIN number.” New Castle police detectives are still investigating the case. At this time they do not know exactly what kind of device was used in the commission of this crime. Wilson confirmed that the types of devices pictured in the following link—http://www.snopes.com/fraud/atm/atmcamera.asp—have been used in crimes of this sort. Residents may contact police at 238-4422 with any information about the crime, either something they noticed about the ATM, or any suspicious person in the area at the time.
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