Post by WillTravel on Jul 9, 2004 12:59:42 GMT -5
I read about this in the paper this morning.
Excerpt from the Vancouver Sun (it's a for-pay article):
RCMP issued a warning Thursday to people who use bank automated teller machines after the arrest in West Vancouver of three men who are believed to be members of an eastern European organized crime group that is using sophisticated new technology.
The trio of former Romanian nationals allegedly used a debit card skimming operation that involved installing a real-looking card reader to capture magnetic strip data from the backs of cards.
The card reader was overlaid on the exterior door of a bank in West Vancouver. Also installed was a miniature pinhole camera directly above the number pad where customers punch in their confidential personal identification numbers.
The remote camera transmitted images of the customer PIN pad entries to a video recorder hidden in a nearby garbage can, which had been brought into the bank by the suspects.
Police believe the suspects parked outside the bank and wrote down times, then later used the PIN numbers to make counterfeit debit cards using data skimmed from the cards.
The equipment was brazenly installed in broad daylight while customers were leaving and entering the bank to use the ATM, police said.
"They installed the card reader in five seconds and the pin camera in under five minutes," said RCMP Supt. Gord McRae, the officer in charge of the commercial crime section at RCMP headquarters in Vancouver.
"This type of fraud is relatively new, within the last year," McRae said, adding Ontario police had warned B.C. police to get ready for it to hit.
"This is a $44-million-a-year problem, according to the Canadian Bankers Association," he said. [end snip]
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The same thing can happen overseas and has.
So to summarize, in no particular order:
1) Cover your hand as you punch in the numbers.
2) Be on the alert for "sleeves" that catch an ATM card.
3) If your ATM card is "caught", don't listen to a nearby helpful stranger who tells you to re-enter your PIN.
4) Check your account balance regularly.
5) Based on this article, I might be reluctant to use doors that require you to enter your card to enter the area. Best to use bank ATMs inside a bank during opening hours.
6) Have a reasonably low limit for daily cash withdrawals (say $200) and withdraw money every few days.
Hope this doesn't happen to us (I know the odds are low). I'm leaving for the airport in about 4 hours, and I hope we will be allowed to board an earlier flight (not at all guaranteed, but who knows!).
Excerpt from the Vancouver Sun (it's a for-pay article):
RCMP issued a warning Thursday to people who use bank automated teller machines after the arrest in West Vancouver of three men who are believed to be members of an eastern European organized crime group that is using sophisticated new technology.
The trio of former Romanian nationals allegedly used a debit card skimming operation that involved installing a real-looking card reader to capture magnetic strip data from the backs of cards.
The card reader was overlaid on the exterior door of a bank in West Vancouver. Also installed was a miniature pinhole camera directly above the number pad where customers punch in their confidential personal identification numbers.
The remote camera transmitted images of the customer PIN pad entries to a video recorder hidden in a nearby garbage can, which had been brought into the bank by the suspects.
Police believe the suspects parked outside the bank and wrote down times, then later used the PIN numbers to make counterfeit debit cards using data skimmed from the cards.
The equipment was brazenly installed in broad daylight while customers were leaving and entering the bank to use the ATM, police said.
"They installed the card reader in five seconds and the pin camera in under five minutes," said RCMP Supt. Gord McRae, the officer in charge of the commercial crime section at RCMP headquarters in Vancouver.
"This type of fraud is relatively new, within the last year," McRae said, adding Ontario police had warned B.C. police to get ready for it to hit.
"This is a $44-million-a-year problem, according to the Canadian Bankers Association," he said. [end snip]
========
The same thing can happen overseas and has.
So to summarize, in no particular order:
1) Cover your hand as you punch in the numbers.
2) Be on the alert for "sleeves" that catch an ATM card.
3) If your ATM card is "caught", don't listen to a nearby helpful stranger who tells you to re-enter your PIN.
4) Check your account balance regularly.
5) Based on this article, I might be reluctant to use doors that require you to enter your card to enter the area. Best to use bank ATMs inside a bank during opening hours.
6) Have a reasonably low limit for daily cash withdrawals (say $200) and withdraw money every few days.
Hope this doesn't happen to us (I know the odds are low). I'm leaving for the airport in about 4 hours, and I hope we will be allowed to board an earlier flight (not at all guaranteed, but who knows!).
