Article Archive - Skimming
BECU Cracks Card Skimming at Wendy’s
August 2010
Bank Info Security reports a worker at a local Wendy’s restaurant was arrested yesterday, along with two alleged accomplices, and charged with identity theft after she allegedly used a “skimmer” to steal credit card information from as many as 135 customers. The investigation was initiated by the King County Sheriff’s office after evidence was brought to it by a fraud investigator at BECU, who had linked violations to several member accounts to the Tukwila Wendy’s restaurant.
Pay-At-The-Pump Skimming on the Rise
July 2010
Bank Info Security reports institutions, customers are paying for lack of security on gas terminals. At a Shell station in Alachua, FL, last week, a service technician found a skimming device on a pay-at-the-pump terminal when he opened the machine for a routine maintenance check. This incident, the latest in a wave of such attacks, highlights two concerns: That skimming isn't limited to ATMs, and that banking institutions and customers have yet another vulnerability to consider regarding payment card transactions.
Americans’ PINs at Risk for Scams
July 2010
The Bank Fraud Forum reports that new places and unfamiliar ATMs are fertile ground for skimming scams that cost consumers and the ATM industry about $1 billion in annual global losses. Skimming involves stealing the information from a card’s magnetic strip or pilfering a consumer’s personal identification number, or PIN. It’s the most basic of ATM frauds. It can involve a peek over a shoulder or crooks posting small cameras or using telescopic devices to see the PIN. Skimming also happens with fake card readers and phony ATMs.
New Software to Beat Credit Card Fraud
June 2010
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the Bank of New Zealand’s novel software-based technology for reducing credit-card fraud is being rolled out in Australia by its parent company, National Australia Bank. The "liquid encryption number" (LEN) technology is used on all BNZ credit and debit cards, and has cut the incidence of fraudulent transactions from "cloned" credit cards by 50 per cent. The technology works by changing numbers on a card's magnetic stripe every time a transaction takes place, or an account balance is requested at an automatic teller (ATM).
Credit Card Skimming Devices at More Gas Pumps
June 2010
Rocklin & Roseville Today reports three law enforcement agencies are on the trail of identity thieves after the discovery of identical credit card skimming machines inside gasoline pumps in Placer County, Folsom and Sacramento. The simple scanning devices have been found in pumps furthest from the clerk’s location and nearest to the street to avoid detection. Consumers are encouraged to pay inside the store using their credit cards or cash to avoid this type of fraud.
Bossier City Man Charged with Credit Card "Skimming"
June 2010
The Shreveport Times reports a Bossier City man faces theft charges after allegedly using a skimming device to steal people’s credit card information. Bossier City police arrested Sankeyno Rakeem Taylor, 21, on 10 counts of theft under Louisiana’s Anti-Skimming Act following a week long investigation. Taylor is accused of using a skimming device over the past several weeks to steal credit card information from customers in the drive-through lane at the McDonald’s Express restaurant where he was employed.
ATM Skimming Spree Nets $200K
June 2010
Tracy Kitten at Bank Info Security reports that a skimming scam in Long Island, N.Y., netted thieves more than $200,000 from ATMs at five Bank of America branches. These latest in a series of ATM skimming attacks across the U.S. reportedly occurred from April through May. Security surveillance cameras recorded six suspects withdrawing money with cloned debit cards created from the skimmed information. The suspects have not yet been captured.
Disney Clerk Accused of Credit Card Skimming
June 2010
WESH-TV in Orlando reports a Walt Disney World employee used skimming devices at several of the resort’s hotels to steal credit card information from guests. According to federal documents, the victims had used their credit cards at Saratoga Springs Resort and Old Key West Resort, both of which are owned by Disney. Investigators said they tracked the skimming device back to Ana Rosa, who said she had worked at Walt Disney World since 1997. According to investigators, Rosa was responsible for skimming 173 credit card numbers and is responsible for more than $83,000 in losses.
Skimming Scams
May 2010
Justin Pritchard at About.com alerts consumers to dangers of skimming scams and how to avoid them. He says scammers can quickly read a card’s information and use it to access your account fraudulently. He notes skimmers may be installed on ATM machines, and sometimes not be noticed. A small device is placed over the normal card reading slot and can read a card’s magnetic stripe. Skimmers can also be handheld devices that a dishonest merchant can keep in his pocket. While charging a card while out at dinner, for example, a scammer can run a card through a skimmer as well.
U.S. Businesses Face Skimming Fraud Increase
April 2010
Angela Moscaritolo at SC MagazineUS.com writes that U.S. banks are grappling with a recent increase in skimming attacks, which are being carried out by Eastern European gangs aiming to steal consumer bank account numbers and PINs, according to a Gartner analyst. These types of attacks are not new, but the scale and the organization behind them according to, Avivah Litan, Gartner.
Debit-Card 'Skimming' Scams
January 2010
ConsumerReports.org outlines three steps people can to take to protect account data from getting into the wrong hands. Thieves using a technique known as skimming, set up equipment that captures magnetic stripe and keypad information when consumers input their PIN at ATM machines, gas pumps, restaurants, or retailers.
Briton Faces Fraud Charges Over International Debit Card Scam
December 2010
The TimesOnline reports that a British man has appeared in an Australian court to face charges over a multi-million dollar scam which police allege is the country’s largest debit card-skimming operation. The accused are alleged to have gone to more than 20 McDonald's restaurants in the Perth metropolitan area, swapping the pin keypads on EFTPOS (Switch) machines at the outlets' drive-throughs in September and stole more than $AU4.5 million (£ 2.5million) from about 4,000 victims.
ATM Fraud: New Skimming Scheme Spreads
December 2009
Bank Info Security reports that three ATM skimming operations in Maryland, Illinois and Georgia have netted thieves more than $120,000, according to law enforcement agencies investigating the crimes. These discoveries follow several recent incidents of ATM skimming in other states.
Millions Stolen in Credit Card Fraud Surge
October 2009
Australia’s Ninemsn reports a surge in credit card fraud at ATMs and EFTPOS facilities has seen Australians fleeced of tens of millions of dollars in recent months. A leading fraud expert says Australia's outdated and insecure banking technology has made the country the target of Romanian credit card skimmers with increasingly sophisticated equipment.
Russian or Armenian Mob Used "Model Employee" Con at PCH Arco
June 2009
LA Weekly reports an organized-crime ring that police believe is Russian or Armenian targeted a high-volume Redondo Beach Arco gas station, assigned a low-level soldier to infiltrate it and waited eight months while he worked himself into a position where he could implant a tiny, high-tech “skimmer” to steal customers’ credit-card information. Armed with a fresh batch of personal-information numbers, the gang began draining thousands of Southern California bank accounts soon after “Erick,” the model employee who was by then entrusted with opening the station every day at 5 a.m., vanished in late April along with 1,500 packs of cigarettes, $1,000, a laptop, his employee application form — and the two digital video recorders used for surveillance.
D.C. Woman Sentenced in Library of Congress Identity Fraud
July 2009
The Washington Post reports a 35-year-old Southeast Washington woman was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for using the purloined identities of Library of Congress employees to purchases nearly $40,000 in goods. Federal prosecutors said Labiska Gibbs enlisted a relative, a Library of Congress worker, to access an internal database and give her the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of at least 10 employees, prosecutors said. Gibbs used that information to open credit accounts at retailers, including Target and Victoria's Secret.
International Credit Card and Identity Theft Fraud Ring Dismantled
May 2009
In a press release, the Queen’s County District Attorney announced that an international forged credit card and identity theft ring based in the New York- metropolitan area and with roots in Nigeria has been successfully dismantled following the indictment this week of forty-five individuals. The ring – which was comprised of three separate identity theft and forged credit card groups that employed multiple cells – is alleged to have been responsible for stealing the credit cards and personal credit information of thousands of American and Canadian consumers, costing these individuals, as well as financial institutions and retail businesses, more than $12 million in losses over the past year alone.
Four from Providence Charged in Identity Theft, $500,000 Credit-Card Fraud
May 2009
The Providence Journal reports three men and a woman used identity theft to get access to the credit-card accounts of more than 50 people at Bank of America and Citibank and then ran up more than $500,000 in bills at casinos, retail stores and car service centers, according to a federal indictment. The accused allegedly gathered identification information of the victims, which included names, birthdates, addresses and Social Security numbers. That information was then used to create false temporary drivers’ licenses in the victims’ names The indictment alleges that the men used a number of “ruses” to get duplicates of the victims’ credit cards from the two banks.
