Shoppers warned of ATM scam

GARDAÍ have warned shoppers to be on the lookout during the sales for suspicious devices attached to cash machines.

Criminal gangs have used card-skimming devices to defraud banks of €3.5 million so far this year, and with a record amount of money in circulation over the holidays, consumers have been asked to be extra vigilant.

There have been more than 150 of the sophisticated devices placed on ATMs across the country with an average haul of the gangs of €50,000. The criminal gangs are predominantly from Eastern Europe and move round the country to target different ATMs.

The number of incidents has risen from one or two a month last year to one or two per week in the early stages of this year and is now running at two or three incidents per day.

The gangs are using sophisticated technology, such as miniature digital cameras and fake keypads. The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI) has seized dozens of these highly sophisticated devices.

These include fake keypads which are placed over the original and transmit the PIN number to the gang. Customers get their money, card back and a receipt but are not aware their card has been skimmed until they get their bank statements.

There are also card skimming devices which contain mini-digital camcorders which can send footage of PINs being entered to a screen 200 metres away.

The gangs use laptop computers to download card information from the devices and then create copies of the ATM cards to empty the person’s account.

The gangs are believed to be measuring the ATMs to get an exact-fit for the devices, spray-painting them the same colour and even sticking warning stickers about card skimming onto them.

Last week, gardaí in Kerry averted a major criminal scam by removing a skimming device from an ATM machine in Killarney.

An alert customer’s suspicions were aroused when he saw that his card had been returning slower than usual from the AIB machine on the wall of the Tesco supermarket on Beech Road.

The ATM was fitted with a false front. A tiny camera recording card numbers transmitted them to a laptop computer somewhere in the vicinity.

The gardaí have enjoyed a lot of success recently in combating the fraud, with major operations against two Eastern European gangs. Up to 20 people are currently before the courts with a number of arrests pending.

All customers who are defrauded at cash machines are automatically compensated by the banks.