ATM 'skimming' increases as economy falters
Thieves attach mini-technology to machines for just a few hours that secures customer card numbers, PINS, to make new cards

April 17, 2009
The Baltimore Sun

BALTIMORE — Privacy experts, banks and others are warning consumers about a threat to their personal financial information: electronic "skimming" devices that record credit-card and debit-card numbers at ATMs, gas pumps or vending machines. Using tiny technology disguised as part of the machine, thieves use the information to press new cards with customers' numbers, to the dismay of cardholders such as Kristin R. Kyriakos, 29, of south Baltimore, who returned from vacation Monday to numerous bank overdraft notices in her mailbox.

Thieves had stolen her number while she used an ATM at a Wachovia branch location. With that information, they withdrew cash from several ATMs in New York, taking $2,500, she said. "All of a sudden, I'm really apprehensive," Kyriakos said. "I wasn't aware that people were even capable of doing this."

There's no central source of data to determine the extent of the problem, said American Bankers Association spokeswoman Margot Mohsberg, but anecdotal evidence suggests skimming is cyclical, like other types of fraud.

"As the economy gets worse and people get more desperate for money, the amount of fraud tends to go up," she said.

Also, the technology is more accessible, with people able to purchase the necessary equipment over the Internet, she said. Criminals use magnetic strip readers to record information from the ATM card.

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Under the federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act, banks have up to two weeks to investigate before returning any money, said Paul Stephens of the nonprofit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. That can be a big problem for people who need cash in their accounts to pay bills and living expenses.

"You may be in a position where your account is completely depleted," he said. "Don't be fooled by the promise that ... you have 'zero liability for fraudulent transactions.' You have zero liability once the investigation is completed."

He noted that skimming schemes in which thieves capture ATM card information as well as PINs were not very common. Debit cards or check cards are more vulnerable, because they are used like credit cards for less secure point-of-sale transactions without entering a PIN, Stephens said. ATMs often have security cameras that would record any tampering, he said.

Federal law provides limited protections for consumers who use debit cards or check cards. Debit-card users are liable for $50 of fraudulent charges if they notify their banks in writing within two days of noticing errors, but up to $500 within 60 days, said Hugh Williams, coordinator of the identity-theft office of the Maryland attorney general's office.

"After that, it's gone, basically," he said. That's why he reminds everyone to regularly inspect their bank statements.

ATM Skimming, Skimming Devices, PINs