APD: Beware of sophisticated ATM skimmers
Hidden devices read PIN numbers
It only takes a few minutes. On the surveillance video, a couple walk into a gas station and head straight for the ATM machine.
When they get there, the woman looks at lottery tickets while the man installs a skimming device on the machine to steal people’s bank card information.
Officer Simon Drobik said the scheme came to the attention of Albuquerque Police Saturday after an ATM tech found the device at a northeast Albuquerque gas station.
He said the ATM vendor said they have 75 machines inside gas stations around Albuquerque.
When officers were dispatched to check ATMs at other convenience stores and found another device at a gas station in southeast Albuquerque.
Drobik said we could not release the gas station names or information, as the stations had an MOU, or memorandum of understanding, with police.
Drobik said the woman acts as a “ruse” while the man installs two pieces on the ATM; a green cover over the card slot with a skimmer inside that reads the magnetic strip and another piece placed above keypad with a camera inside to read PIN numbers.
“These guys absolutely know what they’re doing,” he said. “It’s a sophisticated operation.”
The police are asking for the public’s help in finding the two suspects and Drobik said anyone with information should call CrimeStoppers.
He said police do not know how long the devices were in place or how many people could have already been effected.
“If you walk up to the machine you’re never going to notice this unless you know what you’re looking for,” Drobik said. “You might know until about a month from now when your statement comes in”
Police are asking anyone who finds their bank accounts have been compromised to call APD and to pass the message on to friends and family.
“Check any ATM, it doesn’t have to be these ones,” he said. “Just take a second look at it. Don’t be in a rush, there could be a device attached.”
Drobik said these suspects are not known to APD and the organized crime unit is now investigating the matter.
“They’re very sophisticated, if they put their time to doing something productive, probably go further as a country,” he said of the pair. “These guys decided to live a life of crime, rip people off.”
This is not the first time a gas station has fallen victim to skimmers.
Last February APD fraud investigators equated a spike in fraudulent charges with skimmers placed inside gas pump card readers at stations across the city.
The devices come in different forms and read card information before sending it to suspects using bluetooth technology. The suspects then use the information to create clone credit cards.