Federal prosecutors announce crackdown on ATM ‘skimming’
October 5, 2011
By Staff
How can you tell when a scam is becoming commonplace? When its victims include the top federal law enforcement official in the region.
U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, the lead federal prosecutor for Western Washington, is one of many victims of skimming — a high-tech trick that thieves use to gather sensitive financial information.
The thieves then use that information to empty bank accounts and run up credit card charges.
Federal authorities are urging people to pay close attention when using a debit or credit card at an ATM or similar machines.
Thieves install high-tech devices, such as a tiny camera aimed at the ATM keypad to record customers’ entries and a storage device to record the numbers from thousands of cards.
In September, the U.S. Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force conducted a sweep in Washington that netted several arrests, including an Issaquah man.
The task force has made skimming arrests a priority in the past 18 months.
“The suspects arrested over the last few weeks account for more than $1 million in losses to banks and consumers,” Durkan said in a statement issued Sept. 19. “We believe that with this most recent arrest, we have located and dismantled the nerve center of one of the most prolific rings, which used illegal immigrants from Romania to commit the frauds.”
Throughout the skimming crackdown, investigators seized forms for making card skimmers, fake faceplates for ATM machines, gift cards and electronic equipment for encoding stolen account data onto the cards.
Durkan also announced the arrests of Kirkland residents Ismail Sali and Eugen Tirca for possible skimming activity. Tirca is a Romanian citizen in the United States illegally.
Investigators found documents at the suspects’ Kirkland residence tying Sali to people arrested and prosecuted in the past for skimming. If convicted, Sali and Tirca faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The arrests came less than a month after authorities arrested Issaquah resident Mihai Elekes in Pasco.
Prosecutors said he placed a device on a Chase Bank ATM in late August to read customers’ debit and credit card numbers. Elekes is due in federal court in Seattle for arraignment Sept. 29.
Investigators said Elekes and a 55-year-old Renton man, Ionut Buzbuchi, skimmed account information in Washington, Idaho and Arizona. If convicted, the men could face up to 30 years in prison.
The men targeted ATMs at BECU, First Tech Federal and Watermark credit unions, as well as Chase Bank branches, prosecutors said.
Investigators said the men sometimes installed the skimmer on the access door to the lobby housing the ATM.
What to know
Consumers can follow tips from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle and the U.S. Secret Service to avoid skimming scams:
-If the access door to a lobby ATM is broken, do not use the ATM; go somewhere else.
- If a bank or another facility includes more than one ATM — and a sign has been placed on one of the units saying it is out of service — go somewhere else. The sign could be directing traffic to the machine equipped with skimming devices.
-Check the machine before putting a card in. Is the card slot securely in the machine? Has anything been installed around the edges of the machine to possibly conceal a camera? Is glue or a sticky substance around the keypad or card slot?
- Always attempt to cover your hand when you enter your PIN, so if a camera is installed, the numbers cannot be captured.
-Watch your account activity and report any unauthorized credit or debit charges to your bank immediately.
-Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
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