Posted on 12/04/2009 11:45:20 AM PST by KeyLargo
Thousands Ripped Off In Suburban ATM Scam
$20,000 Stolen From Accounts Through Mount Prospect ATM MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (CBS) ―
Hundreds of people have been ripped off by an ATM scam making the rounds in the north and northwest suburbs.
This time, the Daily Herald reports thieves installed a skimmer to steal users' PIN numbers at a drive-up Bank of America ATM in Mount Prospect, and made off with more than $20,000 from 316 bank accounts.
The device was used for several days in October and November at the Bank of America at 200 E. Kensington Rd. in Mount Prospect, the Daily Herald reported.
The same scam netted the thieves more than $70,000 from the Chase Bank at 175 N. McHenry Rd. in Buffalo Grove. Two thieves placed a camera and recording device on the lobby ATM there last month.
In that case, the two robbers recorded by the bank's own surveillance cameras, including when they were putting the devices on the ATM, police said.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
Why do these scams always seem to involve Bank of America, Chase, Citi and other pigs at the government bailout trough?
It’s probably the criminal banksters setting these frauds up.
Sounds like I’m not the only one who needs a tinfoil hat. :-)
Actually I was thinking that the story title could be;
Thousands ripped off from bank customers in fees.
2009
Banks make $38bn from overdraft fees
http://www.wamu-chase-ripoff.com/?p=204
It’s probably the criminal banksters setting these frauds up.
That wouldn't make too much sense for them to do it, since they have to pay back the customers the money they lost... LOL...
Why do these scams always seem to involve Bank of America, Chase, Citi and other pigs at the government bailout trough?
Well, in case you didn't know... these kinds of things were happening when President Bush was in office, too... LOL...
Just like on TV! I saw this one on CSI.
As it happened, when I got home that night I went on my Citi account and noted $380.00 removed that I did NOT take out...and then it hit me!
I called my son (NYPD) and he told me what to do. I spoke to the detectives and they told me to go to Citibank and that they would review the security tapes.
I described the guy to the HBSC security people (looked like an [east] Indian, short, medium brown complexion).
They smiled...they said probably from Guinea in South America...they are evidently well known for this (at least back then). They also said he was likely already on a plane going back home. One thing that surprised me: Citibank put the 380 back into my account the next day.
Wouldn’t be simpler if each ATM machine displayed on its monitor, what its card slot looks like, so that if the card slot people see looks different from the one on-screen, they would know a skimmer has been attached?
This is a VERY old scam. Up here the problem went away when the banks retrofitted their machines with card slots that wouldn’t accommodate the skimmers.
Good idea !!
As someone (Dillinger? Sutton?) once said, "That's where the money is."
Willie Sutton
These sorts of crimes will become increasingly difficult to perform because of facial recognition technology and the like. At least the technology is there, only the will to implement it would prevent meaningful security and safeguards. I like cash as much as everyone else, but it’s nice to keep crooks away from money.
This has downsides though, if one has a lot of money they resort to kidnapping family members, etc. Crooks sure are expensive.
Two years ago, my wife and I were in Elk City, Idaho. I went to buy a couple of T-shirts. My Visa card was rejected. I went across the “Main Street,” to buy some gas; it was rejected there as well. We went back to our cabin and called the Wachovia 800 number. The girl that answered asked me if my wife was in NYC. I told her “no, she’s sitting across the table from me, out in the middle of nowhere.” She typed a few numbers in and then told me that someone at Columbus Circle had just withdrawn $802 from my account. She said that the bank would make good the theft, but in the meantime, my Visa card was no good. When I got back to Florida I went to the local branch, and the manager told me that I was the sixth person that week that had complained about the theft. The $802 was made good within 24 hours. Someday, someone will be made to pay. Thou Shalt Not Steal.
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