Beware of the ‘hole in the wall’ (cash machine)!
Written by author on November 9, 2010
Police are warning the public to be vigilant when using ‘hole in the wall’ cash machines after a skimming device was found on a card machine in Dumfries. The device was found by staff at the Santander premises in High Street, Dumfries on Friday 5 November 2010. Police want to trace the following three people who were seen at the machine between 0900 hours and 0940 hours that day. They are described as (1) Male, very heavy build, wearing blue faded jeans, brown jacket with black stripes, and had short dark hair which was thinning on top. (2) Male, slim build, wearing dark jeans, a cream jacket and was bald on top. (3) Female, dark brown hair in a pony tail, wearing dark trousers, a brown waist length jacket and knee length boots.
Police are asking for the public’s help in reporting any suspicious activity near any cash dispensers to get in touch immediately.
Card skimming or cloning is a method used by criminals to obtain your details from your card. A device, created to look like the card entry point on the cash machine is fitted over the genuine slot, to passively skim the information encoded on the magnetic strip of the card. The details are stored and then used fraudulently. Once the cardholder’s details have been obtained the fraudster’s will focus on getting hold of the cardholder’s personal Identification Number. PINs can be obtained in two ways. Firstly by shoulder surfing, whereby the fraudster will tailgate behind the cardholder and look over their shoulder as they enter their number. A second method is by the use of a micro camera which can be installed in the lighting or false trunking on a cash machine to focus on PIN entry. Real-time images are then transmitted to a receiver attached to a hand held camera, typically within 100 metres of the cash machine. The details will then be matched to the corresponding card data.
Any suspicious activity at or near any cash machine should be reported to the police immediately. Any suspicions about cash machines should also be reported, either to the bank or building society, or to the police if out of business hours.
