STRATEGIC PARTNERS
November 10, 2002
SYDNEY -- Thieves apparently used skimming devices attached to an ATM owned by St. George Bank to copy more than 100 cards before going on a weekend spending spree, the bank's fraud investigators said on Nov. 11, according to a report in the Morning Herald.
The device was fitted beneath the ATM's card reader, according to the report.
St George's fraud investigators believe the device was attached to the ATM for no more than an hour at a time and that customers were filmed entering their PINs using a camera placed nearby. Some customers reporting the theft to police recalled seeing the device.
The data of more than 100 St George customers was collected over a period of months and then used to steal around $100,000 (about $56,036 U.S.) at POS terminals and ATMs from Nov. 7 to Nov. 10, according to the report.
Police said reports of fraudulent transactions began on Nov. 8 and were still coming in.
A Westpac spokeswoman told the Herald that other banks had apparently been affected as well. "We've become aware of something based around North Sydney," she said. "There would not be one bank that had not been involved."
Clare Dwyer, who had $6,000 (about $3,362 U.S.) stolen from her St George ATM card during the weekend, was told by the bank's lost cards division that hundreds of fraudulent transactions had been reported.
The thieves used Dwyer's card to withdraw $2,000 from two different ATMs and purchase goods worth $4,000 at a computer store.
"They obviously waited 24 hours to make the second withdrawal from (the ATM) because my card has a $1,000 a day limit," said Dwyer, a human resources employee.
She said her card was more than a year old and had never left her possession. "The banks should be telling people to check their accounts," she said.
