News

Australian bankers want ban on skimming devices

August 12, 2003

SYDNEY -- The Australian Bankers Association (ABA) is calling for a ban on the data collecting equipment used in ATM skimming scams.

ABA chief executive David Bell says it would be harder to commit ATM fraud if the technology used to skim information from customers cards was made illegal, according to an ABC News Online report.

"Certainly technology is available and one of the things that we would like to see is the tightening of the law to ensure the possession of data capturing machines used in ATM skimming would be a criminal offense in itself," Bell said. "Unfortunately at the moment possession of the machinery is not a crime. If you then commit the fraud, it is a crime."

Kok Meng Ng, a Malaysian national, is facing 14 years in jail after pleading guilty to his part in a skimming scam in which $620,000 was illegally withdrawn from more than 300 different bank accounts. Ng was part of a gang which installed cameras and skimming equipment at ATMs around Sydney. (See related story Man pleads guilty in Australian skimming case)