STRATEGIC PARTNERS
October 20, 2002
BOSTON -- Boston police on Oct. 18 arrested two Colombian nationals they said helped mastermind an ATM scam that may have victimized thousands of Massachusetts residents, according to a report in the Boston Herald.
Jose Granado, 22, and Adriana Venuzio, 25, allegedly purchased a skimming device over the Internet, affixed it over the card readers of freestanding ATMs and used it to obtain PINs of ATM users, according to Detective Steven Blair.
"We haven't seen anything like this in a while,' Blair told the Herald.
The pair left incriminating clues, including a bank security video showing them at work and snapshots police said they took of themselves touring the world. Police believe they had been in the Boston area for at least two weeks.
Police would not say what banks were hit, but, in addition to Boston, they believe the hustle was performed at ATMs in the Massachusetts cities of Newton and Lowell. According to an Oct. 20 report in the Herald,Newton police Lt. Fred Boudreau said his department was contacted by Fleet Bank on Oct. 19 because one of its 45 ATMs in that city had recently experienced atypical down time, and so may have been involved in the scam.
According to the Herald, customers were greeted at rigged ATMs with an orange sign written in English and Spanish that said: "ATM screen options have changed. Please note the new option before making your selection.'
ATM users would then swipe their card through a scanner Granado and Venuzio fitted over the legitimate transaction screen and card reader.
Blair was alerted to the scam on Oct. 17 when a bank he would not identify expressed concern that one of its busiest ATMs had not done any business over a period of three hours.
The detective obtained a description of a car the couple rented at Logan International Airport by using information from a phony debit card they were using to access ATMs.
Granado and Venuzio were arrested when off-duty Detective Dan Duff spotted their rented 2002 Dodge Intrepid near Dedham. Inside the car, police said they found scanning devices and false identification cards.
The couple will be arraigned on Oct. 21 in South Boston District Court on a long list of charges, including conspiracy to commit larceny, according to the Herald.
