News

NY senator wants ATM operators to be licensed

December 3, 2003

NEW YORK - The arrests of three men accused of rigging an ATM in a Manhattan candy store to steal bank card data points out the need for licensing and background checks for ATM operators, Sen. Charles Schumer said.

(See related story 3 men indicted in NY ATM skimming case)

According to a Newsday report, Schumer (D-New York), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said he would introduce legislation requiring federal licensing and background checks "to ensure that ATMs aren't really ITMs -- identity theft machines."

"If common sense measures like background checks and licensing requirements had been in place, these guys wouldn't have been able to get their hands on an ATM and wouldn't have been able to rip off innocent ATM users," Schumer said. "The feds need to step up and take care of this before more people get robbed."

Schumer said that under his proposal any individual or company that is not an accredited financial institution -- such as a bank or wire service company -- would be required to undergo background checks. Licensing of vendors, he said, would allow store owners to verify if vendors offering to place ATMs in their stores are legitimate.

The three suspects in the Manhattan case -- all of whom have criminal convictions -- were arraigned Dec. 2 on charges of stealing $225,000 in just one day from ATMs by using cards embedded with information stolen from 300 cardholders.

Prosecutors said the three, who were arrested in November, had skimmed the personal information through a rigged ATM installed in a candy store in September. The store owner apparently did not know the machine had been rigged.