Skimmers found, Police Say Check Machines Before Using

By: JoAnn Merrigan | WSAV News 3
Published: May 10, 2011

(Savannah, GA) Sgt. Keith Edwards shows me some pictures of a skimmer device found Monday at a bank on the Islands. "This is the device that was placed right over the card reader," he tells me.

He says that crooks are becoming more sophisticated and using devices that are basically molded to right right over the entire portion of the machine that reads the debit card. He shows me that a strip on the top of the skimmer held a mini-camera, apparently able to capture images of the debit card number and pin number.

Edwards is from Metro Police's Financial Crime Unit and says it probably takes less than one minute to install a skimmer and that the one discovered at the bank was actually detected by a police officer who had gone to the ATM to get cash. "He started shaking the card reader a little bit and it started getting loose and that's when he noticed it was actually a skimmer," Edwards says.

When the device was dismantled, Edwards says they found a camera inside the top strip on the device. "And that's where the camera's located to capture your pin number to enter it in," he tells me.

Police say always check an ATM machine. Edwards points out that the skimmer they confiscated was a much darker metal color than the actual machine, so that may be a red flag if you're paying attention. He also says if the reader seems wobbly, don't use the ATM and call police.

He also says on Monday, after the skimmer was found at the bank, a second skimmer that had apparently been installed on an ATM at a southside credit union was removed. They assume it was removed by the thief, maybe the same one who installed the device on the bank. "We're trying to look at surveillance video now from both the credit union and the bank to see if we can find the person or persons responsible."