Scam Alert: Thieves Target ATMs
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. -- Police in the Upstate have issued a scam alert that could impact anyone that uses an ATM. The device is called a skimmer, and thieves can stick it on an ATM card reader to steal information. "They can do the reading of the card as you slide it in," said Greer Police spokesman Jim Holcombe. A skimmer looks just like a card reader, but, one customer still had suspicions at Sun Trust Bank in Greer on Sunday. "The gentleman that came up to the ATM noticed something didn't look right and got a hold of it and grabbed it and took it off," Holcombe said. Another customer made a startling discovery just hours later. "It's the camera that they had mounted above, where you could look down on the ATM and watch while people put down their pin numbers," Holcombe said. After these discoveries, Holcombe said they went to security tapes for answers. There they could see a suspect installing the skimmer early Sunday morning. "It's a good, good video," Holcombe said. Police said this is rare, but Jennifer Samra with the Upstate's Better Business Bureau said you may be hearing more about it. "We haven't seen a lot of it here, which I guess is a fortunate thing. We haven't had a lot of people calling about it. But, I wouldn't be surprised, if people begin to because of stories like this," Samra said. Samra said there are ways to protect your money. "Protect your PIN. When you are putting your PIN in the ATM, cover it up with your hand. Just be really careful about what ATMs you go to. The ones that are stand alone, that are just random ATMs, are probably more susceptible to this," Samra said. You may be able to spot a fake card reader, like the customer on Sunday. "Even if you give it a little bit of a tug, where the card goes in, you can probably tell it's a little bit loose and there might be something wrong with it," Samra said. Police said because the skimmer was pulled out, the suspect would not have access to the information of those unsuspecting customers. We're told the bank will be closely monitoring the accounts of those customers. _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: / news13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter: / wlos_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: / wlos_13 Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Cha... Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast: https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anch... Watch more top local news stories: • Western Loses At ETSU, Highlights and more For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
