Local ATM skimmer devices are giving thieves keys to cash

VIRGINIA BEACH

The Secret Service and other agencies are investigating an ATM skimming scam that  has stolen financial information from at least 25 victims throughout the region.

The investigations, which apparently began with the discovery July 31 of an ATM skimming device at the Wachovia Bank at 4287 Holland Road, also involve Virginia Beach, Newport News and Richmond police.  

A surveillance camera caught a man and woman installing the device, which records information from the magnetic strip on customers’ ATM cards, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court. Officials removed the illegal device and warned customers to check their bank accounts for fraudulent withdrawals.

Since then, 20 to 25 victims have come forward in Virginia Beach, said Officer Jimmy Barnes. Police also identified five victims in Newport News.

There may be more, Barnes said. Investigators have discovered other skimming devices, but he would not disclose how many or where.

The skimming devices vary, but some fit over the ATM card slot and are disguised to look like the actual ATM apparatus.

“Consumers need to be ... on the lookout for anything unusual at ATMs, gas pumps or any other places they’re using their cards at an automated system,” said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America.

Jerry Scheuer of the Secret Service’s Norfolk office said police and the Secret Service are sharing information and photos, but did not provide more information.

The information stolen at the Wachovia ATM was transferred onto other cards and used to make withdrawals in Richmond and Chesterfield, police said. Information obtained from ATM cards was used  to withdraw more than $8,000 from the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Bank ATM on North Mall Drive on Aug. 10. One day later,  Richmond police released an ATM surveillance photo of a man who they say made five fraudulent ATM withdrawals in the city on Aug. 8. He used cards with information skimmed from cards in Virginia Beach, the police said.

Two people were caught on the camera at Wachovia’s ATM installing the skimmer: a woman in her 20s and a man in his mid-20s to early 30s, Beach police said.

Investigators think those involved might be from Eastern Europe, possibly Russia.

“These individuals work in teams to commit this type of financial crimes, which are common with the Eastern European community,” Detective Jerry R. Cale wrote in the warrant.

Virginia Beach’s case is not the first in Hampton Roads. Chesapeake police reported finding a skimmer last September at the Bank of America at 4301 Indian River Road.

A Chesapeake woman who  had used that ATM reported finding a fraudulent withdrawal in Northern Virginia from her bank account, said a police spokeswoman.

Newport News police said they have identified five victims of identity theft that might  be related to the Virginia Beach investigation, said Master Police Detective Lorain Crain.

Crain said money in those cases had been withdrawn at ATMs from Richmond to Virginia Beach.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Virginia’s Eastern District recently prosecuted two men living in Maryland who stole bank information using ATM skimmers in the Washington area.

Konstantin I. Sintsev pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, and was sentenced Tuesday to 51 months in prison followed by three years of probation. A judge ordered him to pay $240,260 in restitution to victims.

A co-defendant, Vitalijs Balsevics, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay $204,216 in restitution. He is to be deported after serving time.

Court records from that case paint a picture of how the fraud works:

Between April and August 2008, the men attached a strip reader, or skimmer, to Chevy Chase Bank ATMs in Washington and Virginia. Another device recorded PINs.

After watching the ATMs for several hours, they removed the skimmers and left. They downloaded the data onto other cards, which were used to make fraudulent withdrawals.

“Really the burden lies on businesses to detect skimmers,” the Consumer Federation’s Grant said. “They’ll much more easily be able to recognize if there’s a skimming device than the average consumer would.”

Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957,  patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155,  kathy.adams@pilotonline.com