SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -
A click of the mouse. A tearing of an envelope. A swipe at an ATM. It seems anything we do these days could open us up to crooks.
All this week, WTOC is taking a closer look at schemers, crooks and ways they try to steal from you.
Almost everyone these days has an ATM card and has used an ATM machine. However, they may not know what a skimmer is.
Since 2007, WTOC has reported dozens of stories about ATM skimmers and crimes involving them, from the gas pump to the banks.
After five years, it isn't a new way to steal money from people, but it may be the most sneaky, and hardest to spot, catching a person in a hurry off guard, ending up with them being robbed blind.
"There are certain people out there who want to get something from you," Mike Pinkerton, Savannah, told WTOC.
It may be more like take from you. If they want your money, some crooks will go to where you take yours out: The ATM.
Detective Ray Woodberry, Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Financial Crimes, says not enough people know what skimmers are.
"What they do is they put a little bit of silly putty on the back and they fit it right over the top of the real card reader. It has electronics in the back and it can read your card information," Woodberry said.
The card reader device is usually accompanied by a second putty attached device at the top of the ATM, above the key pad, with a camera recording your pin number.
"They can do this in real time. Sit across the street with a lap top and get your pin number as you punch it in. They will counterfeit your credit card, debit card. Once the card is counterfeited, they can go anywhere," Woodberry said.
"They are done by strangers who travel I-95 from Florida to Virginia to the New England states," Woodberry continued. "Most are done by foreign nationals. We've seen they are Ukrainians, Bulgarians, putting this on machines."
Woodberry warns ATM users they can thwart the efforts of thieves by being vigilant the next time you use an ATM or any card reader, even at a gas station pump. Pay attention. The skimmer may be a different color than the rest of the ATM. If the reader is loose when you slide your card in, red flags should go up before you punch in your personal pin number.
"If you pull it off, and it's got putty in the back, you've been had," he said.
"It's just deplorable. Who are making these," Susan Johnston, visiting Savannah from Philadelphia, asked.
Woodberry says the thieves make the devices themselves, using a hodge podge of materials and hooking it up to the ATM.
If you think you have been skimmed, call police and your bank immediately.
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