Bay area people may want to watch out!

[garbear]

So I live in tracy, Ca its pretty close to the Bay Area and I was reading the paper today and at Safeway and Costco gas station people are getting peoples, info when they use there debit card and withdrawing money from there accounts. So you may want to be careful because there saying these people are going to the Bay area and withdrawing the money.

Here is the story:

Dozens of people have been ripped off through an ATM scam in town, and Tracy Police could get FBI help with their investigation. On Wednesday Tracy police fielded 24 calls from victims as of 4 p.m. Police heard from 14 victims on Tuesday and 12 on Monday, but before that there were only a few each day. While many people, including 20 or so from the Grant Line Road Costco store, suspect their accounts were compromised at the Costco gas station the scam could reach further.
“What’s so bizarre was I didn’t use my debit card since I was up with my aunt and uncle for New Year’s Eve,” said Janet Sayers of Tracy.
She said her bank called her on Sunday to report a $500 withdrawal from an ATM in Pleasanton and then froze her account when she confirmed that it was a fraudulent transaction.
“I was home all day,” she said, and while she uses the Costco gas station she said she hadn’t been back since just prior to the New Year’s holiday. She said she has also used her ATM at a store where a clerk passes the card through a reader behind the counter, but she won’t do that anymore.
Another woman said she used her ATM at the Costco pharmacy and lost $1,000 shortly afterward when someone made withdrawals from ATMs in Milpitas and Palo Alto.
Management at Costco would not comment on the matter.
Banks are familiar with ATM and credit card scams. Yannick Green of Mountain House said he learned how widespread this week’s problem is when he went to his bank to cancel his ATM cards.
“When I went into the bank to stop everything they said they weren’t surprised,” Greensaid. “I wasn’t the first one in there to report theft.”
Like many of the folks who called the police on Tuesday, Green had used an ATM at Costco on Grant Line Road. He said the machine wouldn’t accept his card on Friday, so he used a cash voucher to buy gas. Afterward he thought that something was amiss, and over the weekend his wife spotted $500 worth of charges from ATMs in Sunnyvale and Mountain View on their account.
Tracy Police still haven’t reported where or how thieves gained access to debit card data in town.
City spokesman Matt Robinson said Wednesday that the detective on the case is now working with the FBI. An FBI spokesman in Sacramento said he was unaware of an investigation. The FBI spokesman from the San Francisco office said agents would not comment on whether or not there is an active investigation.
Scott Gillingham, resident agent in charge for the U.S. Secret Service office in Sacramento, said he is unfamiliar with this case, but the agency regularly investigates electronic fraud like this.
Gillingham said thieves often attach electronic devices on the front of an ATM. A person using an unfamiliar ATM may not recognize the device, which will read a card’s magnetic strip and record or transmit the information. That allows a thief to make a counterfeit card. Thieves will use a hidden camera on or near the ATM to record a user’s entry on the PIN keypad.
“It’s not very common in this area, and people are able to tell that the machine has been modified,” he said, though the devices also have become more sophisticated.
The California Bankers Association issued an alert about this type of scam in July 2005. The association warned people to be aware of any changes to the ATMs that they regularly use, and also to shield the keypad when they enter their pass codes.

[Rex Dopey24]

yikes.

[garbear]

yikes.

I could never imagine it happening to me. Then when you think about it, it makes you go yikes!

[I Heart Disneyland]

I have been in banking 27 years, and EVERYONE is shocked when it happens to them.

[garbear]

I have been in banking 27 years, and EVERYONE is shocked when it happens to them.

I can see why, I always tell myself oh it wont happen to me. But then when I read stories it makes me realize wow, these people that got there money stolen probably said those exact words!

[I Heart Disneyland]

My nephew was married last summer in AZ. My family traveled from several states for this wedding. My niece and bro-in-law went to the same bank machine during that week and a month later, on the same weekend, they BOTH had money missing from their checking accounts. Both done by fraudulent ATM cards with their account numbers and they used their PIN numbers on them!!! There is, apparently, a device, that is not detectible, that is placed on a machine, and it collects all of that data, and then they come back for it later.....make cards with the account numbers and PINs and off they go. But, it took a month or more for them to use the number.

It's frightening how inventive the criminals have become in their master plans. I feel like they could do so much good with those smarts, you know? It's disgusting.

[garbear]

My nephew was married last summer in AZ. My family traveled from several states for this wedding. My niece and bro-in-law went to the same bank machine during that week and a month later, on the same weekend, they BOTH had money missing from their checking accounts. Both done by fraudulent ATM cards with their account numbers and they used their PIN numbers on them!!! There is, apparently, a device, that is not detectible, that is placed on a machine, and it collects all of that data, and then they come back for it later.....make cards with the account numbers and PINs and off they go. But, it took a month or more for them to use the number.

It's frightening how inventive the criminals have become in their master plans. I feel like they could do so much good with those smarts, you know? It's disgusting.

Criminals anger me. They go and steal peoples hard earned stuff money ETC..
Its like I bet they feel great going home at night. Saying wow I work real hard for my money.

[garbear]

WOW! Look at all those people calling in to say money was illegally withdrawn from there account!

Tracy police logged 215 calls on Tuesday, including the following reports:


.
7:39 a.m.: A woman called from Costco, 3250 W. Grant Line Road, to report that 10 employees who bought gas from the store have had illegal cash withdrawals from their bank accounts.
9:07 a.m.: A man on the 2900 block of Sunset Way reported that someone took money from his bank account using his ATM number.
10:03 a.m.: A man on the 900 block of Tennis Lane reported that someone stole about $950 from his bank account.
10:49 a.m.: A woman on the 1000 block of Belmont Lane reported roughly $900 of fraudulent withdrawals from her bank account.
11:44 a.m.: A woman on the 1900 block of Thomas De Haven Court reported that someone sued her account to buy things on the Internet.
12:11 p.m.: A woman on the 2000 block of Tahoe Circle reported someone took money from her checking account.
12:21 p.m.: Someone on the 1800 block of Plum Lane reported check fraud.
1:03 p.m.: A woman from the 400 block of East Carlton Way walked into the police station to report that someone fraudulently took money from her checking account.
1:48 p.m.: A man on the 700 block of Menay Drive reported the fraudulent use of his ATM card.
2:14 p.m.: A woman from the 2800 block of Atlanta Drive reported that someone from San Jose was using her ATM card to take money out of her bank account.
2:30 p.m.: A woman from the 400 block of Belmont Lane reported that someone used her debit card to buy things in San Carlos and in Berkeley.
3:06 p.m.: Someone from Washington Mutual, 2751 W. Grant Line Road, reported that someone has removed $1,000 in two transactions from her account.
3:08 p.m.: A man called to report that someone withdrew $502 from his bank account using a Wells Fargo ATM machine in Pinole.
4:31 p.m.: A woman from Costco, 3250 W. Grant Line Road, reported that someone made more than $1,000 in charges on her bank account.
5:13 p.m.: A woman from the 1700 block of Duke Court reported that someone used her ATM pin number to steal money from her checking and savings account.
7:24 p.m.: A man on the 900 block of Sequoia Drive reported that someone stole one of his checks and cashed it.

[I Heart Disneyland]

Criminals anger me. They go and steal peoples hard earned stuff money ETC..
Its like I bet they feel great going home at night. Saying wow I work real hard for my money.

I feel the very same way. They are out there stealing money from me, when I work hard for a living!!!! Jerks! ha!

That list is incredible! That's how it happens though.

[MollyTrolly]

This happened to me and a bunch of people last June. Apparantly there is a device that can be attached to a debit card machine without the store knowning that will record all info, card number and pin. I had money taken from my account using my debit card number and PIN...and I had the cand in my purse. They did credit us and I guess everyone else back the money...but I was really mad.

[garbear]

I feel the very same way. They are out there stealing money from me, when I work hard for a living!!!! Jerks! ha!

That list is incredible! That's how it happens though.

I was just reading the little police log being nosey, and them I start seeing tons and tons of people calling in for Fraudulent charges and I was blown away!
Over 10 calls!

[I Heart Disneyland]

This happened to me and a bunch of people last June. Apparantly there is a device that can be attached to a debit card machine without the store knowning that will record all info, card number and pin. I had money taken from my account using my debit card number and PIN...and I had the cand in my purse. They did credit us and I guess everyone else back the money...but I was really mad.

Yep! That's what I just posted above. They have that device and you can't detect it. It's freaky!

[garbear]

Yep! That's what I just posted above. They have that device and you can't detect it. It's freaky!

The worst part of the whole thing is your clueless. So when you go to the bank and get money from your account someone could be richer than they were 20 minutes ago.

[chrisaustx]

This same scam has happened to ARCO, Kroger (So. Cal Food 4 Less and Ralph's Stores) someone hacked into the data network and was making cloned debit cards with pin numbers and was using them to withdraw cash in the middle east. Just always watch your checking account via online access every few days, some of these thieves work for payment processing companies and can hijack the network without detection.

[DOOM BGI]

Criminals anger me. They go and steal peoples hard earned stuff money ETC..
Its like I bet they feel great going home at night. Saying wow I work real hard for my money.

Hey criminals work hard too. It's not easy coming up with these scams and inventing all those high-tech stealing gizmos. I bet if they worked as hard at making an honest buck they'd make more money!!

Honestly, it's not the "easy money" that attracts people to commit crimes like this. I think it's a pathology of criminal types who get off on stealing. It's got to be an exciting life... it's like a drug they get high on getting away with it. And I bet they think of themselves as pretty darn clever to come up with these scams. The money is secondary to the lifestyle. Just my theory.