HOUSTON – Investigators with the Harris County Sheriff’s office were searching yesterday for as many as three men who skimmed debit card PINs at the gas pump, then used the numbers to create counterfeit cards and siphon more than $100,000 from area ATMs.
As many as 500 accounts are believed to have been compromised at San Antonio CU and several banks, including Bank of America, Chase Bank, Icon Bank, Whitney Bank and Woodfield Bank, according to investigators. "Where there’s an ATM, they’re hitting them," one undercover investigator told The Credit Union Journal yesterday.
The bandits generally withdraw $2,000 to as much as $3,000 each time at the ATM, she said.
The thieves apparently used skimmers installed at the point-of-sale at at least four gas stations and restaurants to capture account information and PINs, then created phony cards to access the accounts. The suspects are clearly shown on surveillance video using blank cards–apparently encoded with the stolen account holders’ information--at several of the cash machines.
The thieves are seen on the video driving different vehicles, including a new BWM and a black pick-up truck, both with paper tags.
