Someone skimmed me … and yet I haven’t lost any weight
No, I’m not saying I have an incredibly low BMI and have no fat to lose — ahh… if only. :-)
Nope, someone cloned my debit card, got my PIN, and enjoyed a sizable withdrawal of cash. I saw the activity on my account and quickly got the card canceled. Strangely, while this someone was stealing my money at an ATM downtown, I happened to be at the bank opening a CD, depositing some checks, and withdrawing some cash. So, if I needed it, I had a pretty airtight alibi. :-)
Basically, someone installed a magnetic reader on an ATM I used and set up a camera to watch as I typed in my PIN. I’m really careful about things like this and always use bank ATMs attached to their branch; those, in theory, should be more secure. When I mentioned this to the bank, they said that I must have used a random ATM and got myself skimmed.
According to the note I got from the bank today, it was the ATM in the lobby of their branch! That’s crazy! I’m impressed, if I were going to set this up, I would pick some remote ATM, not the one in the bank lobby. Whoever did it is really gutsy. Hmmm… I wonder if it was an inside job.
I guess this means I’m a statistic as an identity theft victim. I’ve never been a statistic before. Not even on Halloween (or Christmas). :-)
Eric wrote:
The bank lobby, that is impressive. I am guessing the ATM is not actually in the bank but just outside the main door? Btw, here we have banks in the supermarkets(!) staffed by real live people. I usually use that instead of the ATM and get a friendly smile for free.
Posted on 07-Feb-08 at 1:18 am | Permalink
Vijay wrote:
I guess it’s not technically the lobby. That ATM is between the double doors into the bank.
To access it after hours, you need to swipe a valid debit/credit card to open the first set of doors.
Yeah, I plan to go into the branch from now on to get cash.
Posted on 07-Feb-08 at 11:42 am | Permalink