Photos Show Men Using Skimmers To Rob Cambridge ATM
BOSTON (CBS) --- Cambridge Police hope new photographs of thieves stealing from Bank ATM's in Central Square will lead to a break in their case.
Mass Most Wanted posted several close-up photos of men police say installed electronic skimmers onto at least one Cambridge machine, maybe more.
Security expert Robert Siciliano, from McAfee, showed WBZ-TV what a skimmer looks like.
"When bad guys affix this to the face of the ATM, it looks like it belongs there, and then what you do as a consumer, you walk up to the ATM, you slide your card through, and it skims the information off the back of the magnetic strip," he explained. He says skimmers also attach a camera to the machine, "that takes video of the keypad as you're punching in the pin code."
"They are great quality photos," said Cambridge Police Det. Brian O'Connor, who specializes in computer crimes. He says the surveillance pictures show men who set up a skimming operation in Cambridge from last November until January. His advice: cover the pinpad with one hand when withdrawing money, and check statements often. "The earlier you detect something on there, the earlier you catch the fraud, and the bank can prevent future fraud."
Police are not saying how much money has been stolen from the Cambridge incidents so far, but they say a significant amount was withdrawn from somewhere in New York City.
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