This article is from page 16 of the 2008-02-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
GARDAI in Ennis are advising peo- ple to remain vigilant as enquiries continue into an ATM scam in En- nis.
An estimated €54,000 was stolen from bank accounts after a Bank of Ireland pass machine in Ennis town centre was used to copy the details of ATM cards.
The scam involved the installation in the bank machine of a tiny piece of electronic equipment called a skim- ming device which reads the specifi-
cations of installed ATM cards.
A small camera like those used in mobile phones was secured to the top of the machine to record individual PIN numbers as they were being en- ousee
The information from the skim- ming device was then used to make copies of the card. Gardai believe the bogus cards were used to with- draw sums of money from different accounts from locations around the mid-west.
Part of a skimming device was found on a pass machine in Ennis a
fortnight ago and several people had money taken out of their accounts.
A Garda spokesperson said enquir- ies were continuing and urged people to remain vigilant when using ATM machines.
He said, “Enquiries are ongoing at the moment. Quite a substantial amount of money was taken from a number of different bank accounts. The money would have been drawn out at different locations, in Kerry, Clare and Limerick. The information for the cards was taken from a pass machine in Ennis.”
He added, “The most important thing we would say to people is that they exercise caution when they are using ATM machines. In this case, the PIN number was recorded with a camera overhead. When people are using the machine they should block the keypad with their hands.”
He said that if people have concerns or notice anything suspicious at pass machines, they should report it 1m- mediately to gardai.
Three people are due to appear in court next week in connection with a similar ATM scam in Shannon.