ATM skimmers steal money from 3 banks

A number of clients of three leading private banks in the country became victims of an ATM scam as unidentified skimmers withdrew money from their accounts by forging their debit card and credit data.
The skimmers set data scanning devices on at least six ATM booths of three banks – Eastern Bank Ltd, United Commercial Bank Ltd and The City Bank Ltd – to steal money from the clients by cloning the card data of ATM users, confirmed officials of Bangladesh Bank.
EBL owns four of the booths in question, while UCBL and City Bank own the other two, at Mirpur and Gulshan area in the capital.
At least 21 clients of the EBL have already reported unidentified transactions from their accounts to the bank.
UCBL filed a First Information Report with the Banani police station in the capital alleging the involvement of foreigners with the scam. The bank also stopped their ATM service starting Friday morning.
The central bank unveiled the scam by analysing close circuit camera footage of the six ATM booths.
EBL stopped its ATM service between 12pm and 6pm of Friday. Clients of the bank however alleged they failed to withdraw cash on Saturday as well, from different ATM booths of EBL in the capital.
Concerned central bank officials worked on a holiday on Saturday to investigate the scam, a BB official told New Age.
BB discovered data scanning devices set between 6 February and 12 February at the six ATM booths, where at least 26 clients punched in their debit or credit card information during the time.
The skimmers have stolen information from at least 180 card users. The central bank asked the relevant 26 banks of these 180 users to stall their card-based transaction, to secure their money.
BB executive director Subhankar Saha told New Age on Saturday the ‘skimming fraud’ was perpetrated through a device that can collect confidential information from debit or credit cards from ATM machines.
Once they have the information, the skimmers clone the debit or credit card of the clients and withdraw the money from the accounts of the card holders.
‘This is not a cyber attack or a technical problem, it is a planned forgery,’ he said.
Subhankar said that the central bank has already sent a letter to all banks asking them to take proper measures to protect their respective ATM booths, such as through the recruitment of trained security guards.
UCBL deputy managing director Tariqul Azam told New Age on Saturday that the bank was independently investigating the incident.
A number of banks have also stopped inter-bank ATM transaction that allow clients of one bank to use an ATM machine owned by another, said another BB official.
The banks are still not fully aware of the extent of the theft, he added.

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