Credit card skimmers target Sonomans at ATMs

Sonoma is a popular tourist destination, making it a target for scams.

To protect yourself against card skimmers, inspect ATMs and other card readers before using them. Look for anything unusual, such as a loose, crooked, damaged or scratched card reader. Pull at the edges of the keypad before entering your PIN. And when entering your PIN, cover the keypad to prevent cameras from recording your entry.

Use ATMs in well-lit locations, where they are less vulnerable targets for skimmers. Use debit and credit cards with chip technology because fewer devices can steal chip data, as opposed to magnetic strip data.

Contact your financial institution if the ATM doesn't return your card after you end or cancel a transaction.

The next time you take money out of an ATM, be sure you’re not having money taken from you.

A Bank of America employee found a second concealed credit card skimmer – possibly even more than that – from a Sonoma ATM during the past year, according to Sgt. Scott McKinnon of the Sonoma Police Department. The advanced devices are easy to miss, authorities say.

Sonoma Police Chief Brandon Cutting and others advised people to protect themselves by using several strategies.

Fraudsters attempt to extract information from residents at ATMs using small, discreet devices that record the details of not only credit cards, but also the PIN number used to access bank accounts.

“It's a two-part thing,” said Cutting. “One part captures your credit card information and another video, a very small micro video recorder, captures your finger or keystrokes on the keypad. Simply sheltering your hand from above prevents them from seeing your PIN pad.

Once a person’s bank information is acquired, fraudsters can either physically retrieve the device or use Bluetooth to download the data without ever returning to the ATM, McKinnon said.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “It is estimated that skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year.”

So far, Sonoma police do not believe skimmers have been successful in the city, thanks to the efforts of Bank of America’s security, Cutting said.

“We have detected most of their crimes before they've actually been able to collect data, as far as we know,” he said. “Bank of America does a really good job checking their machine every day. That's how we found these devices.”

Law enforcement cannot be entirely certain no information was taken, or will be taken in the future, but McKinnon said that so far, the police department is ahead of the fraudsters.

“I don't think we had a single phone call from anybody whose card has been compromised, which leads us to believe that we're able to get the device before the subject,” he said.

Contact Chase Hunter at [email protected] and follow @Chase_HunterB on Twitter.

Sonoma is a popular tourist destination, making it a target for scams.

To protect yourself against card skimmers, inspect ATMs and other card readers before using them. Look for anything unusual, such as a loose, crooked, damaged or scratched card reader. Pull at the edges of the keypad before entering your PIN. And when entering your PIN, cover the keypad to prevent cameras from recording your entry.

Use ATMs in well-lit locations, where they are less vulnerable targets for skimmers. Use debit and credit cards with chip technology because fewer devices can steal chip data, as opposed to magnetic strip data.

Contact your financial institution if the ATM doesn't return your card after you end or cancel a transaction.