A member posted a SCAM Alert on Lane Cove Chat by ITC today about his National Australia Bank Credit Card being skimmed. He had been in contact with the NAB Fraud team, and they had told him his card had been skimmed at the Lane Cove NAB ATM located outside on Longueville Road. He mentioned the incident took place on 2 November 2022.
After the post was published, another member said they had also had their card skimmed.
ITC contacted the National Australia Bank and asked them to provide details about the skimming incident and also to advise what steps they had taken to ensure customers had been advised. We also asked them what steps they had taken to ensure the ATM was not compromised
Chris Sheehan, NAB Executive, Group Investigations & Fraud told ITC:
“While we can’t comment on individual cases, we’re aware of some instances where customers have had a bank card ‘skimmed’ and attempted to be used for fraudulent transactions.
“Our dedicated team that monitors customers’ accounts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for suspicious activity detected and prevented fraudulent transactions taking place as a result of cards that may have been skimmed at the NAB Lane Cove ATM.
“As a security precaution, we have proactively blocked all customer cards that were used at the ATM during this period and we’re issuing new cards as replacements. We have notified customers as well as the NSW Police and we’re assisting with the ongoing investigation.
“Any customer who is the victim of a card skimming will be reimbursed by NAB for any loss they incur.
“We continue to monitor our ATMs for suspicious activity, including physical daily inspections and digital monitoring. We encourage customers to remain vigilant and inspect the card reader before using it and to be on the lookout for anything that looks out of place, loose, crooked or damaged.”
What is Skimming?
Criminals ‘skim’ cards and customer details by illegally placing an electronic device on the front of an ATM. This device captures customers’ card details. They can then use these details to make duplicate credit or debit cards to fraudulently take money out of people’s accounts.
The skimming device could be a pinhole camera or a card that’s used to read the microchip on someone’s card and their Personal Identification Number (PIN).
An ATM skimming device may stand out and look ‘out of place’. Some devices may be as small as the top of a pen. Many of these skimming devices can be electronically monitored by the criminal.
To avoid having your card skimmed, inspect the card reader before using it and be cautious if you see anything loose, crooked or damaged.
What Can You Do To Protect Against Skimming?
Information, including photos of skimming devices, can be found here.
What Action Has NAB Lane Cove Taken?
The ITC member who alerted us to the Skimming incident advised that this afternoon there was an Out of Order sign on the NAB ATM. Interestingly it was after ITC contacted NAB to discuss the ATM being used to skim cards.
Be alert, ATMs located outside premises are more likely to be targeted by skimmers than one’s located inside the bank.
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