Skimmer scams on the rise: Shock at evening phone call from bank after crooks clean out account

The BNZ says skimming scams are picking up after a lull during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo / iStock

An Auckland woman has been told skimmers gained access to her bank Pin and withdrew as much as they could from a cash machine.

She was called on Sunday evening and she may be one of a growing number of victims as the scam rebounds after taking a breather during Covid lockdowns.

“I was just sitting down watching something on Netflix. A woman rang with no ID saying she was from BNZ and I thought she was a scammer.

“She said no, someone has either taken money out of my account or spent $790 at Henderson Countdown.”

The victim lives in East Auckland, a long way from Henderson, and has never been to the supermarket in the western suburbs.

The BNZ staffer read the first few numbers of the eftpos card.

The victim frantically checked her wallet to see which card was being discussed.

Sure enough, it was the BNZ eftpos card linked to her current account, which just a day earlier had a balance of $798.

“What she says happened is they have a high-tech scamming skimmer machine they install somewhere that’s usually not being guarded too much.”

She said BNZ promised to reimburse her, as the loss was not her fault.

Meanwhile, she had an interim solution. “I can use my husband’s money,” she quipped.

Joking aside, she said the event was worrying and she felt sorry for people who might have only one bank account and be in the same situation.

“I’ve never had anything like this happen before. It makes me think I probably won’t keep a lot of money in my cheque account.”

This card-skimming equipment an Auckland man smuggled into the country was uncovered in a Customs investigation. Photo / Supplied

She was also advised, where possible, to use ATMs inside banks. To access these machines, a person generally has to use a bank card to open the doors.

She imagined the fraudsters must have gone on a shopping spree but the supermarket contacted her on Monday.

“We’ve just heard back from Countdown Henderson. The $790 was not spent at their supermarket. There is no record of that transaction at that time.

“However, they said there is an ATM outside the supermarket which is where the cash will have been withdrawn.”

A bank statement showed the withdrawal happened at 6.47pm on Sunday.

A BNZ spokesman said the bank’s cash machines had anti-skimming devices, as well as internal sensors that could detect deep skimming devices.

Deep skimming devices were inserted into a machine, rather than just on the outside.

He said the bank frequently checked its ATMs for skimming devices and, when they were detected, BNZ reviewed card use at the machine and advised other banks too.

“After dropping off over the Covid period, skimming activity has generally returned to levels experienced prior to Covid,” he added.

BNZ said skimming device technology had not changed much for several years.

“Skimmers use card readers, either attached to the outside of the machine or a deep skimmer, which is inserted into the card reader, combined with a pinhole camera to record the Pin.”

The bank said it had prevention systems to alert it to possible fraud and had a fraud detection team working around the clock.

“Where skimming occurs and a counterfeit card is used, then generally BNZ will reimburse our customers in full, normally within a few days.”

Police said offenders usually put deep skimming devices in ATMs that did not have cameras installed, or in machines in carparks where people paid for parking by inserting a bankcard.

“Deep-insert devices are generally not observable when looking at an ATM, though sometimes there can be difficulty in inserting cards or taking them back out,” police spokespeople said.

“The recording of the Pin being entered can be blocked by covering the hand entering the Pin. The stolen data is useless without knowledge of the Pin.”

Apart from covering your Pin when entering it, police said people discovering unauthorised card use should contact their bank to block the card as soon as possible.

Last month an Auckland man was jailed for 25 months after smuggling card-skimming equipment into the country.

He was caught after Customs officers intercepted a car stereo concealing two card-skimming devices from the United States.

A fortnight ago, four Romanians and one Pole were reportedly arrested in Australia for skimming.

The ABC said the group were accused of attaching a skimming device to a downtown Brisbane cash machine.

Those arrests followed a tipoff by the US Secret Service, the ABC added.

John Weekes is online business editor. He has covered courts, politics, crime and consumer affairs. He rejoined the Herald in 2020, previously working at Stuff and News Corp Australia.