$5 cards clue in hunt for skimmer

The man wanted by police.

Police investigating the "skimming" of Auckland cash machines believe $5 phonecards may lead them to at least one of the culprits.

They are looking for a man who bought piles of phonecards at three stores in the city.

Police say the personal identity of cash machine customers is printed on to the cards' magnetic strips after the information has been copied from ATMs fitted with skimming devices.

About $54,000 has been stolen from more than 30 individual accounts since the fraud was detected.

The man police are seeking bought 55 phonecards from an Auckland souvenir shop. He bought a similar number at two other stores in downtown Auckland.

Police are in contact with Australian police who have investigated two skimming frauds - one in Sydney last September and the other on the Gold Coast last month - involving Russian and Bulgarian nationals.

Bank of New Zealand machines at New Lynn and Silverdale were the first ATMs targeted in this country.

A device is fitted to the card slot to copy account details and customers' PIN numbers are recorded by a small camera or by looking over a customer's shoulder.

Police said "several" fraudulent transactions using skimmed information had been carried out in the city during the past week.

Detective Shane Tailby, of the Waitakere police, said some of the phonecards were retained by money machines because accounts had been blocked.

The phonecards, which have identification numbers that are recorded at the time of sale, were then traced to Kiwiland Souvenirs in Customs St, central Auckland.

Mr Tailby said the man was likely to be working with others.

"They skim all the person's details off the machine using the skimmer and then take that information and by whatever means transfer it on to the phonecard.

"It is organised to an extent and it's not an operation that could be run by one person."

He said bank accounts could still be at risk.

"It's one of those things where [skimmers] can gather a lot of information," he added.

"When and where they use it is pie-in-the-sky stuff. You just don't know."

Banks alerted customers to the skimming fraud late last month, when money was found to have been stolen from account holders who had used an ATM in New Lynn.

BNZ suspended 1300 cards used at the New Lynn machine between March 7 and 28, and said a further 700 cards from other banks had been compromised.

Another 1443 bank cards - including 379 BNZ cards - were suspended after strange markings were found on a machine at Silverdale on March 30.

Kiwiland Souvenirs owner Hyewon Lee said the man spent 20 minutes as each card had to be swiped through a machine to record the $5 sales.

Mrs Lee said she was not suspicious of the purchase on March 26.

She though man was a tour operator who was bulk-buying as part of a package deal for his customers.

The man wanted by police, pictured above, is said to:

* Be aged 35 to 40.
* Be a European with olive complexion.
* Be of medium to solid build.
* Be about 1.8m tall.
* Be clean shaven.
* Have a pronounced accent, possibly South American, and to speak English poorly.
* Dress casually.
* Possibly be staying in backpacker accommodation.