Who Put the Skimmer at Cocoa Beach ATM?

Unfortunately, skimmers are nothing new. The devices used to collect data from magnetic stripes on credit and debit cards once they’re swiped have been on law enforcement’s radar for years. Sometimes, the tiny matchbox-sized gadgets are kept on someone’s person, as with this story about a fast-food drive-through window worker who supplied customer data to others who then ran up a total of $14,000 in fraudulent purchases.

Occasionally a skimmer will be found attached to gas pumps, as reported here. In that case, police in just one city – Plano, Texas – alone linked at least 50 cases of identity theft to the gizmos. 

Now police in Cocoa Beach, Fla., have discovered a skimmer attached to a local Bank of America ATM. As the Orlando Sentinel reports, there’s no way to know how long the device has been there or whose data was intercepted.


Here’s the insidious thing about skimmers: Since the customer retains the original card, he often doesn’t know anything has happened until charges start mysteriously appearing on his account.

Con artists are able to use the skimmer, which can hold account information from hundreds of cards, upload it to software and send it anywhere in the world via e-mail.  The information can be transferred to dummy gift cards or fake credit cards, which are then used to purchase goods. The quality of skimmers – that is, the extent to which they can blend in with the devices to which they are affixed – has gone up in recent years, reports security blogger Brian Krebs (check out some skimmer photos in this recent post).


While you should first and foremost be wary of using an ATM where something looks awry, here are some other tips: