In a press release, American 1 announced that three men were indicted on charges in connection to the ATM card skimmer operation discovered by American 1.
In February, American 1 Credit Union reported that a card skimmer was used at one of the credit union’s ATMs to steal the card information of around 600 ATM users. Ongoing investigation uncovered that what was believe to be a single occurrence was actually a widespread ATM fraud operation that impacted more than 10 American 1 ATMs as well as the ATMs of multiple other financial institutions.
Charges include the use of unauthorized access devices, commonly referred to as ‘skimmers’, to unlawfully retrieve card information and aggravated identity theft. The suspects will remain in custody during the proceedings.
American 1 has implemented multiple measures to increase security and minimize risk; including reviewing all ATM locations for enhanced safety, giving employees additional training on what new signs to look for on ATMs that may indicate tampering, new monitoring protocol, and reissuing over 2,500 cards that may have been impacted.
American 1 recommends covering the PIN pad with your hand when entering your PIN. Skimmers will often use corresponding cameras to capture PIN information, check your account for unauthorized charges, and learn how to remotely shut off your cards (temporarily or permanently) in your mobile banking app.
