The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office is looking for victims who could have been affected by an ATM skimming scheme at a Jonesville Publix last month.
On Feb. 18, ASO arrested three men for attaching a card skimming device and video camera to a Presto! ATM outside of a Publix, located at 14130 W. Newberry Road, according to an ASO news release.
So far, detectives have tracked down four victims, said ASO Detective William Beck. However, Beck used a surveillance video to identify that nine people used the ATM between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. when the hardware was attached.
In a typical card skimming scheme, criminals create a plastic mold of a card reader, whether it’s on an ATM, gas pump or other card-reading device, and then place it over the existing reader, said ASO spokesman Lt. Todd Kelly.
They also attach a micro-wireless camera to the device that points down at the keypad, Kelly said.
When someone swipes a card, the fake reader sends information from the card to a computer, Kelly said. The criminals can also watch the user punch in his or her PIN via the camera.
When the men were arrested in the Jonesville ATM incident, ASO received word from other police departments and sheriff’s offices that the men matched descriptions for suspects who committed similar crimes in other counties, Kelly said.
Kelly and Beck believe the three men weren’t acting alone.
“In cases like this, it generally does expand much broader,” Kelly said.
The men could be just a few people in a larger organization. Kelly described it like a military operation, with a chain of command of people with different positions working toward a common goal: to obtain information and steal millions of dollars.
To avoid becoming a victim of card skimming, Kelly advised county residents to avoid ATMs and instead take out cash from a bank or through the cash-back option at a store.
However, if someone needs to use an ATM, Kelly recommends checking the card reader. If it looks different than the rest of the machine or feels hollow, don’t use it, he said.
Kelly said if someone believes they were a victim of card skimming, they should contact police as well as their bank.
By doing this, detectives will be able to speed up the investigation process, he said.
“If you can go the extra step to prevent someone else from being a victim, you’re doing your part in the community,” he said.
If you have any information about the Jonesville Publix ATM incident or other card skimming issues throughout the county, contact Detective Beck at 352-367-4166 or Crimestoppers.
Contact Kathryn Varn at kvarn@alligator.org.
