Canadian fraudsters target NAB ATM

The Australian, 26 February 2008

CANADIAN fraudsters have ripped off National Australia Bank customers who used an ATM in one of Sydney's busiest shopping districts last year.

National Australia Bank began ringing customers today who used a Bondi Junction ATM on Saturday, October 27 last year to warn them a skimming device had been used on the machine.

A NAB spokeswoman said the device was only on the machine for a few hours on October 27. As  a precaution ATM cards that were used on the day have been stopped.

She said so far fraudulent transactions have only been found on two NAB accounts, totalling a few thousand dollars. She said the fraud had been traced back to Canada.

NAB will refund any money that was unlawfully taken from its customers' accounts.

Customers who have had their ATM cards stopped will have new cards sent to bank branches rather than home addresses as a security precaution and will have to present photo ID to pick them up.

What is skimming?

Card skimmers are devices installed on ATMs to illegally copy card and customer information, including the PIN number. That information is used to produce a cloned card with the customer’s details on it . This means charges can be run up on their account. In other cases, the information has also been used to take out loans in the customer's name.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23280245-12377,00.html