Two men have been charged in connection with ATM tampering in Vancouver that trapped bank users' cards and recorded their PINs.
Vancouver police arrested four suspects on May 18 at an apartment in Yaletown. Two were charged with fraud related offences and the other two were released pending further investigation. Catrlin Virgil Diugu, 37, has pled guilty to his charge and Liviu-Marius Dogariu, 33, is scheduled to appear in court on June 5.
Const. Jason Doucette said in a news release that police received information from Scotiabank earlier this month revealing a number of their local ATMs had been manipulated to temporarily disable the security features.
According to police, the alleged scammers would typically approach the ATMs at night and install discreet cameras to capture customer PINS. They would also place a cover over the card reader to prevent it from ejecting at the end of the transaction.
Doucette said they also removed the customer service contact information from the machines, so people would need to walk away before making contact with the bank.
“It appears these people are a part of a group making their way across Canada from Ontario to B.C. Our investigators are following up with other police agencies to see if there are any links that could help with unsolved files,” Doucette said.
In the meantime, he advised people who find their card stuck in an ATM to not leave until receiving clear instructions from bank staff. He suggested anyone who thinks they may have fallen victim to this scam to contact their local bank and report it to police.
