Fullerton Police Arrest Suspect in ATM Fraud Ring : Crime: Authorities believe he is part of a network targeting Bank of America. This is the county’s second card scam arrest in a month.

Quick thinking by a bank customer who flagged down police after seeing someone loitering near an automated teller machine led to the arrest of a man suspected of being part of an ATM fraud ring, authorities said Tuesday.

Shimon Levi, 29, was arrested without incident Monday night after police found him carrying a handgun outside the Bank of America at 1831 W. Orangethorpe Ave., said Fullerton Police Lt. Tony Hernandez.

Officers who searched Levi’s car found more than 200 counterfeit ATM cards, $4,200 in $20 bills and a list of bank account numbers, police said.

“(Levi) had a large map of Orange County laying out 18 other locations of Bank of Americas,” Hernandez said. “It looked like he was just getting started for the evening and had made all of the withdrawals out of the ATM machine at this bank.”

Police believe Levi was not working alone, but is part of a ring targeting Bank of America customers.

Levi, a resident of West Hills in the San Fernando Valley, was being held Tuesday at the Federal Detention Center in Los Angeles on suspicion of forgery, fraudulent use of credit cards and possession of a loaded handgun, Hernandez said.

Hernandez said the ring uses receipts left behind at ATMs to obtain customers’ account numbers and surveillance to obtain their personal identification number, or PIN. The ring apparently manufactures phony ATM cards and encodes their magnetic strips with filched account numbers, he said.

“The ring will either videotape or use binoculars or telescopes to watch people put their (PIN) numbers into the machines,” Hernandez said.

This is the second time in a month that police in Orange County have arrested people in connection with an ATM card scam. On Feb. 9, Newport Beach police arrested three men and charged them in an ATM fraud scheme that may have netted $100,000 in cash.

In that case, police seized 500 automated teller machine cards, magnetic strips for altering the cards, a telescope, $20,000 in cash and two firearms. The three men are in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles awaiting arraignment March 7.

Both cases were turned over by local police to the U.S. Secret Service, which investigates the counterfeiting of credit cards, a federal offense.

Federal investigators would not comment on the case Tuesday. Local police said they did not know if the two Orange County cases are linked or if either is connected to a major automated teller ring in the San Fernando Valley.

The San Fernando Valley ring, which has been operating for more than a year, is believed to be responsible for stealing at least $100,000 from Bank of America customers’ accounts, authorities said.

In that scheme, authorities said the thieves have used high-powered cameras hidden in vans, hotel rooms and rented offices to tape customers as they entered their PINs. They then pair card numbers with the PINs by noting when the transaction took place and matching the time of day printed on the discarded ATM receipt to the hour recorded on the videotape, authorities said.

Bank of America has apparently been a target because, until recently, its machines printed the entire account number on receipts. The bank, however, ceased the practice in December, the same month it was reported that federal agents were investigating the San Fernando Valley ring.

Other banks such as Wells Fargo and Great Western discontinued printing the entire account numbers on ATM receipts as a security measure in mid-1992.

Bank of America’s spokesman Harvey Radin said the discovery of the San Fernando Valley ring and the change in procedure at his bank were merely a coincidence.

“It was an isolated case, and blocking out the numbers was not a result of that situation,” Radin said. “It’s an extra safety measure that adds another element of security.”

Radin recommends the following steps to protect yourself from becoming a victim of ATM fraud:

* Be aware of your surroundings.

* Shield the key pad with your hand or your body while entering your code.

* Do not leave your transaction receipt behind.

“If you take these relatively simple steps, you can protect yourself so you won’t be a victim of this type of fraud,” Radin said.

Radin said customers who prove to be legitimate victims of fraud are reimbursed for their loss after their complaint is thoroughly investigated. Most ATM accounts have withdrawal limits, usually between $200 and $500 a day, which restricts the amount of money a thief can take at one time.

Bank of America has more than 3,400 automated teller machines throughout the state. Radin said that despite the recent incidents, fraudulent use of these machines is still extremely rare, accounting for less than one-tenth of 1% of all transactions.