Bogus Cards Used to Rob Accounts

A sophisticated band of thieves has been cleaning out bank accounts in Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley using camcorders, computers and receipts dropped by careless ATM customers, police and federal agents said.

The bandits park a van or camper within sight of an automated teller machine and videotape ATM customers’ fingers as they punch in their personal identification numbers, according to a report by Simi Valley Police Detective Steven DeLamater.

Then they read the account number off the customer’s discarded receipt and make a bogus ATM card using a laptop computer and card programmer in the vehicle, the report says.

Finally, DeLamater reports, they read the customer’s code number off the videotape and use it and the fake card to steal money from the account. The thefts usually are not discovered until the customer’s monthly statement arrives.

“Each transaction is worth $200 to $300, depending on the particular bank--they each have a limit on how much you can pull out at a time,” Simi Valley Police Sgt. Bob Gardner said. Detectives have no solid leads yet, but are working with banks to get a look at security camera pictures of people using the ATMs, he said.

Simi Valley detectives are working on the cases with the Secret Service, a branch of the U. S. Treasury Department that enforces some banking laws.

“I can’t give you an awful lot of information because we do have an open case,” said Jim Bauer, spokesman for the Secret Service in Los Angeles.

Working for the past two months on cases from Riverside to Ventura County, he said, “we’ve made some arrests in schemes like that and anticipate more arrests.”

Bauer said the Secret Service is trying to persuade the Treasury Department to change the law requiring banks to print customers’ account numbers on ATM receipts.

“People should be attentive to--if they don’t want to retain the receipt--at least disposing of it,” he added.