Police warn bank customers after ATM gets hacked

By David Ibata

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

People who used the ATM at a certain Regions Bank in Dalton last Thursday evening or Friday morning should keep a close eye on their bank accounts in the coming days, police advise.

Someone in a burgundy or red Audi drove up to the ATM station at Walnut Avenue and Tibbs Road about 6:45 p.m. Thursday, placed a “skimmer” device over the card reader slot and pulled away, according to a Dalton Police Department news release.

A skimmer is used by hackers to capture people’s account information. Additionally, the Dalton device had a built-in camera with a pinhole lens that recorded the keystrokes on the ATM’s keypad, capturing customers’ passwords.

A bank employee discovered the skimmer Friday morning after the device triggered an ATM alarm, police said.

Anyone who used the ATM while the device was in place “should monitor their accounts to watch for fraudulent activity,” police said in the news release. “Report any possible fraud to the bank and the police department.”

Also, anyone who has seen the Audi, which police said had a distinctive black tag on the front with some sort of graphic design, is asked to contact Dalton police Detective Ricky Long at 706-278-9085 ext. 168.

“This is the only instance of this type of scam in Dalton, but it is being reported in other areas,” police said. “Citizens should be on the lookout for devices which have been tampered with. If the card reader appears to be loose or tampered with, notify the bank or police immediately.”

In a prepared statement issued Monday afternoon, Regions Bank said, "We discovered the device and reported the incident to authorities, and Regions is assisting in the ongoing investigation. While no customer information was compromised, we always encourage consumers to monitor their accounts and report any unusual activity they see."

Regions also advised that as a general rule of thumb to guard against identity theft, consumers should monitor their credit reports to ensure they contain only accounts they have authorized. They also may wish to consider enrolling in an privacy/personal information monitoring program.

Most consumers are covered against unauthorized uses of debit or credit cards by zero liability policies, the bank said.