Police are warning
shoppers and merchants to be vigilant during the upcoming festive season.
The Christmas
shopping period in the past has been a prime time for transnational crime gangs
to visit major shopping locations around Australia and target ATMs and
stores.
Detective Superintendent
Brian Hay from the police Fraud and Cyber Crime Group said “These criminals will fly into the country, travel around the major
centres, attach skimmers to ATMs and EFTPOS terminals and fly out with
thousands of electronically stored compromised accounts only to steal the money
from those accounts in a coordinated manner from multiple global locations,”
Detective Superintendent Brian Hay said.
“We can never
afford to be complacent. Christmas is certainly an expensive enough time for
families and to lose money to a fraudster during this time is something I’m
sure most families would like to avoid,” he said.
Ensure when using
an ATM you look for any suspicious device attached to the card entry point of
the machine and always cover your hand when entering your PIN.
Also be sure to
examine your monthly statement for suspicious transactions, especially
transactions which may appear for 1 or 2 dollars – this indicates your card has
been compromised and the criminals are testing the account is still
active. If you see this, contact your bank immediately.
Any suspicious people hanging around
an ATM should be reported to police immediately.
