Debit card copying has spread to automated petrol stations
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The illegal copying of magnetic strip bank debit cards seems to have shifted from bank cash machines to automatic filling stations.
The Central Criminal Police of Finland is investigating incidents that have taken place at fully automated gas stations, so-called "cold stations". The bank card details of those buying fuel from these unmanned stations have been copied with devices attached to the automats.
The police have become aware of incidents at certain unmanned filling stations in eastern and central Finland. The exact locations of these stations have not been disclosed.
Finns first became widely aware of the illegal copying of bank card details towards the end of the 1990s, when an authentic-looking addition had been attached to a kerbside bank ATM in Aleksanterinkatu in Helsinki. With the information they obtained by reading the card, the criminals manufactured new cards, which they then used to withdraw money from dozens of people’s bank accounts.
There have been other attempts as well. For example, a couple of years ago in the eastern city of Joensuu even a hidden video camera was used to film people’s pin numbers. The trails of these crimes have led back to Russia and Eastern Europe.
According to the Central Criminal Police, some information obtained in the gas station fraud has been misused. Because of the ongoing investigation no further details have been released. So far, nobody has been arrested, and there is no information of how widespread the activity has been.
The weak point of the otherwise clever crime is that the person who then uses the fraudulent card at a cash point may have his face filmed by the ever-present security cameras.
Helsingin Sanomat
