Bank of the West found their customers were breached by ATM skimmers.
The bank alerted its customers regarding the danger that their banking details are in due to skimmers installed in several ATM machines of the bank.
The bank started to notice suspicious unauthorized withdrawals on November 10, 2021, in multiple branches in the United States.
The bank immediately worked with the law enforcement agency and reviewed their ATM network.
Following an investigation, we discovered that several of their ATMs had been compromised by the installation of a device known as an "ATM skimming device."
The time period encompassing this investigation and discovery took place between November 10, 2021 and April 18, 2022.
Bank of the West ATM Skimmers
According to BleepingComputer, the Bank of the West informed their customers with a letter just this month.
The institution stated they regret informing their customers of this unfortunate event. Some banking details have been compromised as a result of fraudulent activities.
Unfortunately, there is a possibility that the information may have been used to create counterfeit debit cards and make attempts to withdraw cash from the accounts.
They reassured their customers that the bank moved swiftly to resolve to protect their information by monitoring, working with law enforcement, tracking suspicious activities, and investigating the ATM machines for evidence.
The Bank of the West also informed their customers that when they detected suspicious activities in their account, they immediately blocked the transaction.
The bank then mailed their customers a new debit card and instructions for a new PIN.
However, the bank also encouraged customers to report to them any unauthorized suspected transactions in their account.
When customers use their debit cards, they will not be responsible for any unauthorized withdrawals, transfers, or purchases that are made with them.
Last but not least, as an additional measure of safety, the Bank of the West stated that they will provide customers with one year's worth of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services.
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What Are ATM Skimmers?
According to Navy Federal, even though the vast majority of ATM transactions are carried out in a risk-free and secure manner, fraud involving ATMs is still possible and does occur.
Skimming is a common method that thieves use to obtain the information associated with your debit card and PIN when they are at an ATM.
Skimming an ATM occurs when criminals steal card information by using concealed electronics or technology installed on ATM machines.
Scammers are able to empty the checking or savings accounts of a user once they have access to that user's card information.
There are different ways skimming is conducted to bait the victims. There is this very common tactic called the skimming overlay devices.
The overlay skimming devices are placed atop the card slots in order to steal information. The information from a card's magnetic strip is captured by the device whenever a card is inserted into the slot of an automated teller machine.
Techniques known as "keypad overlay" are also used by criminals. When placed over the keypad of an ATM, these keypad overlay devices have the ability to record PINs as they are being entered.
These two are just the most common techniques that criminals use to steal someone's credit or debit card information and use it to perform financial attacks.
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