Suspected card-skimming scheme in Winnipeg drains accounts

Staff with several credit unions in Winnipeg are contacting hundreds of victims of what appears to be adebit card skimming scam, offering new cards and reimbursing the missing cash.

John Hamilton, manager of communications for Credit Union Central of Manitoba, said it was contacted on Sundaymorning by people who noticed unusual fluctuations in their bank accounts.

Clients from a number ofcredit unionshave all had moneystolen from their accounts Saturday night and Sundaymorning ina suspected card-skimming scheme.

Hamilton confirms a number of credit union clients have been scammed.

"The priority is for credit unions to contact members who have been affected, to get them new cards and to reimburse the money that was stolen from their accounts," Hamilton said, adding it appears to be a problem across the Prairies, and not just with credit unions.

600 AssiniboineCredit Union clientsaffected

About 600 Assiniboine Credit Union customers were hit by the suspectedscam, with about $700 taken from one account alone, spokesperson Gerry Campbell told CBC News on Monday.

"Our staff is now calling all the members that were affected, trying to reach out to them, to reassure them that they'll be reimbursed," he said.

"They do need to get them to change their personal identification number, their PIN."

Customers whose accounts have been compromised must also fill out a declaration form, he added.

Postings onthe Cambrian,Carpathia,Crosstown Civic and Belgian Alliancecredit unions'websites say they have deactivated or frozen the debit cards of all affected membersand staff are contacting thoseclients to advise them of their next steps.

Southdale MLA and former Health Minister Erin Selby is one of the victims. She tweeted about it on Sunday.

• ON MOBILE? View Erin Selby's tweet here.

Winnipeg police are asking anyone who has lost money as a result of the scheme to report it totheir credit union or bank, which will in turn report the matter to police.

U of M student's account drained

Chris Moskal saidhe learned he was a victim of the fraud after his mother told him to check his bankaccountSundayafter seeing people tweet about similar experiences.

Moskal said when he checked, he noticed money had been withdrawn from his account from somewherein New York.

"And there were two withdrawals from ATMs in New York," he said. "One was for $359and one was for $356."

The 20-year-oldUniversity of Manitobastudent saidhe was shocked and thatthe timing couldn't be worse.

"It was kind of a bit of a punch in the gut, because I'm in school right nowand I can only work one or two shifts a week," he said. "So, $700 is quite a few paychequesthat have added up over this semester."

"I'm in the middle of exams right now so I want this to go away. I don't really know what else to do," he said.

Banks looking into incident

Other than the three credit unions, it is notyet known if patrons from other credit unions or Winnipeg banks have been impacted.

Kate Payne with the Canadian Bankers Association said banks are currently looking into the skimming incident.

"Customers will be reimbursed if they are a victim of fraud," said Payne."Customers should contact their bank if they have any unusual transactions."

Campbell said he believes every bank and credit union in Winnipeg has been affected, and it could not have happened at a worse time.

"It's stressful to see the money go out of your account you know, wake up in the morning and say, 'Hey, where's all my money gone?'" he said.

"This time of the year, particularly with people looking to go Christmas shopping, lots on the go, and then to have this happen, it's really unfortunate."

He said the money appears to have been stolen by a crime ring in New York,with the problem originating in Winnipeg.

"These are usually fairly sophisticated operations that do it in a number of places and they accumulate the information and then hit on one weekend," he said.

"They try to do it on [a] weekend, tending to be easier access and maybe people won't notice quite as quickly."

Hamilton said it appears that the scammersstolemagnetic stripe information from tampered debit terminals.

"Well, this was one of the reasons for the chip, was skimming. So if you use a chip, and that's all that the card is exposed to during the transaction,then the risk is eliminated," Hamilton said.

"However, criminals being crafty people, have figured out ways to steal mag stripe information even during some chip transactions. If a unit appears to have been tampered with or if your chip, if the card goes in a lot farther than it really ought to during chip transaction, it's possible that the terminal had been tampered with."

Hamilton said investigators hope to track down which terminals were compromised.