CHESTERFIELD, Va. -- Police arrested two men for allegedly skimming from ATM’s in Chesterfield on Thursday, October 29.
Police said the men were arrested at the Bank of America on Buford near Forest Hill road. They were caught with several debit and credit cards and a skimmer, investigators said.
Kirill Korotkov, age 21, and Andrei Turski, 27, each face six counts of credit card theft.
Chesterfield Police said all customers who have used the impacted ATM need to continue to check their accounts for any fraudulent activity over the next several weeks, while police work to determine what accounts were compromised.
“It’s really scary especially when you work hard for your money,” Germika Pegram, who frequently uses that particular ATM, said.
She said the arrests do not ease her mind.
“I want to know if my information was compromised because that information could have been passed off,” Pegram said.
The incident is one of five reported incidents in Chesterfield County over the past couple of weeks related to debit and credit card fraud, which is a crime the U.S. Secret Service said skimming devices have made easy to commit.
“It’s instantaneous, it picks it right up,” Doug Mease, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Secret Service, said.
The Secret Service said the financial industry estimates the annual losses from skimming total more than $1 billion, which would equate to approximately $350,000 per day.
When a customer visits an ATM and puts in their card, the skimmers will have placed a device on the machine that captures all of your card information.
The skimmers will have also placed a small video camera nearby to capture you entering your PIN.
Mease recommends customers try to cover up your hand when you’re entering your PIN number.
He also said customers should be on the lookout for the skimming devices on ATMs and gas pumps.
“Always give that slot a good tug because anything that is just temporarily on there is not going to be on there very good and is probably going to come off,” Mease said.
CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit reached out to Bank of America about the arrests.
A spokesperson said they are continually monitoring customer accounts for fraudulent activity, and if they suspect fraud they take immediate action.
The spokesperson also said:
“Bank of America is committed to the safety and security of our customers’ accounts and financial information. We have a variety of security measures in place to protect customers and clients, including our free $0 Liability Guarantee, which protects customers from unauthorized transactions using their credit cards or ATM/Debit cards if reported in a timely manner.”
Read more about how to protect your debit card from skimmers, here.
