COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- Two foreign nationals were busted by federal agents, accused of attaching a skimming device to an ATM at a BB&T bank branch in Colonial Heights.
"I use the ATM a lot," said Ashley Alston who lives nearby.
She said news of the arrest of foreign nationals, Antal Kanscal and Roberto de Miranda-Martinez, has her double-checking her banking account.
Antal Kanscal and Roberto de Miranda-Martinez
"Now I want to go home and check and see if all of my money is right in my bank account," said Alston.
Police were tipped off to a skimming device being used at the bank, located at 2609 Boulevard, because the installation was botched and actually shut the machine down. A technician discovered the problem and local police notified the Secret Service and the FBI.
"We took the skimming device from the machine and brought it back to headquarters,” said Det. Sgt. Thad Johnson. “At that point we linked up with the FBI and got some information of an investigation that they were conducting as well."
Crime Insider sources believe the two are connected to a larger ring of thieves. Police confirm the supects are accused of targeting multiple ATMs.
"We believe that they folks were going up and down the east coast and attaching devices to different ATM machines and moving to different locations," said Johnson.
Skimming devices can do a lot of financial damage in just a little bit of time. While investigators believe the one found in Colonial Heights was never installed correctly, they say it wouldn't hurt if use that BB&T branch machine, to double-check your statements.
"Monitor your credit report, check bank statements, and if you find something that's not right and you suspect that they might be some fraud on your accounts, call your local authorities," said Johnson.
Both Kanscal and Miranda-Martinez are being held at Riverside Jail with no bond.
Their next court date is March 21.
