Some Walgreens shoppers are on high alert after ATM skimming devices were found recently at three downtown Chicago stores.
The skimming devices, which attach to ATMs to steal users’ card information, were discovered at Walgreens stores at Madison and Wells streets, Monroe and Clark streets, and the flagship store at State and Randolph streets, police said Friday.
“Any business that offers an ATM as a convenience to their customers could face this issue,” Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said in an email Friday. “The ATMs in our drugstores are owned and operated by a third party, and at our request they will immediately begin to inspect all ATMs in our Chicago locations.”
Earlier this year, Citibank-branded ATMs replaced Chase at Chicago-area Walgreens stores. The ATMs are owned and operated by Cardtronics.
“Protecting our customers from fraudulent activity is a critical priority for Citi,” Citibank spokesman Drew Benson said in an email. “Our customers are not liable for any fraud or unauthorized use of their accounts.”
Benson cited “security reasons” for not saying what specific steps were being taken to detect and prevent ATM fraud.
Deerfield-based Walgreens is one of the largest drugstore chains in the U.S., with more than 8,000 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
While it is unknown if other Walgreens ATMs are affected, the problem of skimming is widespread.
There are more than 500,000 ATMs in the U.S., and each year, about 1 to 2 percent are affected by skimming devices, said David Tente, executive director of ATMIA, a nonprofit trade association representing the industry.
“It’s all over the place,” Tente said. “They skim cards at ATMs as well as restaurants and bars and everyplace else.”
Skimming devices capture the magnetic strip information from the back of credit or debit cards. They often attach to ATMs as overlay card readers and keypads.
A separate pinhole camera may be used as well to capture personal identification numbers entered into the keypad.
Tente said the skimming devices are getting more sophisticated, with fake card readers designed for specific machines. He said virtually undetectable internal devices that fit inside the card reader are becoming more prevalent as well.
“About half the skimming devices that we’re seeing out there are more or less invisible to the outside of the ATM,” Tente said.
While consumers are not ultimately responsible for the cash withdrawn from their accounts through ATM skimming fraud, they can take steps to minimize their exposure.
“We suggest you twist it or look at it or touch it and see if the card reader falls off,” said Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois.
Bernas said the Better Business Bureau is getting more reports about ATM skimming, mostly because it has proved successful as means of stealing user information and money. He said customers should be careful where they use ATMs but should not assume that a “nice” location will make it safe from skimming.
“They think it’s a reputable organization that’s going to prevent it,” Bernas said. “We see not only locally but nationally it can happen anywhere, including banks.”
Tente also said ATM skimming is on the rise, but that anti-skimming technology is improving. Ultimately, the advent of chip-enabled cards and readers will solve the problem, he said, but it may be a while before the magnetic strips go away completely, rendering current skimming devices obsolete.
Until then, the most important thing consumers can do, besides looking for obvious signs of a tampered machine, is to cover their hands when entering their PINs, Tente said.
“Shield the view of the keyboard from a hidden camera because without your PIN that card number isn’t nearly as valuable,” he said. “They certainly can’t use it at the ATM.”
Twitter @RobertChannick
