A video was released Tuesday on Instagram by San Jose State student Andy Gordiano who noticed a black triangular skimmer device at the Bank of America ATM at the SJSU ATM Kiosk.
The video, showing the skimmer hidden on the right-hand side of the keypad and camouflaged into the machine, has reached a total of 67.3k views on Instagram.
The University Police Department (UPD) released a Community Safety Advisory on the same day warning students and faculty about the security threat to the university community.
The Bank of America ATM at the SJSU ATM Kiosk was tampered with two deep insert skimmer devices, according to the UPD Community Safety Advisory.
The ATM alerted an error for failing to accept deposits which was not related to the skimmer device, and a technician retrieved the two skimmer devices in the machine.
Deep insert skimmer devices are illegally installed on ATMs to steal cardholders information. Skimmers are placed inside the card reader and sometimes placed outside of the ATM machine. Skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year, according to the FBI website.
Some skimming devices have pinhole cameras to capture a customer’s 4-digit personal identification number. Often, skimmers are disguised as a part of the cash machine, according to KrebsOnSecurity, an in-depth security news outlet that conducts investigative reporting on cybersecurity.
Criminals use skimming devices to steal data to create fake credit or debit cards and steal from victims’ accounts.
Captain Frank Belcastro said, SJSU has never had similar incidents of skimmer devices being on the campus’ ATMs.
“I am not aware of any technology that would detect these devices, but I understand that the design of some ATMs may not be amenable to the installation of these devices, I’m not an expert,” said Belcastro. “There are many videos available on the internet showing how they are installed”.
UPD is under an active investigation and in contact with the Bank of America to monitor suspicious financial activities.
“We have not had any reports from students and staff regarding being victimized,” Belcastro said.
Belcastro advises students and staff to check their bank accounts frequently, protect their PIN number and change the PIN periodically.
UPD requests people who have recently used SJSU’s ATM Kiosk to check their bank accounts and look out for suspicious activity. If someone falls victim, follow up with your financial institution to acknowledge fraud and report the incident to UPD.
Kinesiology sophomore Kody Lee, who was using one of the machines at the ATM Kiosk, said he saw the news on the trending Instagram post which made him worry.
“I think it’s pretty scary we’re being attacked like that, I wouldn’t expect anything like that to happen here,” said Lee.
He said he believes people should take a look at the ATMs before using them and recommends cameras be installed for safety to see if people are tampering with the machines.
Information about when the device was placed is currently unknown, according to the UPD Community Safety Advisory.
Anyone who has information related to the skimming incident please contact UPD at (408) 924-2222.
