DOVER, Ohio.–More than 100 member accounts at Dover-Phila FCU have been drained of funds by crooks.
An investigation is now under way into how the criminals gained access to the accounts and involves Dover police, New Philadelphia (Ohio) police and the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office.
“We have determined that there’s a large number of people that have had money removed from their accounts, so we have opened an investigation into it,” New Philadelphia police Detective Capt. Shawn Nelson told the Times Reporter. “Typically, the amounts are approximately $500 to $510.”
Police said they have a photo of a suspect believed to have installed a card reader on one of the credit union’s automated teller machines.
“It’s not Dover-Phila’s fault, for this situation,” Nelson told the publication. “They made it clear that they will reimburse all the monies that clearly are (lost) as the result of a fraud.”
In a statement on its Facebook page, Dover Phila FCU said its data has not been hacked, although it acknowledged receiving reports about compromised debit cards.
“Please understand, Dover Phila has not been compromised!” the message said. “This particular fraud happens when fraudsters gain access to a merchants’ systems — a merchant where you’ve used your debit card. This is not specific to any financial institution.”
Later in the day, Shana Simmons, director of marketing and member services at the credit union released a statement saying, “Upon further investigation, it is apparent a skimmer was installed on the ATM at our New Philadelphia branch,” the Times Reporter said.
The credit union said it has checked other ATMs for skimmers and is now working to restore money to affected members’ accounts. It will also be reissuing plastic cards.