Police Warn People About 'Shoulder Surfers' at ATMs

Police are warning people who use ATM machines to be alert for so-called “shoulder surfers” who try to look over customers’ shoulders to learn their PIN and access their accounts.

Police said they are issuing the warning because there have been at least five incidents at the Bank of America in downtown San Leandro since May 19 in which customers lost a total of nearly $10,000.

Police said they suspect that there have been additional incidents because victims usually reported their losses directly to their bank, not to the police.

Police say “shoulder surfing” occurs when a customer conducts a transaction at an ATM machine with a suspect standing nearby and watching them enter their PIN.

Investigators have learned that in some instances if a customer doesn’t finalize their transaction before leaving the ATM machine anyone can continue the ATM transaction before the computer ends the transaction automatically. Police said during that short period of time it’s possible for suspects to continue an open ATM session if they have the victim’s PIN number.

They said that allows the suspect to steal cash from the victim’s account, an event that customers likely won’t notice until they see the unexplained loss in a subsequent bank statement.

Since mid-May, two Bank of America branches in the Bay Area have experienced at least five shoulder surfing thefts from outdoor ATM machines, four of them at the bank’s main branch at 1400 E. 14th St. in San Leandro, police said.

Officers then conducted surveillance at that branch and have made two arrests so far in which they have recovered more than $5,500 in cash believed to have been stolen from customers’ accounts.

Police allege that on Sept. 26 officers witnessed a 42-year-old Oakland man fraudulently taking cash out of the ATM machine and he was found to be in possession of $4,900 cash and several credit cards belonging to others.

Police said they don’t know if the man was “shoulder surfing” or using the stolen cards to commit this crime, but they said they believe the money that he had was stolen from different customers’ accounts at the ATM.

Police said the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office hasn’t yet filed criminal charges against the man but could do so in the future.

Police said that on Sept. 27 officers who were on surveillance at the same Bank of America branch arrested 33-year-old Blade Kittrell of Oakland after seeing him commit a similar crime.

Police said officers saw Kittrell acting suspiciously at the ATM machine and contacted him while he withdrew $220 from the account of a 66-year-old victim.

According to police, Kittrell didn’t have any ATM card or any credit cards in his possession so officers believe he committed the crime after “shoulder surfing” while the victim was accessing her account.

Police said Kittrell was in possession of $665 cash that officers believe was also stolen. On Oct. 13, police learned of five separate unauthorized transactions that occurred at the Bank of America branch at 1200 Fairmont Drive in San Leandro. Police said a customer told them that two men were near the ATM machines acting suspiciously.

Officers responded but didn’t find the men, police said. Investigators have since learned that $1,000 was stolen from five different customers’ accounts that afternoon and believe the crimes were likely committed by the men who were shoulder surfing their victims.

Lt. Robert McManus said in a statement, “We are aware of the trend in San Leandro and have deployed undercover officers to various banks, in hopes of apprehending anyone who attempts these fraudulent crimes.” McManus said, “We know that this is a national trend right now and are working with banks and other law enforcement agencies to educate consumers, prevent the crimes from occurring and arrest those that commit them.”

He said police don’t know if any of the incidents are related and are working with the Bank of America in an attempt to tie the two suspects to other crimes. Police said they believe that the new ATM and credit cards issued with chips embedded in them will help reduce these types of crimes.

But they said they still want to remind people to be aware of their surroundings and take preventative measures to protect their identity and credit.

By Bay City News

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