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Sylvania Township police are looking for a person responsible for attaching an electronic device that reads debit card and pin numbers to an ATM, officials said.
The device, called a skimmer, was found on the Fifth Third Bank machine — on West Central Avenue near King Road — Saturday by a customer who reported it to police, said Deputy Chief Ray Carroll.
He declined to say how long the device had been on the machine or how many customers were affected.
Carla Nowak, a spokesman for Fifth Third, said in an email statement that, “Our Fraud Detection team is contacting affected customers to alert them to the potential problem.”
Because of the ongoing investigation, she said she could not release additional information.
The statement says that customers with unauthorized transactions will be refunded in full, as well as any associated fees and the affected customers will also be issued new cards and PINs.
Deputy Chief Carroll said the skimmers are not always easy to spot unless you know what you’re looking for, but he encourages people to contact authorities if “something doesn’t look like the original equipment.”
Ms. Nowak’s statement echoed the chief’s comments, saying customers should inspect machines before using them, looking for unusual signage, card readers that look out of place or improperly installed, and traces of “durable tape” or glue.
In 2007, authorities found skimmers on two Sylvania Township ATMs — one on a Fifth Third machine and the other at a KeyBank.
That was the first known incident of skimming in northwest Ohio. The Key Bank involved in that incident is about a quarter-mile from the Fifth Third Bank in the latest incident.
Generally, ATM skimmers place scanners over the slot where customers insert their cards that reads all data from magnetic strips on the back of the cards. The devices sometimes can fit over the ATM keypad to obtain personal identification number information.
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