An investment banker has narrated how fraudsters swindle Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cardholders by swapping their cards at ATM stands.

The banker, who did not want to be named, told FIJ that the method is relatively new. According to him, fraudsters take advantage of machines that are not working and people who do not know how to operate the machines.

“They offer to help you once they notice you are experiencing any difficulties,” he told FIJ. “When you give them your card, they quickly swap it. They insert it into the machine and tell you to input your pin.”

“The pin would automatically be wrong and the card gets stuck. While you are dealing with that, they sneak away, leaving you with the wrong card. The next thing you’d get is a series of debit alerts.”

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According to him, the fraudsters study the victim’s pin and use it at the nearest Point of Sales (POS) centre.

“They study your pin as you input it in the machine. Before you notice that your card is gone, they would have cleared your account at the nearest POS,” he said.

He also explained cases of customers who complained to the bank that their money had been deducted. Upon investigations, they found that their cards had been swapped.

“A woman complained that her card was stuck in the machine, yet N75,000 had been deducted from her account. When the ATM custodian removed the card, she said it wasn’t hers. That was when we suspected that her card had been swapped,” the banker said.

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“About three weeks after, another customer issued the same complaints. My colleague and I looked through the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) and saw what transpired between her and a particular man.

“She had also given her card to the man and it got stuck in the machine. The man stepped out of the premises and in less than seven minutes, she received debit alerts.”

According to him, the best thing for customers to do is to ask the bank security officers for help when they experience any difficulty.