Wichita bank officials: A few hundred accounts affected by ATM skimming

A few hundred customers were at risk of their bank account information being compromised as a result of recent ATM skimming activity, officials with two Wichita financial institutions said Tuesday.

While refusing to offer a specific number, Intrust Bank division director Tom Morrison said less than 200 accounts were exposed July 4 to skimming devices, which are placed over credit and debit card readers to illegally obtain information. Katie Grover, vice president and marketing manager at Fidelity Bank, said less than 100 accounts were exposed at her institution on the same day.

Three Intrust ATMs were compromised over the holiday, while two Fidelity machines were affected, according to officials at both institutions. An ATM at a Sunflower Bank location was also compromised last week, according to the Wichita Police Department.

“At this point, all but a handful of our customers have been notified,” Morrison said Tuesday. “We encourage any customers of other banks who used one of our ATMs at one of the three locations in question on July 4 to contact their bank immediately and let them know of the situation.”

Morrison called the skimming incidents “situations of active fraud,” adding that funds have been taken from a number of accounts. A list of about two dozen confirmed cases of fraud likely related to the skimming incidents was released at a police briefing Tuesday.

Morrison and Grover stressed that customers would not be held liable for fraudulent transactions.

That the skimming devices were attached to the ATMs on July 4 was likely not a coincidence, both Morrison and Grover said.

“The people who do this type of thing are looking for opportunities when they’re least likely to be detected,” Morrison said. “It’s not surprising that this happened on a holiday when all our locations were closed.”

The skimming devices were placed on the Intrust ATMs and removed the same day, according to bank officials. Morrison said cameras were also found on the machines, which he said were likely used to record keypad sequences.

“These individuals are very smart,” Grover said. “The silver lining is that not a large percentage of customers were affected, but we’re aware of the situation and we remain very vigilant about any threat to our customers’ security.”

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Wichita bank officials: A few hundred accounts affected by ATM skimming."