‘It was mind-blowing,’ says woman who saw $400 withdrawn at ATM when she was

A VICTIM of ATM fraud has revealed that she watched the scammer take hundreds of dollars from her account.

In July, a woman named Erika was at a festival when she realized a scammer, who was hundreds of miles away, had gained access to her credit card.

“I got a notification on my phone that $400 had been taken out of my bank account at an ATM,” Erika told local CBS affiliate WGME.

“It was just mind blowing that someone could use my card when I actually had my card,” Erika said.

Police revealed that a device known as a skimmer was put on an ATM reader at the Atlantic Federal Credit Union branch in Topsham, Oregon.

Scammers have utilized this device to collect financial information from unsuspecting victims.

“Once they get the reader out, they have all the information, and they start making fraudulent cards and then go to various ATMs and start withdrawing money,” Topsham Police Chief Marc Hagan said.

The skimmer was placed in the ATM for about two weeks before authorities located it.

Hagan explained that in recent times the device has become harder to detect.

“The newer ones are much smaller, and they actually go right up into the slot and are much harder to detect,” Hagan said.

Atlantic Federal Credit Union explained in a statement released by the station that once they realized there were fraudulent activities they launched an immediate investigation.

The bank has been able to secure affected members’ accounts and contact those who were impacted by the scammer.

Erika was able to get her money back, but she is not the only person affected by skimmers.

Last month, it was revealed that over 8,000 Americans in California have had their credit card information stolen by an organized crime group.

The group was accused of using the skimmers to capture customers’ PINs and create fake debit cards to steal from people’s accounts, according to local CW affiliate KTLA-TV.

Romanian law enforcement spent three years working with the FBI to track down members of the group.

50 people within the organization were taken into custody and charged with aggravated identity theft, visa, and bank fraud.

During the time of the arrest, police were able to uncover 11 vehicles, $ 1 million in cash and cryptocurrency.

The U.S. reached out to Atlantic Federal Credit Union for comment.