The Story of My Brother's Stolen Identity with an ATM Machine

If you're like me, you think that having your identity stolen is some foreign crime that only happens in Tom Clancy novels. It's something that we hear about daily on the news, yet it seems so far away that it's never likely to happen to you. My brother thought the same thing before his trip to Cancun, Mexico. After a routine trip to an ATM before stopping in a restaurant for margaritas and enchiladas, his account was mysteriously tracked, identity stolen, and before the night was over an individual had taken approximately $10,000 from my brother's savings account. His story is one that you need to hear.

My brother and his girlfriend went on a trip to Cancun in the summer of 2005. They had been dating a little over two years at the time, and he had finally decided that this would be the trip in which he popped the big engagement question to the girl he loved. After all, what can be more romantic than walking hand in hand during the sunset on one of the world's most beautiful beaches? After careful planning, they arrived to their resort on a Sunday and settled into their room. On the second night into the trip, he asked his girlfriend to be his wife and she accepted. The trip was looking like it was going to turn out to be a memorable one. And indeed it was, just for the wrong reasons.

A few nights later into the trip, my brother decided that he wanted to try out a restaurant that was within walking distance of the resort. He stopped at an ATM machine along the way and was intent on taking out forty dollars. For your information, the ATM's in Cancun are much different than those in the United States. The ATM machines in Cancun are much like free standing closets, where you enter and offer your debit card information. This was where the crime happened. The criminals actually placed what is referred to as a "skimmer" in the ATM machine. The skimmer is designed to pull all of the data from the credit card that an identity thief needs to make a counterfeit card. Instead of depositing his card into a slot, the ATM required him to scan his card through this laser which would, in return, read his information. Little does he know that this skimmer was planted by someone intent on getting his information. These skimmers can hold information from hundreds of different accounts. The thief would simply go in the morning, plant the false skimmer, and pick up the information from a separate device such as a cell phone or laptop. All of the visitors using the ATM that day would have their account tracked and drained of all its money.

Identity thieves often use these skimmers to record names, account numbers, and other identifying information necessary from the magnetic stripes on the back of the card. They then take this information and download it onto a personal computer and use it to make phony credit cards used to commit fraud. The information on the phony card is perfectly accurate. Most of these thieves that capture the information sell the rights to the information on the open market a few days later. It wasn't until my brother returned from his trip when he noticed that his account had been drained of every penny. He went to an ATM near his house, went to withdrawal more money and it said that his account had been overdrawn. Upon further evaluation of his account on his home computer he noticed that his savings account was completely empty. He had no money. After panicking and breaking a few things around the house, he made the dreaded phone call to the bank. The bank, which shall remain unnamed here, actually made a mistake in the process. Anytime a checking account is overdrawn with this particular bank, money is rolled over from the savings account to pay whatever automated withdrawal or payment is needed. There is a limit of $10,000 within a span of a couple of days that an individual can spend. In my brother's case, the $10,000 limit was spent within a day. The bank did offer a temporary solution by adding some money back into his account, but the bank and local officials conducted an investigation into the matter to see exactly what happened. Eventually, it would be known that dozens of people using that exact same ATM that day were complaining of similar theft. The bank also concluded that there's no way my brother in North Carolina could also be in San Salvador at the same time buying a new car. Within a couple of weeks, the money was placed back in his account and the thieves were caught and the scam was uncovered. However, this just goes to show you that you're never safe. There are always people looking to steal your identity and take advantage of all the money that you worked so hard for your entire life.