By Aneeka Simonis
A 71-YEAR-OLD Pakenham man is among many to have had large sums of money fraudulently pulled from their bank account at compromised ATMS in town.
The Bendigo Bank ATM in Lakeside is the number one offender in the card skimming spate which has left several cardholders with frozen accounts.
On Monday 15 August, the long-term Pakenham resident’s entire daily allowance of $1000 was skimmed from his account after a trip to the Lakeside ATM.
When he went to report it to the tellers at the Bendigo Bank teller office in Pakenham Main Street, he was told, ‘you’ve been skimmed … and you’re not the only one’.
Now, his account has been frozen for a week as he awaits a new card to be issued.
A number of other cardholders reported being skimmed after using the Bendigo Bank ATM in Lakeside.
But apparently it’s not the only ATM residents should be wary of.
Commonwealth Bank’s ATM at Arena Shopping Centre in Officer has also been named in the card skimming fraud.
The heightened number of skimming reports appears to have given cardholders a scare, with many reporting they intend to boycott ATMs and get their cash out at supermarkets.
Many are reporting getting phone calls from their bank to notify them their bank details have been compromised and that their accounts will be closed until the issue was sorted.
The Gazette contacted Bendigo Bank and Commonwealth Bank to understand what they are doing to protect cardholders from future scams.
“Commonwealth Bank is concerned when any of its customers are affected by fraudulent activities, and takes detection and prevention of fraud seriously,” a spokesperson said.
“From time to time we see instances of suspicious behaviour and scams, and we work with law enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities to ensure staff are alerted to fraudulent activities.”
A Bendigo Bank spokesperson said they had fraud monitoring strategies in place to prevent and detect fraud, and that cardholders whose details had been skimmed would be notified immediately.
The bank takes these events very seriously, and works with both industry partners and law enforcement to combat fraud.
The banks reminded cardholders to protect their pin at all times and report suspicious activity.
Most cardholders reported their card was skimmed over the weekend beginning Saturday 13 August.
