Thousands Under Threat From ATM Fraud

THE city’s major banks are reported to be in the process of blocking the credit and laser cards of thousands of their customers in an attempt to foil a gang of fraudsters who have skimmed the bank card details of unsuspecting Galway shoppers over the past month.As more details have emerged this week of the bank card scam that has hit Galway, it now appears the fraudulent operation was much larger than was first estimated — and far more sophisticated than the card fraud reported in the national papers this week which was concentrated on the east side of the country.Latest reports suggest a significant team from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation is now looking into what they believe to be a large-scale international bank card cloning operation which was concentrated in the Galway area.It is understood the Galway investigation is centred around one particular store in the city where it is suspected a staff member working with the gang may have facilitated the cloning of thousands of bank card details. In the past number of weeks, the gang — which is thought to be part of a major Eastern European crime syndicate — used the laser and credit card details to steal significant sums of money from the accounts of thousands of Galway shoppers before they, the banks or the Gardaí suspected anything. As a precaution, all the major banks are now closing down the...