ATM skimming scam costs man thousands of dollars

PENN HILLS, Pa. — A man was swindled out of more than $1,000 after using an ATM machine in Penn Hills.

The victim said he went into Penn Hills Convenience on Frankstown Road on Aug. 31 and attempted to purchase his items with his check card.

However, the clerk told the man the card reader was not working, so the clerk told him to use the ATM outside.

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A few days later, the man’s bank called him asking about approximately $1,400 in purchases made in Connecticut. The man said he had never been to Connecticut.

He then remembered a conversation he had about a week earlier with a clerk at that convenience store.

“I'm talking to the night guy and he's telling me he's selling a car,” the victim, who did not want to be identified, said. “I asked him about the car and he says he wants to get rid of it because he's going to Connecticut."

Penn Hills Police Chief Howard Burton learned of the incident shortly after the victim alerted police to his suspicions.

Burton said they were looking into the possibility of a “side situation,” in which an employee could have placed a skimmer on the machine to collect funds.

The victim told Channel 11 he never uses that card at the ATM – only to pay bills – but he was in a rush to get to work that day and agreed to get the cash.

Cox Media Group