Park Ridge police stake out bank after ATM skimming device found

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Park Ridge police detectives recently conducted surveillance on an Uptown bank in an attempt to apprehend the person who placed a skimming device on an ATM.

The skimming device, a piece of equipment used by thieves to get account information from debit-card users and then withdraw money from their accounts, was discovered on a drive-through ATM outside Chase Bank, 1 S. Northwest Highway, Park Ridge Police Cmdr. Lou Jogmen reported.

Jogmen said police learned May 6 that a skimming device had been found on the ATM. That night Park Ridge detectives set up surveillance of the bank to see if someone would come and pick up the device, which records and stores account numbers of ATM users. The surveillance ended 10 hours later when a bank customer tried to use the machine and pulled the skimming device off when his ATM card got stuck in it, Jogmen said.

Police questioned the man and determined he was just a customer, Jogmen said.

Because police seized the skimming device before the owner could retrieve it and access the recorded account information, it is not believed that any customers’ accounts were compromised, Jogmen said.

A call to Chase Bank seeking comment was not immediately returned.