Grenada Today - The National Newspaper of Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique

Police have detained three persons believed to have fraudulently obtained money from accounts of customers of three commercial banks in St. George's over the weekend.

The Grenada Bankers Association is advising customers to be very careful when using their bank's ATM and has warned against accepting "help" from anyone at the ATM.

Last weekend's fraudsters were able to obtain funds from accounts because they gained access to the customers' Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) as well as their cards.

The suspected fraudsters were intercepted on Sunday through the vigilance and quick work of the banks and the Grenada Police.

The suspects used what is known as the Lebanese Loop, an illegal device inserted into the card reader that captures the card, which the fraudster later retrieves, after offering to assist the affected customer and getting him to reveal his PIN.

The Bankers' Association has offered the following tips to customers:

* Do not accept assistance from anyone at the ATM. If someone offers to help you at the ATM, cancel your transaction and leave.

* Memorise your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Do not write it down or tell it to anyone.

* Do not allow anyone to see you punch in your PIN at the machine.

* Be observant when using the ATM and be particularly wary of other persons who might be in the vicinity of the machine when you are conducting your transactions. If strange persons are loitering near an ATM, DO NOT USE IT. Go to another ATM instead.

* If your card becomes stuck in the ATM contact your bank immediately. Do not use a phone offered to you by anyone in the vicinity of the ATM.

While this type of fraud might be new to Grenada it has been existence in other parts of the Caribbean for some time.
Customers are therefore reminded of the importance of securing both their card and their PIN, to thwart the efforts of would be fraudsters.