Police seek man who tried to steal ATM data

Vancouver police are looking for a man who allegedly installed a credit card skimmer on an ATM at the Lacamas Community Credit Union at 19200 S.E. 31st St., in far-east Vancouver just west of Camas.

A customer noticed that something had been attached over the card slot late Sunday night and called 911, according to a bulletin from Kim Kapp, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Police Department.

When police arrived, they found the skimmer device, as well as a pinhole camera that was installed just above the keypad.

The skimmer could have collected credit or debit card information and the camera could have shown the PIN number being typed in.

As of Thursday afternoon, Kapp said, it didn’t appear any customers’ financial information had been compromised.

In the recent past, card skimmers have been found attached to gas pumps in Vancouver, and the information was used to make purchases at gas stations in California. One way to foil such thieves at gas stations is, instead of inserting your card into the pump’s computer, to take your card inside the station and watch as the clerk uses it.

Even better: Pay cash.

In some areas, dishonest restaurant servers also have been known to quickly skim customers’ cards with small skimmers hidden in their clothing. It’s safer to carry your card up to the restaurant’s counter and watch as it’s used to pay for your meal.

Customers are asked to watch for suspicious devices attached to gas pumps and ATMs and report them to police. As always, it’s also wise to check your account statements for purchases you didn’t make.

In this week’s incident, the credit union’s ATM had a surveillance camera that captured an image of the skimmer and suspect. He is described as a white man, between 20 and 30 years old, wearing a newer Oregon Duck hooded sweatshirt depicting wings and a baseball cap, the bulletin said.

He drove away in a light-colored vehicle.

Anyone who knows the suspect’s identity is asked to call police at 360-487-7540, or 911.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.