Pin Numbers Stolen by Fake Card Reader

While the debt crisis has been making headline news worldwide, East Providence has been grappling with its own bank issues. Last Sunday, customer Michael Troy found the ATM he was using to contain a fake card reader that had recorded his pin number and countless others before his.

Because of the soaring temperatures last week, the adhesive used to attach the fake card reader at the Sovereign Bank ATM on Newport Avenue was beginning to deteriorate. Troy mistakenly put an incorrect card into the teller, and when the card was ejected, the plate of the fake card reader came off entirely.

In addition to the card reader, a camera had been attached to record the pin numbers of the customers who had been duped.

The perpetrator behind the fake card reader remains unknown, although both the East Providence Police Department and the FBI are looking into the case. Sovereign Bank has contacted all customers potentially affected by the incident.

Lt. Armen Garo of the provided tips for the safety of personal information in face of such crimes. 

"The best measure is high degree of vigilance on part of card users," he said. "People should hide their pins by cupping their hands over pin pad or type in their pin without even looking at it."