US cybercrime czar falls victim to skimmers

The Chair of the US Justice Department's Cybercrime Subcommittee, Jenny Durkan, has fallen victim to a gang of criminal skimming thieves who copied her bank card and drained her account of $1000.

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US cybercrime czar falls victim to skimmers

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

The cybercrime czar told Seattle's King 5 News she was robbed of the cash in August after thieves stole her debit card information via a skimming device and camera mounted to a bank cash machine.

Durkan said she was in a hurry and didn't thoroughly check the fascia of the machine as she usually does.

"The thieves are very clever," says Durkan. "When it happens to you, you really feel victimised and you think, "Boy, I wish I'd been smarter that time".'

Police have yet to apprehend the gang behind the scam.

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Comments: (3)

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

One of the largest cyberfrauds in the USA - the so-called Onwuhara HELOC Fraud - was apparently solved after a massive investigation that was launched when the fraudsters had unwittingly plied their trade on one Robert "Duke" Short, a former U.S. Treasury agent and Treasury Department's national chief of investigations. Reporting on the story, this FORTUNE article commented, "He was ... the wrong man to hit".

Hopefully, these skimmers might similarly realize that Jenny Durkan "was the wrong woman to hit".

It's so ironical that these fraudsters steal someone's identity but don't really "get" who that somone is!

Trevor Jenkins

Trevor Jenkins Director at Maylands Consulting Ltd

Perhaps she will now press for the USA to move to EMV chip cards?

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

I wouldn't bet my last dollar on that - historically, there seems to be a strong preference for addressing symptoms rather than eliminating root causes. 

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