If you have ever stopped at an outdoor ATM for quick cash, this warning is for you. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department says three Romanian nationals were arrested after a months-long investigation into an ATM “distraction theft” scheme tied to at least a dozen victims in several California counties.
Detectives say the group watched a sixty-six-year-old man use an ATM in the 17000 block of Santiago Boulevard in Villa Park and waited until he entered his PIN.
As the victim finished his transaction with his card still in the machine, one suspect dropped cash at his feet while another quietly swapped his real bank card for a fake one, then later used the stolen card and PIN to withdraw cash and make purchases.
The suspects, identified as Romita Achitei, sixty one, Paul Agafitei, forty three, and George Asafiei, forty six, were arrested on January 6 on suspicion of grand theft, identity theft and forgery. Investigators have linked the trio to a pattern of similar distraction thefts in Orange, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento counties and believe more victims may be out there.
At the end of the day, the tactic is simple. Thieves get close enough to see a PIN, then create a small burst of confusion that makes a customer look away from the screen, and the department notes that similar tricks can show up in grocery store lines or at retail checkout terminals.
So what can regular card users do? Deputies urge people to cover the keypad every time they enter a PIN, keep their card in sight and avoid talking with strangers while a transaction is in progress.
Anyone who spots unfamiliar withdrawals or suspects a similar distraction theft is asked to contact the sheriff tip line at 714 647 7000 and their bank as soon as possible.
The official statement was published on the OC Sheriff site.
