Credit card thefts on the rise

Credit, debit and ATM cards have become recent targets for fraud and theft on campus during the last month.\nSince April 1, nine reports, with one as recent as last Friday, have been filed with the IU Police Department regarding stolen cards, withdrawals made without the owners' consent or illegal use of the card for online purchases. \nAccording to the Federal Trade Commission, 28 percent of national identity theft victims are college-aged students ranging from 18 to 29 years old.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said because of the recent increase in thefts and unwarranted activity, the department plans to compile a list of steps people can take if they notice irregular activity on their cards.\n"Most of them are common sense items," Minger said. "You should always check your bills to make sure the items are legitimately purchased. If you feel any of your personal information, whether it's your credit card number or social security number, has been compromised, you should notify your credit card company as well as the major companies that monitor credit card applications."\nMinger said IUPD has worked with credit card companies in the past month to track down and solve where the purchases are being made. \n"When someone notices strange activity, we check with these companies to see how the cards are being used and where it's being used," Minger said. "Many times the institutions where the card is being used is equipped with cameras, and we can match up when the card was used with video to see who was in fact using the card, which can lead to an arrest."\nThese investigatory measures have resulted already in one arrest for fraud made by IUPD officers.\nAnother concern is ATMs are being illegally altered to allow criminals to steal IDs and PIN numbers. The University of Texas Police Department recently issued a report explaining the trend. \n"A team of organized criminals is installing equipment on legitimate bank ATMs in at least two regions to steal both the ATM card number and the PIN," the report states. "The team sits nearby in a car receiving the information transmitted wirelessly over weekends and evenings from equipment they install on the front of the ATM."\nThe report continues "a wireless camera is disguised as a leaflet holder and mounted in a position to view ATM PIN entries" and "the camera shown is installed and ready to capture your PINs by looking down on the keypad as you enter your PIN."\nMinger said he is not aware of these devices being used in Bloomington but feels as people increasingly use ATMs and Debit cards, this type of theft will no doubt become more prevalent.\nMinger said any students who feel they may have been a victim of any type of credit card fraud or theft should report their claim to IUPD.\nFor more information about credit card theft, how to report a claim to your credit card company and ways to identify this fraud, visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft.\n-- Contact staff writer Mallory Simon at mgsimon@indiana.edu.