Police have swooped on a gang thought to be behind a sophisticated eftpos card-skimming operation in which dozens of people have lost thousands of dollars.
Four people are expected to face court today in connection with the latest scam targeting New Zealanders' bank cards - this time involving store eftpos machines.
Thousands of dollars was withdrawn from at least 60 BNZ and Westpac accounts via a cash machine in Canada at the weekend. Other banks' customers, including the ASB's, have also been affected.
The scam is separate from one that targeted five ANZ and National Bank ATMs in Auckland in February and March, when more than $1 million was taken by fraudsters who withdrew the money in cities around the world.
In those cases, a "skimming'' device was fitted over the slot where the card was inserted into the ATM. Information was collected from the card's magnetic strip while a tiny camera fitted above the keypad recorded the PIN being entered.
However, the Herald understands latest cases have targeted eftpos terminals inside stores _ possibly by replacing them with machines with devices fitted or by tampering with them in store.
It is understood four people were arrested in Auckland on Friday evening and are set to appear in court today.
About 60 customers from BNZ and Westpac were affected at the weekend. Eftpos, credit cards and debit cards had all been used, the banks said.
People affected have had their bank accounts frozen and will have to have new cards issued. They will be reimbursed for any money that has been taken.
ASB said it had noticed an increase in "skimming'' scams over the past several days, which was impacting all banks.
"We have identified the cards that were used during the dates when potential fraud issues have occurred and will be speaking with our affected customers.''
One scam victim, Justin Bennett, told a news website yesterday that his BNZ account was "emptied'' with several transactions of $350. A statement showed the transactions were made in Canada.
His girlfriend, Natasha Young, reportedly had her account frozen by Westpac after attempts were made overseas to access it.
No arrests have been made in relation to the earlier ATM skimming but police released a picture of a man seen near the affected machines.
Bill Farmer, chief executive of credit card security business Mako Networks, said much of the focus on card fraud was usually to do with ATM machines, but criminals regularly "harvested'' information from other locations.
"They could have people who are working in the individual businesses _ particularly the hospitality trade _ and they basically take the credit card or debit card and get the information off it through a separate reader.''
He said it was essential businesses complied with a new security system that was being quickly adopted in the Northern Hemisphere and is likely to be compulsory worldwide by 2015.
Mr Farmer said local businesses had been slow to comply. Of an estimated 180,000 merchants in New Zealand, he would be "surprised if there were 1000 of them compliant'' with the new standard.
A senior lecturer in banking at Massey University, Claire Matthews, said people shouldn't be worried about using their cards despite the recent skimming scams and eftpos machine tampering.
"If the worst does happen and your money does go missing, if you haven't disclosed your PIN to anyone and used reasonable precaution, the bank will replace it. It just might be a bit of inconvenience while your account's frozen and while you're waiting for a new card.''
In July 2010, two Canadians admitted their part in an international syndicate that secretly modified eftpos machines in NZ shops to steal customers' card details.
The skimmers replaced eftpos terminals with "compromised'' replicas, often aided by shop staff they had bribed or threatened.
