Barbados hit by debit card fraud

(Barbados Nation) Banks have been alerted to an apparent islandwide debit card racket.

At an emergency meeting involving all banking institutions last Thursday, it was disclosed that over the past few weeks, the accounts of 17 people had been tampered with and monies illegally withdrawn from several automatic teller machines (ATMs).

The fraudsters have also used the bogus cards to purchase items from businesses.

“We have confirmed that there is a skimming exercise being uncovered in Barbados which is manifested by withdrawals from cardholder accounts using manufactured plastic duly encoded with cardholder information,” stated an email, which provided details of the outcome of Thursday’s emergency meeting.

It was also believed that the banking fraud, referred to as “skimming”, could have affected the accounts of hundreds of customers at various banks.

When contacted yesterday, Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin confirmed the development had been drawn to his attention.