By Eliza Ridgeway

Nearly 40 local residents have reported unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts this week in what Los Altos police describe as a rash of ATM-based card fraud.

Detective Paul Epley said that suspects appear to have copied card and personal identification numbers from customers at the Arco AM/PM at San Antonio Road and Loucks Avenue, and also possibly at a Bank of America ATM on San Antonio Road.

“This is pretty new – I haven’t seen this hit the community before,” Epley said of the technology used to steal the personal information.

The police believe that suspects affixed a slender device that reads and records information to the ATM card slots. They have found traces of glue on exterior ATMs at the gas station and the bank, but have not recovered any of the devices used in this spurt of crimes. They have taken similar devices from suspects in the past.

Los Altos resident Susan Kinne learned that $2,800 had been stolen from her bank account when her ATM card didn’t work on Tuesday and she went in to ask the bank teller what had happened.

“The gal at the bank said, ‘Well, you’re about the seventh person that’s had this happen,’” she recounted. “She checked, and four $700 withdrawals had been made while I was in Lake Tahoe (over the weekend). … I didn’t even have that much money in my account, so it went into overdraft. Bank of America was great – the money was back in my account Tuesday night.”

Whoever withdrew Kinne’s money did so at ATMs in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino and Hayward, she was able to learn from the bank.

Epley advised that any residents who used their ATM cards at the Los Altos Arco or the San Antonio Road Bank of America should carefully monitor account activity for the next few days or weeks. He said most of the victims reported fraudulent withdrawals two days after using their ATM cards. The withdrawals from Los Altos bank accounts occurred throughout the Bay Area, including Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and the East Bay. He urged any residents who notice suspicious account activity to contact the police.

Concerned residents can cancel an ATM card without closing associated bank accounts. Epley said that residents shouldn’t be afraid of using their cards, but that the situation requires heightened awareness. He noted that one can check an ATM by jiggling its card slot and number pad before inserting a card – the thieves were gluing on detachable pieces that are subtle but detectable.

This form of fraud, often described as “skimming” for the way in which the thieves acquire account information from card’s magnetic strips, is not new to the Bay Area, although the technology used to carry it out is constantly evolving. Los Altos has never been so hard hit, Epley said.

“It’s quite possible that the number of reports we’re getting is just a small percentage of the total (number of victims),” he said of the current estimate of affected residents.

Community Service Officer Paco Vergara said that residents who want to learn more can watch a video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUvySJeLdI that shows a slightly more primitive swiping device in action.

Contact Eliza Ridgeway at elizar@latc.com.