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Scammers are attaching devices to Philly ATMs to trap cash from users’ transactions, police say

Scammers are using trap-door tools to catch cash from other people's ATM transactions.

Security footage of masked men who police believe are attaching devices to ATMs to catch withdrawn cash.
Security footage of masked men who police believe are attaching devices to ATMs to catch withdrawn cash.Read morePhiladelphia Police Department
    by Dana Munro
    Published 

Scammers in Philadelphia are attaching plates onto ATMs to trap cash as users attempt to make withdrawals, police said Wednesday.

The problem has been ongoing since March 15, Philadelphia Police Capt. Robert McKeever said at a news conference. The department has discovered nine instances in which ATMs at variety stores, dollar stores, and corner stores had trap doors attached for thieves to later collect cash. Four of these instances occurred in the southern part of the city, two happened in the east, and three in the Northeast. Police discovered the devices attached at ATMs at five bank locations last weekend, the department said in a statement.

Users making withdrawals may think the ATM is broken when, in fact, the cash is funneling into a trap-door device that scammers retrieve later.

McKeever said the scammers tend to go in over weekends to attach the devices, giving victims a harder time remedying the situation because the banks are closed.

Police said the culprits are masked in security footage. Police are tracking down a few leads and hoping to find more video to identify those attaching the devices. The department believes two people are going around the city doing this, McKeever said.

Police believe the scammers are getting away in a dark-colored SUV with possible New Jersey registration, according to the statement.