ATM thieves target older women at grocery stores

An alert is out in the Seattle area about a team of bandits stealing debit card information, mainly from older women.

Local police departments and authorities with the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force think the scheme starts in grocery stores. Members of the group look over the shoulders of customers at check-out counters to steal their PIN numbers.

Later, in the parking lot, the thieves approach the card holders at their cars and unfold maps, asking for directions. While the person is distracted, another thief pulls the debit card out out of the victim’s purse, skims it and puts it back. Members of the so-called “Parking Lot A-T-M Bandits” then create a clone card to withdraw money from the unsuspecting shopper’s bank account.

The targets are typically older women, but police say older men are sometimes victimized.

Investigators think there are at least four members of the group who have struck in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Everett, Milton/ Edgewood and Tacoma.