ATM Skimmer Sentenced to Jail

A U.S. District Court in Connecticut has handed down a 12-month jail sentence to a New York woman for the role she played in a bank ATM skimming scheme.

Sabrina Matache of Middle Village, N.Y., was found guilty of conspiring with others to install skimming devices on ATMs and ATM vestibule access-points at People's United Bank branches in Connecticut. According to court records, her co-conspirators also collected PINs with hidden pinhole cameras installed near compromised ATMs.

The stolen card data and PINs were later used to create counterfeit debit cards. The card data is believed to have been skimmed between March and April 2010.

Matache has been ordered pay $60,664.

The news of Matache's sentence comes on the heels of another skimming-related conviction in Connecticut. Gabriella Graham, a 21-year-old who once lived in New London, Conn., got 12 months for the role she played an ATM skimming scheme that hit more than 250 bank accounts in New England. [See ATM Skimmer Pleads Guilty.]

Graham pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

These sentences come at a time when U.S. law enforcement is cracking down on skimming crimes.

See Also: OnDemand | Everything You Can Do to Fight Social Engineering and Phishing

In November, a special task force arrested five people for their alleged connection to a $1 million ATM fraud scheme. In a separate case, New York authorities arrested two Bulgarians who had been linked to a similar skimming scheme targeting Chase ATMs in Manhattan. [See Skimmers Busted by Fraud Detection.]