Peter Eliopoulos
Reporter
Boston woman who lost $12K in 'sleight of hand' ATM scam gets money back
CONNED, YOU FEEL REALLY VIOLATED, RIGHT? I MEAN, IT’S THAT SOMEONE COULD, YOU KNOW, SUCK YOU IN. MEGAN BATES IS STILL IN DISBELIEF. SHE SAYS IT. ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON, SHE WAS IN EAST BOSTON, WENT TO THIS ATM TO TAKE OUT CASH TO GO TO LUNCH, SHE SAYS ABOUT 10S. AFTER WALKING AWAY, A MAN CALLED HER OVER SAYING THERE WAS STILL MONEY IN THE SLOT AND THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE MACHINE. GIVE ME YOUR CARD. AND HE LIKE, TOOK MY CAR OUT OF MY HAND AND PUT IT IN THE MACHINE. HE’S LIKE, PUT YOUR PIN NUMBER IN. HE’S LIKE, YOU HAVE TO CLOSE THE TRANSACTION IN BECAUSE IT’S STILL OPEN AND IT HAPPENED SO FAST. I DIDN’T EVEN REALLY THINK ABOUT IT, SHE SAYS. THE MAN WAS SUPER NICE AND SHE THOUGHT HE WAS TRYING TO HELP HER. SHE WENT TO LUNCH AND THOUGHT NOTHING OF IT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY WHEN LOOKING AT HER BANK STATEMENT, SHE SAW THREE WITHDRAWALS OF $4,000 EACH, MISSING FROM HER ACCOUNT. THE MONEY TAKEN OUT FROM THIS BANK OF AMERICA ON STATE STREET, AND THEN ANOTHER ON HANOVER STREET. SHE LATER REALIZED THE CARD SHE NOW HAD IN HER POCKET WASN’T HER OWN. BUT FOR SOMEONE NAMED VICTOR, SOMEHOW BETWEEN WHEN THE CARD CAME OUT AGAIN, HE SWITCHED THE CARDS. I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW HE DID IT. SLEIGHT OF HAND. I MEAN, THE GUY WAS A MAGICIAN. BATES REPORTED WHAT HAPPENED TO BOSTON POLICE AND TO BANK OF AMERICA. SHE’S WONDERING HOW THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED WHEN SHE SAYS SHE HAS SAFEGUARDS IN PLACE PREVENTING WITHDRAWALS OVER $500. IT’S FRUSTRATING TO ME THAT THEY CAN’T TELL ME WHY THIS HAPPENED, LIKE WHY SOMEONE WAS ABLE TO WITHDRAW THAT MUCH MONEY OUT OF MY ACCOUNT IN ONE DAY. NOW, BATES SAYS SHE’S SUPER EMBARRASSED ABOUT THIS SITUATION, BUT SHE SPOKE WITH US TODAY IN HOPES OF RAISING AWARENESS. SO THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE. BY THE WAY, BANK OF AMERICA AND BOSTON POLICE ARE BOTH INVESTIGATING.
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Boston woman who lost $12K in 'sleight of hand' ATM scam gets money back
Peter Eliopoulos
Reporter
A Boston woman says she has her money back after being scammed out of thousands of dollars by a man who claimed to be helping her at an automated teller machine.Megan Bates said she was in East Boston Friday afternoon when she decided to take out cash for lunch from a walk-up Bank of America ATM on Porter Street in Central Square.Bates said that after she walked away from the ATM, a man called her over to the machine, saying there was still money in the cash dispenser slot and that something was wrong with the ATM. Bates said she saw a $10 bill sticking out of it and a blinking red light."He said: 'Give me your card,' and he took my card out of my hand and put it in the machine. He's like: 'Put your PIN number in.' He's like: 'You have to close the transaction because it's still open,'" Bates said. "It happened so fast, I didn't even really think about it."Bates thought the man was being nice by trying to help her until the next day when she saw three withdrawals of $4,000 each had been made from her account, totaling $12,000.Bates then realized the debit card she had was not her own and belonged to someone named Victor."Somehow, between when the card came out (of the ATM) again, he switched the cards," Bates said. "I don't even know how he did it. Sleight of hand? I mean, the guy was a magician."Bates reported what happened to the Boston police and Bank of America. On Tuesday, Bates said she got her money back, and the bank confirmed the case has been "positively resolved." Bank of America said they are investigating the case as possible identity theft.Bates said she is very embarrassed about what happened to her, but she spoke with NewsCenter 5 in hopes of raising awareness of ATM scams so that something like this does not happen to anyone else.
A Boston woman says she has her money back after being scammed out of thousands of dollars by a man who claimed to be helping her at an automated teller machine.
Megan Bates said she was in East Boston Friday afternoon when she decided to take out cash for lunch from a walk-up Bank of America ATM on Porter Street in Central Square.
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Bates said that after she walked away from the ATM, a man called her over to the machine, saying there was still money in the cash dispenser slot and that something was wrong with the ATM. Bates said she saw a $10 bill sticking out of it and a blinking red light.
"He said: 'Give me your card,' and he took my card out of my hand and put it in the machine. He's like: 'Put your PIN number in.' He's like: 'You have to close the transaction because it's still open,'" Bates said. "It happened so fast, I didn't even really think about it."
Bates thought the man was being nice by trying to help her until the next day when she saw three withdrawals of $4,000 each had been made from her account, totaling $12,000.
Bates then realized the debit card she had was not her own and belonged to someone named Victor.
"Somehow, between when the card came out (of the ATM) again, he switched the cards," Bates said. "I don't even know how he did it. Sleight of hand? I mean, the guy was a magician."
Bates reported what happened to the Boston police and Bank of America.
On Tuesday, Bates said she got her money back, and the bank confirmed the case has been "positively resolved."
Bank of America said they are investigating the case as possible identity theft.
Bates said she is very embarrassed about what happened to her, but she spoke with NewsCenter 5 in hopes of raising awareness of ATM scams so that something like this does not happen to anyone else.
