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The Bartlesville Police Department has received 19 reports from local victims who experienced unauthorized credit or debit card charges over the weekend. Captain Jay Hastings reports the first call came in around 5 o'clock Saturday evening. Most charges showed as cash withdraws from ATM machines throughout the state however some were purchases. 

 

According to Hastings, some of the locations where the unauthorized charges appeared to have been made are Tulsa, OKC, Broken Arrow, Edmond, and Bartlesville. It did not appear the cards compromised were tied to any certain bank. Arvest, Mid 1st Bank, BOK, and Truity customers were some of the account holders that were affected.

 

Hastings says investigators continue looking through all of the information to determine if there is something in common connecting the cases. It is obvious people in the Bartlesville area were affected. It is possible that some kind of credit card skimmer located in the community for a period of time might have been collecting the card data. 

 

A skimmer is a device that can be placed over a credit card reader which will collect data of cards scanned. The person would have to come back and retrieve the skimmer a few hours later to be able to download the information. It’s possible to duplicate the information onto another card and use it at ATM’s or other places where store employees are not watching transactions. Or it is possible the credit card information has been somehow electronically compromised in another way. 

 

Using an open public Wi-Fi for internet access is another way hackers can obtain personal information from Victims. Some of the victims from this most recent crime claim they had not used their credit or debit cards recently and their account information was still compromised. Police have not connected any of the theft of information to any local businesses.  

 

Hastings warns you to be aware of anything that may appear unusual when you are scanning cards. Notify store employees or bank personnel if you suspect a skimmer may have been placed over a card reader. Watch for anyone acting suspicious around any gas pumps or ATM machines. Report any unauthorized charges immediately to the Police and to your bank, check your bank account often for unauthorized charges. 

 

This case is still under investigation.  Hastings says police are working to verify times and locations where charges may have occurred to determine if authorities have any evidence as to who is committing the crime.