ABM Skimmer Faces Charges in Hamilton, Durham and Toronto

Hamilton Police have charged a Toronto man with fraud related offences arising from his alleged involvement in the application of a credit card skimming devices to the ABM at a Hamilton area Scotia bank.

On June 19th, 2011, it is alleged that Ajinthan SIVASOTHY placed a card reader and pinhole camera on the ABM at a Hamilton branch of Scotia bank. At the time of the incident, a Scotia bank employee happened to use the ABM and noticed the skimming devices, which closely resemble legitimate parts of the machine. The devices were removed from the machine and Hamilton Police were called to investigate.

A subsequent investigation by the Hamilton Police Service Major Fraud Unit led to the identification of Sivasothy as being involved. Hamilton Police arrested SIVASOTHY on July 7th, 2011. He was held for a bail hearing at that time. This information was shared with other police services and subsequent charges were laid for alleged similar activity in other jurisdictions in the GTA. Similar incidents continue to be investigated in other jurisdictions.

A card reader applied over the opening of the machine where the customers credit/debit card is inserted for banking transactions allows for account information to be copied. A pinhole camera installed over the keypad captures the PIN of the customer, which was associated to the skimmed card data. With this combination of card data and PIN, criminals can manufacture duplicate cards and make credit card transactions worldwide.

Debit card skimming in Canada is responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to financial institutions and inconvenience to card holders. The losses associated to credit card skimming are much greater.

Charged: Ajinthan SIVASOTHY, 19 yrs. of Toronto
Charges: Possession of Instruments for Forging Credit Cards
Identity Theft
Fraud Under $5,000