Bibb County investigators looking for suspect in ATM fraud

MACON, Georgia (41/WMGT) – Bibb County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a woman accused of committing ATM fraud. She used a man’s card to take out money, using his pin number. While it’s not all that common, it does happen.

“What we’re seeing a lot of is, someone has access to the card and the pin number as well,” said Investigator Michael Parrott.

That’s exactly what happened to a man in Macon back in March. Bibb County Investigators say he lost his wallet. When he checked his account the next day five different ATM withdrawals were already made.

“One of things that we immediately suspect is if someone has access to one’s pin number that they’ve possibly got it from the person themselves,” said Investigator Parrott

In this case, investigators still don’t know exactly how someone got the man’s Pin Number. According to a police report, when asked, the victim replied, “I don’t know.”

What investigators do know, thanks to an ATM camera, is a woman made those transactions using his card.

“We have a lot of known suspects who do these kinds of things and if we can find out who it is then we will immediately take out warrants on the person,” said Investigator Parrott.

Investigator Parrott focuses on financial crimes. He says while sometimes you can prevent some frauds, there are some measures you can take. The first, PIN numbers.

“One thing we’ve seen is that people, for convenient sake, are writing it on the back of the card,” Investigator Parrott said. “Which really defeats any kind of security issues for the card in the first place.”

He also suggests making your pin something challenging.

“Don’t pick 1234, or 1111, make it something that’s not relevant to you,” said Investigator Parrot. “Where someone would really have to try hard to pick it.”

If your card does go missing, immediately report it to your bank. Following these tips could make sure you’re not a victim in an another ATM Fraud.

If you have any information on who the woman may be, call Investigator Joiner at 478-742-2330.