ATM SCAM CONNECTED TO WILMINGTON PHARMACY, POLICE SAY

NBC 10.com, PA
Aug 1 2007

The FBI has jumped into the investigation of a major ATM scam in the
local area.

The NBC 10 investigators first told you about dozens of victims and
the arrest of two men in July.

Sources are calling this an Armenian organized crime ring.

Last week two men were charged with stealing from dozens of ATM
accounts in Tredyfferin Township and now the FBI said it has connected
the scam to a Wilmington pharmacy.

The FBI said Artur Grigoryan and his partner, Artur Harutyunyan,
had a slick operation at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in North Wilmington.

Agents claim the two men replaced a real card swipe keypad with
a skimming device that looked just like it, for a month. The FBI
believes the skimmer collected ATM card and pin numbers.

Then police believe the men put that stolen information on gift cards
and then withdrew money from dozens of bank accounts without victims
ever knowing.

The FBI said the suspects usually went to automated teller machines
at Wawas to make the withdrawals.

We’re told police have been looking for the men for months, believing
they have been moving from state to state.

An Upper Merion police officer recognized one of them at a King Of
Prussia Wawa a couple of weeks ago and made the first arrest.

Rite Aid said it has updated all of it’s debit card scanners to help
prevent this from happening again.

The two men have a preliminary hearing Thursday morning.