OK County Sheriff's Office Searching For Credit Card Cloning Suspects

You will want to be on the lookout the next time you use an ATM. While the machine reads your card, someone else could be reading it, too.

Investigators are looking for a group of people they say skimmed debit card information from unsuspecting bank customers.

Thieves made off with about $10,000 of other people's money, and they did so by placing a card reader on an ATM at a bank.

"These individuals are then accused of taking that information that they gleaned from this skimmer and then made fake debit cards with them,” Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Mark Opgrande said.

The information was skimmed from the strip on the back of the cards when customers used the bank ATM. The crooks then used that information to make fake cards and walk into local businesses to use store ATMs, and withdraw money from other people's accounts.

"In this case they were able to get the information from about 13 or 14 individuals and then use that to take money out of their bank accounts,” Opgrande said.

The account holders notified the bank, and the bank called authorities. The bank reimbursed their customers, but now the thieves owe the bank.

Newer debit cards have a chip which can help prevent this type of card skimming.

"Pull on the machine a little where you put the card in there just to make sure it doesn't look like it's been tampered with at all, and if you have any reservations then don't use that ATM,” Opgrande said.

There is a $1,000 reward for each arrest and conviction - a total of $4,000 if all four suspects are caught.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the name of the bank.