Photo: CWBChicago.com

Thieves have found a new way to steal your private information. They are installing special devices onto bank doors and ATMs that extract your card info and PIN numbers. The data collected is then used to produce counterfeit cards.

According to a in depth report done by CWBChicago.com, police have extracted 11 of the devices from the Northside since July. One of those devices was located at a bank August 31 on the 5ooo block of N. Broadway in the 48th ward, one block south of the Edgewater boundary.  The only bank on that block is the International Bank of Chicago.

There are two devices currently being used. The most common is a plastic piece that is fixed over the area of an ATM where your card is inserted. The other is a piece that is mounted into a bank door where a user inserts the card for entry. Both devices capture the victim’s personal information. Thieves return days later to recover the devices and unload the data.

A police officer told CWBChicago that there are ways to protect yourself. If you are entering a bank vestibule after hours, use the magnetic strip of an expired card. Any card with a magnetic strip can be used to gain entry. They also recommend that before you put your card into an ATM, pull on the area that you insert the card into and the keypad used to type your PIN number. If anything is loose then do not use the machine and call police.

Police also recommend that you cover your hand when typing in your PIN number.

Here are the locations police have found devices at”