NAPA (BCN) — Napa police last week arrested a San Francisco man on suspicion of stealing $700 from a woman’s bank account using an ATM.
Police said there have been four such “shoulder surfing” thefts this month at Bank of America ATMs in Napa.
The victims in each incident told police that suspects were loitering near the machines and either used the ATM right after them or claimed one of the machines was broken and directed them to another, Sgt. Amy Hunter said.
Both a male and female were involved in some of the scams, Hunter said.
The theft occurs when a person watches a bank customer enter their PIN, and if a customer doesn’t finalize their transaction before leaving the machine, anyone can continue the ATM transaction before the computer ends it automatically, Hunter said.
The thief can then use the customer’s PIN to withdraw more cash from the account, Hunter said.
On Thursday, an off-duty Napa police officer saw a man standing in the middle ATM at the Bank of America at 1700 First St. around 2 p.m. No one else was at the ATM machines and the man was not using the machine, Hunter said.
The man was still at the ATMs when the off-duty officer drove by a short time later so the officer parked to observe him, Hunter said.
The man stayed at the middle machine as two customers approached and conducted their transactions at the two end machines, Hunter said.
The man, later identified as Thedideus Donnell Guidry, 29, of San Francisco, looked over one customer’s shoulders during her transaction and moved to the machine she used and used its keypad as soon as she left, Hunter said.
The off-duty officer called Napa police, who contacted Guidry and found him in possession of $700, Hunter said.
Guidry was not a Bank of America customer and the female victim was told by the bank that $700 was withdrawn from her account immediately after her transaction, according to Hunter.
Guidry was interviewed and arrested on suspicion of felony identity theft and misdemeanor use of an access card, Hunter said.