Tuesday, Five teenagers from California were brought into custody after Lincoln police arrested them Friday in a suspected ATM fraud operation.

According to authorities, A Pinnacle Bank customer who was having trouble at an ATM tipped the bank staff to the alleged skimming operation. Bank staff found several cameras and skimming devices on ATMs at 14th and N streets, 27th Street and Folkways Boulevard and 27th Street and Pine Lake Road.

Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong stated that ATM skimming devices, “surreptitiously capture bank card numbers and PIN information, allowing forgers to create new cards and steal money from the account holders.”

No account information was compromised.

Court documents testify that Police staked out the three ATM locations. Investigators reported a Jeep Cherokee pulled up at all three location, then left quickly without using the machines. The driver of the Jeep appeared to be the same person seen on surveillance video planting the devices earlier that morning.

The driver was a 16-year-old passenger boy from San Francisco. Police pulled him over and searched his car, finding a soldering iron, double-sided tape, memory cards and other items believed to have been used in the skimming operation. Three other teenagers were arrested after police seized a cell phone, where they discovered phone calls and text messages were made from someone near the 27th and Folkways ATM leading Investigators to arrest a 14-year-old boy, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-or 14-year-old girl suspected to have also been involved.

The teenagers are being detained at the Lancaster County Youth Services Center. Authorities have not released any names, but the teenagers are scheduled to appear in Lancaster County Juvenile Court Tuesday.

Northeastern Advisor Samantha Schmidt commented, “When using an ATM be aware of the machine, especially the card reader and pin pad. Look for anything that appears to be unusual or loose fitting, maybe a small hole has been drilled to hide a camera.”