If Scammers Are Intentionally Ripping Off Gayborhood ATMs, Is It A Hate Crime?

Heh. Probably not! But gays living in D.C.’s Dupont Circle are on alert after learning a local Wachovia ATM was hacked to steal debit card information from unknowing customers. The scam, which involves a mix of videotaping your PIN number as you enter it and catching the magnetic strip of your ATM card as you insert it, went down at at the bank’s ATM at 1447 P St. NW. And so far, a number of Washington-area homosexuals have seen their accounts drained of $500 a day until the balances dropped to zero. (Unnervingly, Wachovia won’t say on which dates the scams took place, which might help alert folks they need to check their bank records, if they knew they used an ATM in the area that day.)