Police believe that thousands of dollars have been stolen from people who used an ATM at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Wednesday, a skimmer was removed from the ATM machine located in the lobby near the gift shop, Fairfax County police officials said. The device, which was copying people's ATM card numbers, was spotted by a customer.

Police believe that the skimming device was attached to the ATM in late August. Detectives had received complaints that ATM cards were fraudulently used to buy groceries, expensive coffees, and to get cash from other ATM machines, and these fraud cases are believed to have stemmed from the skimmer.

No suspect information was available. Police are urging people who used the ATM from late August through Tuesday to check their bank statements closely. Anyone who finds an issue with their statement should call police at 703-691-2131 and also call their bank.

njagoda@washingtonexaminer.com