A gang of identity thieves has robbed more than 250 victims of more than $500,000 by inserting skimmers and mounting cameras on Staten Island ATMs.
The skimmers gathered account information from the magnetic strips on the users’ cards, and the small pinhole cameras recorded PINs as they were entered into the keyboards of the machines. The stolen information was then applied to bogus cards, which the criminals were then able to use to withdraw cash.
The perpetrators audaciously strode inside Sovereign Bank locations on Henderson Avenue and Amboy Road, where they modified the banks’ ATM machines. Bank security cameras recorded images of three men thought to have committed the heist while they were installing the skimmers and cameras, or while they were making withdrawals from their victims’ accounts.
One of those victims, Robert Schwartz, was reviewing his accounts online last month when he spotted a couple withdrawals he didn’t make—one for $600, and just minutes later, another for $400.
“They took out the maximum for the day. I was just lucky I noticed it before they hit me for another $1,000,” Schwartz said.
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Tags: Identity Theft, skimmers, Sovereign Bank
Our police force gave a demonstration at the bank. Even knowing the skimmer was in the ATM I couldn’t tell! Scared the hell out of me!