In an effort to counteract thieves employing skimming devices to pilfer bank information from ATMs, a collaborative task force comprised of city and federal officials is taking action. This initiative comes just in time for the influx of visitors expected for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Final and celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday.
Detective James Lilla, representing the NYPD’s regional Financial Crimes Task Force, shared that his team is intensifying their efforts to tackle these crimes, offering protection to both tourists and locals during these major events.
“With FIFA drawing in more crowds, we’re actively engaging in public awareness and investigating leads on individuals suspected of installing these skimming devices,” Lilla explained.
The task force, which includes the Secret Service alongside other federal and local bodies, conducts sweeps across city stores in search of the devices. They also investigate reported thefts and work to educate both business owners and the general public about the threat, Lilla noted.
According to Lilla, a significant majority of these culprits, about 95%, hail from Eastern Europe. They often use skimmers in ATMs or point-of-sale machines to capture and exploit bank details, converting them onto gift cards to unlawfully withdraw cash.
“In order to get into your savings, checking account, EBT account you need a PIN number,” he said. “So that’s where the other device comes in.”
The “PIN capture device” is a tiny pin hole camera that records as a customer enters their PIN on a machine’s pad.
The crooks can also use a “PIN pad striker,” which captures the PIN as a person enters it and stores it on a tiny motherboard.
The scammers can also use a “shimmer card” to get data from a chip, including PIN numbers, and then transmit the information to the crooks via Bluetooth wireless technology, Lilla said.
Victims ranged from food stamp clients who have their benefits stolen to those who lost “well over a million dollars” in the scams, he said.
“Every bank is hit throughout the entire city, from the Upper East Side all the way down to Brownsville,” he said.
ATMs and point of sale terminals aren’t the only places crooks can steal data. Lately, they’ve been targeting the city subway system’s OMNY vending machines, police said.
“This is a crime that knows no bounds and it affects people from every walk of life, all the way from millionaires to people on EBT,” said Sgt. Matt Doherty, taskforce boss.
“When we see large events, we know that our criminals are going to try to exploit this opportunity knowing that there are going to be millions of people here celebrating.”