A special task force of federal, Westchester County and local law enforcement officers has arrested five people in connection with an ATM skimming scheme that resulted in $1 million in fraud in multiple Westchester communities.
The five suspects were arrested in recent weeks by a multi-agency ATM Skimming Task Force made up of police officers from the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Secret Service and nine local police departments in Westchester. The task force is continuing its investigation into a number of additional ATM skimming cases.
Public Safety Commissioner George N. Longworth created the task force following incidents of ATM skimming fraud that were occurring around Westchester. Along with the county police and U.S. Secret Service, the Pelham, Rye, Greenburgh, Bronxville and Yorktown police departments assigned officers to the task force.
The task force was assisted in various investigations by officers from the Yonkers, Peekskill, Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry and Tarrytown police departments.
“This is a large-scale fraud being perpetrated by a sophisticated group of thieves,” Longworth said. “We decided to bring together some of the best and brightest investigators from multiple agencies to address this problem.”
County Executive Robert P. Astorino praised the work of the task force and said it reinforced the benefits of partnership and teamwork among Westchester’s law enforcement community. He also urged consumers to be especially alert to fraud during the upcoming holiday shopping season.
“Whether it is ATM skimming or other schemes, criminals are always looking for ways to take advantage of shoppers during the busy holiday season,” he said. “The police are working hard to stay ahead of criminals but shoppers need to be vigilant as well. Suspicious activity should be reported to local or county police.”
In the ATM skimming fraud, thieves attached a device known as a “dip reader” over the legitimate device installed on ATMs for customers to insert their ATM, debit or credit cards. The “dip reader,” which appears identical to the legitimate device and fits over it, then captures all the information contained on a bank card’s magnetic strip.
The thieves also install a pinhole camera above the ATM key pad to capture the customer’s personal identification number (PIN).
With the information from the magnetic strip and the PIN, the thieves are then able to withdraw cash from their victims’ bank accounts.
“Thieves using an ATM skimmer and pinhole camera obtained the full information from 330 customers over two days recently at a single bank ATM. They later withdrew $1,000 from each victim’s account – resulting in $330,000 in loses,” Longworth said.
Noting that thieves need both the magnetic strip information and the PIN, Astorino said bank customers could protect themselves by taking simple precautions.
“When you type in your PIN, use your other hand to shield the keypad and block the view of any hidden camera that may be there,” he said. He also urged customers to be aware of people standing behind them who may be trying to watch them type their PIN.
This video from a news station in San Francisco explains how ATM Skimming Works:
The five people arrested recently were each charged with Criminal Possession of Forgery Devices, a felony
They are:
Richard Merca, 19, of Palatine, Ill., who was arrested Nov. 13 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank inside the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights;
Victor Vdila, 21, of Astoria, Queens, who was arrested Oct. 16 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank on Central Park Avenue in Yonkers;
Istvan Casplar, 29, and Florinel Gavat, 40, both of Astoria, Queens, who were arrested Oct. 23 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank on East Hartsdale Avenue in Greenburgh.
Ionut Vasilas, 23, of Chicago was arrested Nov. 6 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank on South Broadway in Tarrytown.
Remarks at the Press Conference announcing the arrests:
Good Morning
Thank You All for Coming
My name is George Longworth and I am the commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety.
I am joined today by County Executive Rob Astorino and our partners in law enforcement in Westchester.
In recent months, Westchester County has been hit with a rash of ATM Skimming incidents – a fraud that has resulted in losses of up to $1 million.
When these crimes began to occur, we assembled a multi agency taskforce to combat this crime.
I am grateful to all of the agencies represented here for their support of the ATM Skimming Task Force.
We are here today to announce the arrest of five persons that we believe are responsible for targeting a range of banks all around Westchester County. These thieves are part of a larger, sophisticated ring of brazen criminals who have targeted our county for this scheme.
The five persons arrested are all of Eastern European descent. Some are US citizens and some are not. None are from Westchester.
On the easel behind me, you can see two images of a typical bank ATM. One image is of a legitimate ATM and the other is the same ATM after it has been modified by thieves.
I wonder how many of you can tell the difference.
As you can see, the difference in the two machines is barely noticeable.
The skimmers have made two modifications.
In the photo on your right, the thieves have installed a so-called “dip reader.” That is a device that closely resembles – and fits directly over – the slot where ATM customers insert their debit or credit card.
This dip reader gathers the information that is contained on a particular card’s magnetic strip. The thieves will subsequently create a duplicate magnetic strip on a blank card.
The second modification is the narrow piece of molding near the top of the ATM. That contains a small pinhole camera that captures an image of a bank customer as he or she types in their PIN.
With the information from the card and a customer’s PIN, the thieves now have the key to a bank account and the ability to steal from it.
Our multi-agency task force has worked on numerous cases around Westchester. When we take questions in a few moments, some of the chiefs will describe the incidents that have occurred in their communities.
These five arrests are just a start. We want to send a message today that we will not allow this type of fraud to persist in Westchester.
We also want to make the public aware that this is occurring and encourage people to take extra precautions this holiday season.