Results tagged “atm”

You know that ATM scam where four friends from NYU were busted for repeatedly claiming their ATM cards were stolen when they were actually taking in $422,000? Well, the Post reports that it went on for so long (between 2003 and 2008) "because bank officials thought it was easier to just pay up, according to one of the investigators who helped break the case." Former NYPD detective Harry Houck Jr. says that he questioned one of the suspects, John Tluczek, who claimed his ATM card was stolen and account looted—Tluczek's excuse: "I was planning to go on vacation, and I had a piece of paper in my car that had all my PINs written down. I just left it in my car." Houck was suspicious and found out that Tluczek wasn't even on vacation! "But Houck said that when he called other banks to ask them about Tluczek, they had also heard of him, but decided to just pay him off rather than fight. The banks paid because Tluczek and his cohorts were taking advantage of a part of federal banking law that allows people to get money back within 10 days if their ATM cards are stolen and used to make withdrawals." Investigators think Tluczek and his cohorts' haul could tally up to $1 million.

In what Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes describes as "really a beaut of a scam," four friends from the NYU finance school are accused of ripping off Brooklyn banks for $422,000. Exploiting a regulation that requires banks to repay customers who claimed their ATM cards were lost or stolen within 10 days, the four allegedly made large withdraws from their accounts repeatedly over five years, then claimed that their cards had been stolen. "The scheme was as simple as it was brazen," Hynes told reporters today. The defendants were allegedly captured by video cameras when taking the money out, but they almost always wore motorcycle helmets or other covering to hide their identities. The accused are lawyer Eric Manganelli, 36; financial consultant Lam Dang, 37; bank employee John Tluczek, 37; and his wife, Marzena Tluczek, 35. They face multiple counts of grand larceny, falsifying business records and other charges, and each faces 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison for the top counts. The scheme was finally discovered after one bank investigator called another bank and they began comparing notes.

The NYPD is calling on the public to help them track down a ring of thieves who used ATMs at two Sovereign Bank branches on Staten Island to rob customers of roughly half a million dollars. Police have released surveillance photos of three suspects who installed "skimmers" on the banks' ATM machines that grabbed data from the magnetic strips on the back of bank cards. They also attached tiny cameras in the lighted signs over the ATMs that videotaped customers' PINs. The suspects were then able to transfer that info onto a blank card and withdraw money from the victims' accounts. The bank has refunded customers, but Deputy Inspector Gregory Antonsen tells the Daily News that New Yorkers should monitor their accounts closely: "This crew is sophisticated. And they are coming up with new ways to steal your identity every day." Anyone ready to snitch can call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or submit their tips online via the Crime stoppers Web site. ATM skimming is an ongoing problem for banks and their customers; in 2006 thieves scored $100,000 from 50 Washington Mutual accounts.

There's nothing like a post-robbery attempt dip in the East River! The Post reports that a man suspected of trying to steal an ATM—by knocking it over with his van— on the Lower East Side early Tuesday morning had managed to put the ATM into his vehicle, but then the cops came. Valentin Garcia "ran out of room as he sprinted two blocks down Rutgers Street, running smack into the river... But that didn't stop him -- he jumped into the cold, dark waters and tried to swim for it." He was fished out and apparently told cops, "I was not in the van. I don't know anything about ATM machines." Garcia was also allegedly overheard using his alloted phone call to tell someone, "911! Get all of the cash out from my mattress!" Garcia is being held on $50,000 bail; he is suspected in a number of knocked-over ATM robberies.

Stories of thieves setting up devices to "skim" bank customer data from ATM machines have been around for a while, which is all the more reason to be alert. A Gizmodo reader found himself face-to-face with one skimming set up at his Chase branch in the East Village.

The police are looking for four people involved in a scam they operate in bank ATM alcoves. The AP explains the scheme:

After the target puts his or her bank card into an ATM, a woman approaches and says that machine isn't working. While the victim uses a nearby machine, a second suspect watches and notes the victim's personal code.

Continue reading "Beware the "ATM Not Working" Scam"

Yikes: Thieves who targeted a Sovereign Bank on Staten Island's South Shore stole over $100,000 from customers' accounts. The Staten Island Advance reports that one victim, Tom Cosgrove, "went online to pay his bills yesterday morning," only to find "his bank account was $1,603 lighter." Apparently the thieves were skimming: They set up scanning device on the ATM's bank card reader, as well as a camera to tape customers entering their PIN numbers. Cosgrove, whose friend had $4500 wiped out from his account, said he got to the bank at 8:45 a.m. and there were other victims waiting: "It's the holiday season and people need money." Sovereign told the Advance the incident appeared isolated and that it would reimburse victims after receiving a claim, "The bank is aware of the inconvenience this fraud may cause during this holiday week and is working diligently to assist its customers."

Wild: A man who robbed the Sterling National Bank on 7th Avenue near 38th Street in Manhattan was chased and tackled by the bank's ATM repairmen. The robber, Thomas Slater, had passed a note to a teller and stole $1,082--and some of the money went flying onto the street during the chase as Slater wove through cars to evade capture. CityRoom reports, "Pedestrians walked up to the cops or bank employees and handed over money that they had picked up." Police spokesman Paul Browne said, "Even in the bad economy, all $1,082 that had been scattered before the police arrived was recovered in full." Slater was charged with bank robbery and is suspected in three other bank robberies. And the NY Times' director of mobile products Robert Z. Samuels saw Slater get tackled--he took some video of the arrest.

NYPD Sergeant John Hynes was suspended from the force and arrested on charges of of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and prohibited use of a weapon after using his police gun to unload on an Upper East Side ATM. After accompanying Police Commisioner Ray Kelly to NY Post writer Steve Dunleavy's retirement part, Hynes then took his status as a member of the NYPD's ceremonial unit to the next level and hit the bars uptown. At his third bar, Brady's on 2nd Avenue, he was staggering around with his gun visible, an NYPD no-no. A Brady's bartender told the Daily News, "I was freaking out. I wasn't going to serve the guy, but I didn't want to have to say no to a drunk with a gun." After leaving, police say Hynes fired his 9 mm on an ATM at 2nd and 83rd St., then found a nearby stoop where he was sitting alone where he was arrested. Maybe he had been inspired by the celebration of the notoriously hard-drinking Dunleavy.

The above receipt was recently found discarded, like so many greed-driven dreams, in a Wall Street ATM vestibule. Yes, someone on Wall Street just saw their bank account dip under the six figure mark. Maybe the sky really is falling! Or maybe Consumerist is right and the savvy rich lady or gent likely keeps the balance as such "for full FDIC coverage." Either way, that receipt's a real downer.

Big gas guzzling SUV's aren't completely worthless, especially if you need to withdraw some cash in a hurry. A surveillance camera in Orange County New York shows an intrepid robber ramming the back of his SUV through the front of a convenience store in an effort to steal its ATM--the whole machine. Starting at the top left and going clockwise, you can see 1) the SUV slamming through the front of the store 2) the driver pulling forward to give himself some room to work 3) wrestling with the heavy cash dispenser that he knocked over while entering, and 4) lifting it into the back of the vehicle. See, they aren't kidding when they advertise how much cargo space those things have!