Five Arrested for ATM Skimming in Westchester
In less than two minutes, a band of criminals has been turning ATM machines across Westchester County into a vehicle for a nearly million-dollar fraud scheme, police say.
Police have arrested five men for attempted ATM skimming, or modifying ATMs to steal consumers’ account information and withdraw money from their accounts.
“These thieves are part of a larger, sophisticated ring of brazen criminals who have targeted our county for this scheme,” Westchester County Public Safety Commissioner George Longworth said in a Tuesday morning press conference. “When these crimes began to occur, we set up a multi-agency task force to combat this crime.”
All five criminals arrested were of Eastern European descent; two are from Illinois while three are from Astoria, Queens. They were charged with criminal possession of forgery devices, a felony.
Richard Merca, a 19-year-old from Palatine, Ill., was arrested on Nov. 13 for a particularly audacious skimming incident in which police say he modified an ATM machine in the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown while the mall was open and filled with customers.
“It shows that in a busy mall, these individuals could act very freely, and obviously the public did not notice anything amiss while they were actually installing these devices,” Yorktown Police Chief Daniel McMahon said. “If you see something suspicious, chances are it is, so please give us a call.”
Victor Vdila, a 21-year-old Astoria resident, was arrested Oct. 16 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud in Yonkers; Astoria residents Istvan Casplar, 29, and Florinel Gavat, 40, were arrested on Oct. 23 for an attempted skimming in Greenburgh; and 23-year-old Chicago resident Ionut Vasilas was arrested Nov. 6 for an attempted skimming in Tarrytown, police announced.
The Westchester County Department of Public Safety teamed up with the U.S. Secret Service and several local police departments including Pelham, Rye, Greenburgh, Bronxville and Yorktown on the task force.
The criminals needed only to make two small modifications to the ATMS; a dip reader was installed over the machine’s card reader so the card-owner’s number could be stolen and copied onto a blank card while a video camera overhead recorded the consumer entering his or her PIN number. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino warned county residents to take precautions when withdrawing cash this holiday season.
“When you’re typing in your pin at the ATM, try to do it with one hand over the other to protect it,” Astorino said. “You’d be surprised how small that pinhole is where the camera can take your [PIN number].”
Longworth said the investigation is ongoing and he believed the people arrested were relatively low-level players in a large, extensive scheme. He hopes the arrests, though, serve as a deterrent for other would-be criminals.
“We’re aware of the scheme. We’re training police officers across the county how to identify the devices that are used, and we have surveillance at numerous locations throughout the county,” said Longworth. “So if you’re going to choose to engage in this activity, there’s a very good chance you’ll be spending Thanksgiving with us.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.