Five Romanian citizens living in Queens (NYC) were arrested on suspicion of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from more than 600 unsuspecting people at ATMs, according to federal prosecutors.
Ioan-Anton Gherasim (38), Elvis Dan Atomei (34), Dan Adrian Agafitei (25), Bobi Borcea (49) and Razvan Vicol (36) came up with a plan to install reading devices and cameras in ATMs, prosecutors maintain. On one occasion, Vicol apparently stole $4,000 and tried to get $5,000 more during a cash withdrawal that lasted seven minutes on a single day, February 16, he said. Patch.com.
The five alleged scammers were arrested on Thursday and charged with fraud and aggravated identity theft After extensive research by investigators from the FBI, Secret Service and NYPD about robberies between May 2022 and February 2023, authorities said.
But the raids on Thursday, February 29, showed that The crimes continued until this year: That morning agents caught one of the defendants with a desk full of ATM theft device tools, documents state.
“The five accused allegedly illegally obtained financial information using hidden devices implanted in ATMs to create counterfeit debit cards and steal thousands of dollars from more than 600 unsuspecting victims,” he said it’s a statement James Smith, FBI assistant director in charge of the New York field office.
Is about thin devices inserted into slots for debit or credit cards that capture and store card data. And when combined with PIN numbers captured by hidden cameras, the accused fraudsters could make counterfeit cards and withdraw money or conduct transactions, the documents state.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
These are more sophisticated robberies than the traditional assaults on ATM users and even the machines. In June, two daring thieves made off with about $100,000 in a robbery in broad daylight when an employee was filling ATMs located in private businesses in The Bronx. In May, an armed robber made off with an entire ATM from a warehouse in Queens.
2024-03-05 20:13:00
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