Thieves using card readers and hidden cameras stole more than $250,000 from 11 Chase A.T.M.’s near New York City’s Union Square earlier this year, according to a recently unsealed indictment.

The crime shows that “skimming” isn’t just a risk for gas station pumps or no-name machines in out-of-the-way locations. Roughly 1,500 accounts were affected. A Chase spokesman, Tom Kelly, declined to comment because the matter involved a security issue. (He did note that the bank reimbursed customers for losses resulting from fraud.)

Three men — Bulgarians who became naturalized Canadian citizens — are accused of stealing most of the funds during an initial three-day spree in January; the men are said to have returned for a second go-round in May.

The men installed green plastic “lips” in the A.T.M. card slots that allowed them to capture customers’ numbers, and used hidden cameras to record PINs, according to prosecutors. Two of the men were arrested May 24 while trying to remove a skimming device they had installed on a machine. (A press release about the indictment from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office includes photos of the skimming device used as well as an image taken by the hidden camera).

Bucks previously posted information on how to spot problems at A.T.M.’s. The Consumerist and the Web site Snopes have posted pictures of skimming devices, and Consumer Reports magazine prepared a helpful video.

Have you ever been the victim of skimming? Did you suspect anything was amiss with the A.T.M.?

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=9bd90b2b02eb25c7cfcd05e5acaffe8d