Latest news with #OperationFlagship
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Watch: Secret Service, NYPD go after card-skimming devices
NEW YORK (PIX11) — At supermarkets, bodegas, drug stores, banks, and other locations where people use credit or debit cards, about one in every ten card readers may have a skimming device attached to it, according to the U.S. Secret Service. The devices, which steal the financial information of cardholders, are then used by the criminals who install them to drain cardholders' accounts. More Local News The fraud also happens frequently with cards for the SNAP program, which is sometimes also called food stamps, as well as with EBT cards. Those crimes put some of the most needy people at risk of losing badly needed benefits. It's why the Secret Service, in conjunction with the NYPD, the USDA, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, and other local agencies, carried out a three-day sweep to find skimming devices, and investigate the people behind them. The effort, called Operation Flagship, found more than 50 devices out of some 700 that agents checked. One of those skimmers was in the card slot of an ATM at a major chain drugstore on the Lower East Side. James Lillo, an NYPD detective who specializes in fighting financial crimes, is also an expert at removing skimming devices. After using a few different tools, he was able to pull the skimmer from inside the ATM card slot. He pointed to the metal plate, shaped like a lower case -h, that he'd removed, and showed a tiny set of electronics wired onto one side of it. More Local News 'The data would be transmitted into the flash memory here,' Lillo said, pointing to a microchip card on the device. He then showed a millimeters-thin plastic panel that had been affixed next to the ATM's keypad. The panel had a pinhole in it. Behind that nearly microscopic hole was a tiny camera and a memory card. The camera 'runs video from here, capturing the customers' — in this case [the] victims' — PIN numbers,' Lillo explained. That one ATM was set up to find and save hundreds of PIN numbers and card numbers that scammers were using to drain people's accounts, according to the Secret Service. Michael Peck is the assistant special agent-in-charge at the New York office of the U.S. Secret Service. Peck said that Operation Flagship is a nationwide effort, and of all of the locations participating across the country, 'As an operation in recovery' of skimming devices, 'New York has been our largest one to date.' He said that nationwide, Las Vegas, Nevada, had the highest number of stores, banks and other businesses entered by agents during the operation. However, as a percentage of devices seized, New York had the highest numbers. More than 19 percent of all devices seized nationwide were in New York City. More Local News That fact emphasized how pervasive the problem is here in New York. It really adds up, said Peck, the Secret Service assistant special agent-in-charge. '$16.2 million has been the prevented loss to people that really need it,' he said in an interview at Secret Service Headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn. Daniel Alessandrino, another NYPD financial crimes detective, led a local team searching for devices. In three locations that they checked within a few blocks of one another on the Lower East Side, the team found two devices. The next steps, Alessandrino said, involve pinpointing the people who install skimming devices. '[We] locate video,' he said during an interview in a supermarket where the team searched all of its checkout line card readers, referring to the surveillance video system in the store. Even though the supermarket was not one of the three locations where devices were found, Alessandrino said that video systems like the one in the store demonstrate how they nab skimming criminals. Once a device is found, he said, detectives look at video of the place where the device had been installed, 'to possibly locate the subjects leaving [a store], where we're able to then, hopefully, with our technology, identify who they are.' That kind of work, said Dan Leero, a Secret Service technical special agent, is part of a cooperation between his agency, which is responsible for the security of U.S. currency, and local law enforcement agencies. 'We rely heavily on the NYPD,' the Secret Service agent said, 'to know their neighborhoods, to know these areas.' The Secret Service also says that customers can help to stop skimming crimes, by taking protective measures. 'Watch your [account] balances,' said Peck, the special agent-in-charge, 'protect your PINs, use the chip' on a card, rather than swipe it. 'If you can,' he continued, 'use tap and pay.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
NYPD and Feds crack down on skimming at ATMs and EBT machines
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — A three-day citywide crackdown is underway to get rid of skimmers and cloning devices on ATMS and EBT machines. 'Operation Flagship' involves the NYPD, the USDA, and the U.S. Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division. More Crime News As of Thursday, authorities say nearly two dozen illegal devices were found on machines throughout the five boroughs. The U.S. Secret Service said a skimming device was found in the card slot of an ATM at a Walgreens on Broadway and Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg. A cloning device was also allegedly found at a Mini Mart on Broadway in Bushwick. Fernando Mateo with the United Bodegas of America tells PIX11 News he and his members welcome the federal crackdown. Mateo said thieves are, 'Taking money from people that really need their benefits. They need it for milk, they need it for eggs.' Mateo added, 'We're also advising our bodega owners to keep the machines behind the counter and out of the reach of anyone that can approach the counter.' In one year, an estimated $65 million was stolen from EBT cards in New York State. There is pending legislation in New York State that would enhance EBT card security by requiring stores to warn customers about skimming and eventually replace outdated magnetic strip cards with chip-based cards. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Authorities launch NYC crackdown on credit-card-skim rings responsible for $18B in stolen money: ‘People are coming for you'
Authorities cracking down on national organized-crime rings swiping $18 billion a year through ATM card-skimming have now turned their sights on aiding Big Apple victims. The US Secret Service, which investigates financial crimes along with protecting the president, started the crackdown in California last year because of the staggering problem and has now expanded to team up with a new NYPD task force to try to thwart the criminals better here. 'It's billions of dollars [stolen] annually across the nation, so that jumps off the page by any metric,' Secret Service spokesman James Byrne told The Post on Wednesday, as the New York City initiative was rolled out. 'That's the impetus for it.' The feds launched 'Operation Flagship' after the US Department of Agriculture and credit-card carriers detected such theft involving the government's food-assistance, or Electronic Benefits Transfer, cards. The skimming devices can be installed on top of the ATM and remotely steal PIN numbers and other data from the user's card use the information to steal the money. Scammers simply attack the device using double-sided tape. Thieves can also install tiny cameras in the ATMs that grab images of the PIN number on a card. In the Big Apple, the rings primarily target the poorest neighborhoods, authorities said. 'Unfortunately, they're targeting people who really need the money the most, and that's why this problem is really blowing up in the city,' NYPD Detective James Lilla said. 'They'll come in, distract the teller, the [skimming] device will go on. It can take 2 to 4 seconds to install the device.' 'They're targeting, particularly, for EBT cash benefits,' said Lilla, who is assigned to work with the Secret Service. 'So, [it's] direct access for those victims, because those cards are not chip-protected. They're able to get direct access and a monthly income coming in for the money.' The devices steal an average of $300,000 per skimming device — and $1,000 for each person targeted, authorities said. The joint federal task force focused on bodegas and small markets in Brooklyn on Wednesday and plans to hit locations this week to look for skimmers. 'It's a message to folks that are doing these crimes,' said Patrick Freaney, Secret Service special agent in charge of the agency's New York office, to The Post. 'People are coming for you.' Secret Service agent Michael Peck said, 'They are taking the terminals that you see in stores visually, and they are fitting these skimmers so perfectly that the average eye doesn't catch them.' 'You have to know specifically how to feel for them, or you have to look for other triggers,' he added. 'Maybe glue, maybe a piece of tape and maybe fake seals.' The task force uses a high-tech approach to track down the scamming ATMs, which triangulates data from the USDA, credit card companies and local law enforcement to catch the crooks. 'It's definitely organized crime that's doing this,' Peck said.
New York Post
21-05-2025
- New York Post
Authorities launch NYC crackdown on credit-card-skim rings: ‘People are coming for you'
Authorities cracking down on national organized-crime rings swiping $18 billion a year through ATM card-skimming have now turned their sights on aiding Big Apple victims. The US Secret Service, which investigates financial crimes along with protecting the president, started the crackdown in California last year because of the staggering problem and has now expanded to team up with a new NYPD task force to try to thwart the criminals better here. 'It's billions of dollars [stolen] annually across the nation, so that jumps off the page by any metric,' Secret Service spokesman James Byrne told The Post on Wednesday, as the New York City initiative was rolled out. Advertisement 3 The NYPD and the US Secret Service announced Operation Flagship, which targets ATM crooks in the city. Paul Martinka for the NYPost 'That's the impetus for it.' The feds launched 'Operation Flagship' after the US Department of Agriculture and credit-card carriers detected such theft involving the government's food-assistance, or Electronic Benefits Transfer, cards. The skimming devices can be installed on top of the ATM and remotely steal PIN numbers and other data from the user's card use the information to steal the simply attack the device using double-sided tape. Thieves can also install tiny cameras in the ATMs that grab images of the PIN number on a card. Advertisement In the Big Apple, the rings primarily target the poorest neighborhoods, authorities said. 'Unfortunately, they're targeting people who really need the money the most, and that's why this problem is really blowing up in the city,' NYPD Detective James Lilla said. 'They'll come in, distract the teller, the [skimming] device will go on. It can take 2 to 4 seconds to install the device. 'They're targeting, particularly, for EBT cash benefits,' said Lilla, who is assigned to work with the Secret Service. 'So, [it's] direct access for those victims, because those cards are not chip-protected. They're able to get direct access and a monthly income coming in for the money.' 3 The US Secret Service said ATM skimming is an $18 billion underground industry in the country, including in New York. Paul Martinka for the NYPost Advertisement The devices steal an average of $300,000 per skimming device — and $1,000 for each person targeted, authorities said. The joint federal task force focused on bodegas and small markets in Brooklyn on Wednesday and plans to hit locations this week to look for skimmers. 'It's a message to folks that are doing these crimes,' said Patrick Freaney, Secret Service special agent in charge of the agency's New York office, to The Post. 'People are coming for you.' Secret Service agent Michael Peck said, 'They are taking the terminals that you see in stores visually, and they are fitting these skimmers so perfectly that the average eye doesn't catch them. Advertisement 3 ATM scammers target New York's poorest because public assistance cards are the easiest to hack into, authorities said. Paul Martinka for the NYPost 'You have to know specifically how to feel for them, or you have to look for other triggers,' he added. 'Maybe glue, maybe a piece of tape and maybe fake seals.' The task force uses a high-tech approach to track down the scamming ATMs, which triangulates data from the USDA, credit card companies and local law enforcement to catch the crooks. 'it's definitely organized crime that's doing this,' Peck said.
