PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police in Bucks County are searching for two New York men who allegedly put skimming devices on ATMs to steal people’s account information.
Hilltown Township Police Detective James Towhey said the ATM skimming devices would have been difficult for a user to detect.
“[The men] were filing or sandpapering the openings to where the cards go,” he said, “and then the actual piece, the device, was paper-thin. They would slide it in with a fake card, put it in place, and then pull the card out to make sure it was lodged in there.”
Investigators said the men drove down from New York to install the devices. Then, they returned with the cloned cards to withdraw as much as they could in the area, avoiding raising any red flags.
“If Joe Smith in Perkasie’s card [is] all of a sudden being used in Colmar for $500, it may not seem as suspicious as Joe Smith’s card being used in Brooklyn, New York, for $500,” Towhey explained.
He advised people to check their bank statements for any unknown ATM withdrawals.
Officials said the skimming devices recovered from the Wawa on Route 113, near Route 309, could have as many as 100 victims. Towhey said investigators know of other stores in at least three counties.
Police identified one man, Romanian national Grozea Daragiu, but have been unable to locate him. They are working to ID the other suspect.
“We only have proof of these two,” Towhey said, “but obviously we believe it to be larger than just two people.”
Investigators searching for 2 suspects from New York
Investigators searching for 2 suspects from New York
