ATM Skimming
Three men have been charged of skimming credit card information from 1,500 New Yorkers using card-reading devices that were attached to ATMs near Union Square. FBI

Three men accused of stealing more than a quarter of a million dollars from 1,500 people have been arrested. The men had installed card-reading devices and surveillance video cameras on Chase ATMs near Union Square in January.

The group made nearly $285,000 in fraudulent purchases using the card information they collected, according to the indictment. The men would frequently visiting New York from Canada and pose as tourists while they defrauded hundreds of New Yorkers. The high-tech crime spree was completed in a five-day span.

Nikolai Ivanov, 31, Dimitar Stamatov, 28, and Iordan Ivanov, 24, were charged in the 81-count indictment. Charges against each defendant included four counts of scheming to defraud in the first degree, grand larceny in the second degree, identity theft in the first degree and among several other charges. About 15 people have been arrested in similar cases this year, according to the New York Times.

We have learned that ATM skimming is a favorite activity of Eurasian crime groups, so we sometimes investigate skimming-often partnering with Secret Service-as part of larger organized crime cases, said the FBI. The FBI cites several big-name skimming cases, including the Union Square case, among one in Miami, Chicago and Atlanta.

The New York Times New York Fbi Canada