By Madina Toure
FLUSHING — Flushing Savings Bank, the NYPD and the 109th Precinct are currently investigating a series of hacking incidents that have ensnared more than 100 bank customers since October.
The hacking has affected roughly 120 people since October, said Chrissy Voskerichian, president of the 109th Precinct Community Council.
Deputy Inspector Thomas Conforti initially thought skimming devices were used on the bank’s ATMs, but while filing police reports at the 109th Precinct, the victims said they never used an ATM.
Bob Liff, a spokesman for Flushing Savings Bank, said the accounts of all affected customers have been reimbursed and that the bank has been working with the NYPD’s Financial Crimes Task Force.
“As soon as the bank became aware of questions about account security in October, we immediately reached out to the NYPD’s Financial Crimes Task Force and have been fully cooperating with them since then in an investigation,” Liff said in an emailed statement. “All accountholders have been made whole while we continue to cooperate in that investigation.”
The 109th Precinct has been conducting an outreach campaign via emails and Facebook posts to inform customers of the incidents as well as encouraging them to check their bank accounts to ensure that their information has not been compromised.
“Whether it’s a skimming device or not, people still need to keep up their guard,” Voskerichian said. “When they are using an ATM or when they are using a debit card, they need to take those extra two seconds and think to cover when they’re entering their PIN. They just have to do it.”
About 20 people were affected in October, another 40 people between November and December and another 60 people at the end of December and the beginning of January, Voskerichian said.
