Detectives are looking for tips that will help them find the man who planted a card-reading device onto an ATM at a Forest Hills bank last month.
According to police, the bandit installed the card skimmer onto the cash machine inside the Astoria Bank located at 63-72 108th St. between 9:05 and 10:30 a.m. on the morning of April 8.
Bank employees later found the skimmer and reported it to the 112th Precinct. It was not known if any accounts were compromised.
Security cameras captured an image of the man who installed the skimmer; he is described by police as a black man wearing a green, waist-length jacket, a dark-colored bandana and eyeglasses.
Over the last few months, as we’ve reported, crooks across Queens have been attaching skimmers to ATMs at banks and convenience stores across the borough. Last week, police released images of two men who attached such a device to a bank ATM in Ozone Park.
The skimmers are designed to fit over the card slots on ATMs and record personal information of account holders off of any card inserted into it. That information, police said, has been known to be sold to other scammers or used to produce fraudulent debit or credit cards to make cash withdrawals or obtain lines of credit.
Police have been warning residents about ATM skimmers in recent months after a number of the have been found on ATMs in banks and even convenience stores. Never use an ATM that may appear to be broken or malfunctioning, or may have a loose card-reader slot, as that could be a sign that the machine has been compromised.
Anyone who believes that they may have used a compromised ATM is urged to monitor their bank and credit card statements and immediately report any suspicious activity.
Persons with information regarding the Forest Hills ATM skimmer or the suspect’s whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, visit their website or send a text message to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
