Those Romanian Thieves Have an Electronic Thing for ATMs; Some Get Caught

A federal task force continued to close in on a high-tech network of Romanian thieves who are using electronic spyware to loot the accounts of ATM customers at banks in Connecticut and elsewhere in the Northeast. Federal prosecutors disclosed that they have indicted four more Romanian nationals in the scheme, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. The task force of federal, state and local police agencies charged another two suspects one year ago, and it is continuing to hunt for other suspects. All those charged so far in the scheme are accused of installing what are known as skimming devices on ATM machines and on card-activated door locks that banks use to control access to the machines. In addition, the suspects in the scheme are accused of installing pinhole cameras on ATM machines. Banks, which credit customer accounts for fraudulent withdrawals, are the ultimate victims of the scheme, according to federal prosecutors. A U.S. Attorney said May 13 that the four Romanian nationals named in the indictment emptied accounts in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. The four are being held without bail, authorities told the Courant.