STRATEGIC PARTNERS
April 16, 2003
NEEDHAM, Mass. -- At least 15 Needham residents lost an estimated total of $50,000 in fraudulent Fleet Bank ATM withdrawals earlier this month, according to a report in the Needham Times.
Needham detectives are working with several local police agencies as well as Secret Service and FBI investigators to investigate the spate of incidents, all linked to a single ATM in Needham.
After determining that all of the victims had used the same ATM during a three-day period in March, police obtained video from the ATM at a Needham branch that showed two men attaching a skimming device to the access device at the entry. Police believe the men used a small, wireless camera to obtain ATM users' PINs. Combining card data captured by the skimmer with PINs, they then created bogus cards.
Police also obtained video of the men withdrawing money from ATMs in Medfield, Medway, Worcester, Boston, Cambridge and other areas.
According to the Needham Tmes, most withdrawals were in $500 increments. Some people's savings accounts were entirely depleted. One resident was taken for $9,500, while others were hit for $3,000 to $4,000.
Needham Detectives Joe O'Brien and Paul Droney were contacted by several Fleet Bank customers who stated the bank had called them to inquire about suspicious activity on their accounts.
"We believe a very small number of customers were impacted. We've been in touch with the customers who were involved, and we've canceled their cards. We are reissuing new cards," said Fleet spokesman Jim Schepker.
While police have leads, they believe the thieves may have left the area already.
"This actually involves a sophisticated ring," O'Brien told the Needham Times. "They've already been through Connecticut and Rhode Island. There's some gangs out of New York, organized crime gangs, that we are looking at who do this. We don't believe these are local guys, but we haven't ruled that out yet."
O'Brien said that police believe customers with accounts at Sovereign Bank and Citizens Bank may also have been affected.
