Men Install Skimming Machines At West Side Pharmacies, Police Say

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The NYPD are trying to identify two men who installed skimming machines at businesses on Manhattan's west side, police said. The suspects were seen installing the devices at the two businesses in February, police said.

The first business the scammers hit was a Rite Aid in Hell's Kitchen. The men entered the pharmacy, located on West 50th Street near Eighth Avenue, on the night of Feb. 6, police said. While employees weren't looking, the men were able to slip the skimmers on point of sale machines at the pharmacy.

On the night of Feb. 11 the fraudsters struck again. This time, the men headed uptown to an Upper West Side Rite Aid pharmacy on Broadway between West 109th and 110th streets. The men entered the business on Feb. 11 and place the skimmer on a point of sale machine, police said.

Skimmers are devices installed on ATM machines designed to record private information about credit and debit cards such as card and PIN numbers, according to the security blog Krebs on Security. According to Krebs on Security the devices come in a number of different forms and can record the valuable financial information in a variety of ways.

In both instances, employees were able to later spot the devices and alert the cops, police said. Police recently released photos of the two suspects (seen above) that were captured on business security cameras.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Photo by NYPD