For the third day in a row, the NYPD and Secret Service conducted “Operation Flagship” inspections throughout the city looking for credit card skimmers, including at a supermarket on Avenue D in the Lower East Side.

“Usually there is two people, one distracting the cashier while they’re pushing the device onto it,” Daniel Alessandrino, a detective with the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force who’s also assisting the Secret Service on this operation, said.

“And now that device is a single device with a keypad and a card reader, so it steals your card information as well as your pin information, which they can then use later to steal your money from your bank accounts,” Alessandrino added.

What You Need To Know

  • The NYPD and Secret Service are cracking down on credit card skimming rings at bodegas, supermarkets and pharmacies across the city in their latest joint effort to go after fraudulent criminal activity

  • Over a three-day period as part of "Operation Flagship," agents found more than 50 fake payment machines – including in Brooklyn and Queens – and investigators say by stopping those skimmers – they prevented criminals from accessing an estimated $16.2 million

  • Unlike most bank credit and debit cards that now have chips to protect cardholders – Electronic Benefit Transfer or EBT cards – use basic payment technology, usually a magnetic strip, which leaves low-income New Yorkers at risk of falling victim to this fraudulent activity

Law enforcement says sometimes stores are involved, but usually bad actors are part of a larger criminal network.

Unlike most bank credit and debit cards that now have chips to protect cardholders — Electronic Benefit Transfer or EBT cards — use basic payment technology, usually a magnetic strip, which leaves low-income New Yorkers at risk of falling victim to this fraudulent activity.

“We’ve seen a shift in New York City, where a couple years ago we would’ve seen an uptick in ATM devices with deep inserts, and we’re seeing it now switch over to [the] point of sale terminals,” he said. “The reason being, it is going after more of our SNAP and EBT benefits targeting our vulnerable that are receiving funding.”

Earlier this week, agents found more than 50 fake payment machines, including in Brooklyn and Queens.

Investigators say by stopping those skimmers, they prevented criminals from accessing an estimated $16.2 million.

“Nearly one out of every 10 businesses had a skimmer in place, and that is tremendously concerning,” Michael Peck, assistant special agent in charge with the Secret Service, said.

It’s all part of the Secret Service’s national campaign, and an inter-agency effort to take credit card skimming devices off the streets.

“We’re also heavily relying on the NYPD, knowing their neighborhoods, knowing the ins and outs of this city, to help us find those particular locations that may be, call it, vulnerable, to these types of scams,” Dan Lerro, technical special agent with the Secret Service, said.

After the NYPD and Secret Service conduct these inspections, the next step is identifying the people within the networks — aiming to make arrests.

And they say there are large-scale operations planned in the future as well as daily enforcement in the city.