Thousands in benefits stolen through card skimming across NY
Advocates are calling on Albany and to ramp up security on benefits cards — while officials say the law ties their hands when it comes to reimbursing the stolen funds.
This article was originally published on by THE CITY.
Lawyers for thousands of New Yorkers who had their public benefits stolen through automatic teller machine and credit-card “skimming” fraud are urging city and state officials to recoup people’s stolen money and upgrade to cards with better protections.
Officials from the Legal Aid Society and the Empire Justice Center in Albany sent a letter Thursday to the commissioner and top officials at the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), asking for help for more than 2,200 clients who have had their benefits stolen in the first eight months of 2022.
Fraudsters “skim” credit and debit card information by secretly installing a device on ATM readers that sends credit card numbers and pin numbers back to the thieves, the letter states.