Scammers Put Small Cameras on LIRR Ticket Machines to Steal Credit Card Information

LongIsland.com

Someone may be watching you : small cameras were found attached to LIRR ticket machines on the Port Washington, Port Jefferson, and Oyster Bay branches.

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Long Island Rail Road commuters who use debit and credit cards, beware – Metropolitan Transportation Authority detectives uncovered a new plot in which scammers covertly hid tiny cameras on LIRR ticket machines in areas where they could capture the customer’s credit card info and PIN number.

The cameras were found on ticket machines at the Bayside and Great Neck stations on the Port Washington branch, the Merillon Avenue station on the Huntington/Port Jefferson branch, and at Greenvale on the Oyster Bay branch.

According to the press release, in each case the tiny camera was found on the underside of a black metal strip that was placed across the top of the ticket machine with an adhesive. MTA Police Chief Michael Coan said that strip blended perfectly and looked like it was part of the machine.

“To know people are trying to scam you. It certainly adds a layer of discomfort,” LIRR rider Samantha Isaacs said to CBS News.

“It takes a certain kind of person to come up with something like that. You really can’t stop everything, but it’s a shame that people like that exist,” Lee Schneider added.

The MTA urges that if a customer has paid for a ticket at any of these machines with a debit or credit card that they check their bank statements and contact their bank or credit card company to check for any unauthorized activity.

So far, police do not know who set up the cameras on the ticket machines.

Anyone who may have witnessed an individual or individuals acting suspicious or tampering with ticket vending machines are asked to please contact the MTA Police Department at 718-361-2247.

[Source: Press Release, CBS News]

Photos courtesy of the MTA, Video courtesy of CBS News.

 

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