NEW YORK–Thieves are targeting new locations for ATM skimming attacks: hospitals.
New York City police are reporting skimmers have been discovered on ATMs inside four different hospitals here.
Analysts say they expect criminals to continue to target machines located in places that are not closely monitored but which do offer around the clock access to cardholders.
One expert said it is also easier for thieves to disguise themselves as service technicians or even armored car personnel and tamper with the machines while not raising any suspicions.
Police have not released details around how the hospital machines were compromised, other than to say it occurred sometime between Aug. 24 and Nov. 1, 2016. Criminals have already made duplicate cards and used them to make unauthorized withdrawals of more than $40,000 as a result of the skimmers.
The hospitals involved include Memorial Sloan-Kettering and New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, according to police.