Two suspects were being sought Wednesday for allegedly distracting elderly victims in a series of identity thefts at ATMs in Los Angeles.
Detectives assigned to the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division, Metropolitan Financial Section, launched an investigation after an 83-year-old man was distracted by the suspects at about 11:35 a.m. on Jan. 15, who then stole his card at an ATM in the 2100 block of Colorado Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The suspects were witnessed the same day at about 1 p.m. in the 800 block of North San Fernando Boulevard at a bank, where they allegedly extracted funds from the victim’s account.
Police said the suspects approach elderly victims while they are conducting transactions at ATMs, working collaboratively with one suspect closely observing the victims entering their PINs on the ATM keypad.
“The same suspect then drops a $20 bill behind the victim and taps them on the shoulder to alert them. As the victim turns to retrieve the money, the second suspect quickly removes the victim’s ATM card from the machine and replaces it with a counterfeit card that closely resembles the original,” police said.
The victims leave the ATMs unaware their cards have been swapped with counterfeit ones and their accounts compromised, with the suspects subsequently using the stolen cards to withdraw thousands of dollars, police added.
LAPD detectives, with assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies, are investigating the thefts, and have released photos of the suspects to get help from the public in identifying them.
The photos are available at x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2026798972883615999?s=20.
Anyone with information about the thefts was urged to contact Detective Franssen at 213-486-5947. Calls made outside of business hours should be directed to 877-527-3247. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.