A 71-year-old Manhattan man lost more than $6,000 after one man distracted him at an Upper East Side ATM while an accomplice later joined him to use the stolen debit card for unauthorized withdrawals, police said.
The incident happened around 11 a.m. on Monday, June 2, at the Chase Bank branch at 181 East 90th St., according to the NYPD.
As the victim attempted to withdraw cash, one of the suspects approached him and struck up a conversation. While the victim was distracted, police said, the suspect swiped the senior’s debit card from the machine and fled, before later meeting up with a second suspect.
An hour later, the victim realized his card was missing. Police said a total of $6,210.50 in unauthorized withdrawals and charges were made on the account.
The suspects allegedly used the card to withdraw $5,500 at another Chase branch, located at 1924 Third Ave. in East Harlem.
On June 26, authorities released surveillance photos of the suspects and asked for the public’s help in identifying them.
Both individuals are described as men with medium complexions. One was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. The other wore a blue Yankees baseball cap, gray T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black sneakers.
The theft comes amid a 5% year-to-date increase in grand larceny reports in the 19th Precinct, which covers the Upper East Side. As of this year, 773 cases have been reported.
Citywide grand larceny is down 7.6% compared to the same period in 2024, with 21,103 incidents reported as of June 22.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
