NEW YORK CITY — A fedora-wearing woman stole more than $100,000 by using the identities of four different victims to make withdrawals from their accounts, the NYPD says.
The woman, seen in surveillance photos wearing two different hats, went into one Chase bank and multiple Capital One branches and used fake ID cards to withdraw money between July and November last year, according to authorities.
Police could not say how the woman got her hands on the victims' information in the first place.
The first incident was reported on July 3, 2015, just after midnight. A 50-year-old Upper East Side resident reported $5,500 being withdrawn from her account without her authorization, according to police.
An investigation revealed that the suspect used a fake ID card to pose as the victim to withdraw money at a Chase bank at 86 York St. in Lower Manhattan.
A month later, on August 11, 2015, a 52-year-old Queens woman made a report at 10 a.m., saying $74,000 had been taken out of her account. The suspect was caught on camera going into multiple Capital One banks to withdraw the victim's money using a fake ID, police said.
On August 31, 2015, a 49-year-old Queens woman told police at noon that $29,000 was missing from her account. Again, the suspect was found to have gone into multiple Capital One banks to use a fake ID to withdraw money, police said.
On November 4, 2015, a 29-year-old woman told police at 4 p.m. that Capital One called her to notify her that someone had tried to withdraw $6,000 from her account.
In that incident, the suspect went into the Capital One at 107-18 Continental Ave. in Queens and tried to use her fake ID, police said. But when the bank teller asked for another piece of ID, the woman walked out of the bank, according to authorities.
Chase and Capital One banks did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday.
The suspect, who police say is in her 50s, was caught on surveillance video by Capital One and last seen carrying a large brown bag and wearing hats that cover some of her face.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
