Con Men Targeting Bank Accounts

Con Men Targeting Bank Accounts: MyFoxNY.com

A new form of high-tech bank robbery has crooks taking aim at your checking account, and they have all they need steal your cash and drain your accounts. Robert Kovach knows the scam all too well because he has been a target not once, not twice, but four times.

"It's tense. It's scary," said Robert Kovach. "And the hardest part is that it keeps happening."

In May of 2009, the first con man walked into a local bank posing as Robert Kovach. He was armed with a fake driver's license and a bogus credit card and tried to withdraw $4,000. When a suspicious bank teller asked too many questions the con man got spooked, leaving behind his fake photo ID and the bogus plastic. The bank notified the real Robert about the incident and he changed his account numbers.

But that was not the end of it. Six months and two days, later another man entered a different bank once again posing as Robert Kovach. This time when he showed a teller a fake driver's license as photo ID plus a fake credit card he successfully withdrew $3,800.

"This one was really well done," the real Robert Kovach said. "It had a hologram behind it the whole 9 yards."

Images of the suspect were captured on bank security cameras as he pulled off the scam 6 times at 6 different banks.

"This gentleman entered the bank six individual times and withdrew $3,800 each time," Kovach said.

But on his 7th try at yet another bank the con man was questioned by a suspicious teller.

"He ended up leaving his driver's license, credit card, and walked out of the bank. That's when they knew something was up when the gentleman just left," Kovach said.

By the time the real Robert Kovach found out, $22,800 had been stolen from his account.

In most cases like this banks let insurance cover the loss, and Robert Kovach was eventually reimbursed. But Kovach said the NYPD had no leads, and no true ID on the crooks in the photos so the case was dead.

"These are people that are in the business of stealing your identity, selling it to other groups... and it is an ongoing criminal operation," said Robert Strang, a private investigator and former DEA agent. Strang also told Fox 5 that while victims are usually reimbursed we all pay for this type of financial crime, "We pay a higher rate of interest for credit cards, because part of it is paying for these guys."

Unbelievably the real Robert Kovach's nightmare is not over.

"Someone came back into a different branch to try to withdraw cash again using the same method, two forms of ID," Kovach said. Once again a suspicious teller asked too many questions and the con man was spooked, but this time he didn't leave any photo ID behind.

Kovach said despite the surveillance images and the photo IDs left behind by two con men the cops told him they'd given up. But Kovach is not ready to give up, he wants to see the conmen nabbed.

"I would love to see this individual or individuals be put behind bars, taken to court, and yes I would personally offer $1,000 on each of those individuals for the first person with any information leading to an arrest and conviction for preventing this from happening to someone else," he said. "Not just in New York but anywhere across the country."

It's still unclear how they got Robert's personal financial information but experts have some advice on protecting yourself.

Limit the information you have printed on your personal checks, nowadays you do not have to have your name or address on you checks.

Don't write your driver's license number on your check. Many times this number is used to verify your identity so don't put it out there.

Don't post personal information such as your date of birth on social networks.

All these pieces of your personal information when put together can give an identity thief all he or she needs to drain your accounts.

Also frequently check your accounts online for suspicious activity and report it to your bank immediately because early detection can stop these crooks in their tracks.

The NYPD told Fox 5 it is still investigating this case. If you have any information on the suspects in the photos, the department wants to hear from you at 1-800-577-TIPS.