NYC moped gang of Venezuelan migrants used HACKERS to breach banking apps as details of their high-tech operation come to light
Members of the ruthless Venezuelan migrant gang that terrorized women in New York City by stealing their phones used hackers to crack banking apps, police say.
The migrants who allegedly stole wallets and cellphones from at least 62 women were photographed leaving a New York City police station after being arrested in a raid on Monday.
Shocking footage of one of the thefts shows a woman being dragged away by a moped by thieves trying to steal her phone.
Police arrested at least seven migrants, all believed to be from Venezuela, at a safe house in the Bronx after executing a search warrant.
Police believe the gang is led by Venezuelan leader Victor Parra, 30. He had a tech hack into the phones, use the devices to make fraudulent purchases and empty the victim’s bank accounts before sending them to Colombia.
“As you saw in yesterday’s heist — where the proceeds are shipped to Miami, Houston and ultimately Colombia — they’re a little more sophisticated because they’re hacking into people’s phones and stealing people’s banking information,” NYPD said. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
One of the gang members is seen dragging a 52-year-old woman into Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay neighborhood last month. They allegedly stole her purse, phone, credit cards, keys, glasses, $60 cash and her ID
Police believe the gang members used hackers to hack into banking apps on stolen phones before emptying the accounts and sending the phones abroad to sell.
Kenny added that the gangs were able to gain access to people’s Venmo, Zelle and other money transfer accounts before making purchases, transferring money to other accounts or withdrawing money.
Once the accounts are cleared, they ship the phones overseas and sell them, Kenny said.
On Tuesday, one of the gang members, Cleyber Andrade, 20, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court and held on $10,000 bond after being found to be linked to 62 separate events.
Andrade was charged with 25 grand thefts and Juan Uzcatugi, 23, was charged with 20 grand thefts, according to WABC. The pair were spotted leaving the First Precinct in Manhattan on Monday.
Roxanna Sahos, 24, was charged with tampering with evidence and Alexander Dayker, 20, was charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
One of the most shocking thefts a A migrant on a moped dragged a 52-year-old woman down a Big Apple street to steal her phone – a robbery caught on surveillance footage.
The scooter thief allegedly stole her purse, phone, credit cards, keys, glasses, $60 cash and her ID in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay neighborhood last month.
Police are still searching for Perra, who is believed to have entered the U.S. sometime in 2023 and was released on bail in December after being charged with grand theft.
Two of the migrants, Andrade Cleyber, 20, and Juan Uzcatgui, 23, were seen leaving the First Precinct in Manhattan on Monday. Cleyber was charged with 25 counts of grand larceny and Uzcatugi was charged with 20
‘He’s the big target. (He) caused a lot of trouble in New York City,” Officer Nicholas Fiore said.
He is suspected of leading the group of migrant “ghost criminals” whom he allegedly recruited using WhatsApp messages telling them to steal specific phone models, investigators said.
Police said the messages would say: ‘I have money. I am available. Go for it.’
The suspects arrested Monday stole the iPhones to use the Apple Pay feature and use the owners’ credit cards to buy items, police said.
NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny said the scooter drivers were paid $100 a day and the phone robbers were paid between $300 and $600 per phone.
“These perpetrators are part of a sophisticated criminal enterprise made up of immigrants who recently arrived in the United States,” Kenny said. “This network of thieves lives mainly in the migrant reception system.”
NYPD Commissioner Eddie Caban said, “They are essentially ghost criminals.”
Mayor Eric Adams went along for the sting operation wearing a $700 Fendi scarf under a bulletproof police vest and later appeared at a news conference with police.
‘This is not about the migrants and asylum seekers, this is about those who break the law. It doesn’t matter where you come from or where you come from,” the Democrat said.
Another group of about a dozen migrants were caught on camera last month attacking two NYPD officers in Times Square.
A Manhattan judge released at least five asylum seekers without bail after they were accused of the assault. Only one of the suspects remains in prison.
Four of the suspects – Darwin Andres Gomez, 19, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, and Yorman Reveron, 24, are believed to have fled the city after being charged and released after giving false names to a charity who helps migrants. get bus tickets.
Several of them were found Tuesday at a Greyhound bus station in Phoenix, Arizona, and arrested, according to multiple reports.
The migrants, whose names are not yet known, were taken into custody on Monday evening. This is what sources from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Fox news.
According to the New York Post, the migrants accused of the abuse are also part of a wire fraud scheme.
“They are buying back cars in Ecuador and Venezuela,” a police source told the Post. ‘They put swimming pools in their houses there. All this money goes back and forth. That’s why thefts are getting out of hand. It’s incredible what they do.’
Three of the four migrants believed to have been involved in an attack on the NYPD in Times Square on January 27 are pictured at a Greyhound bus station in Phoenix on Monday and were arrested
Wilson Juarez (left) and Yorman Reveron also fled: they are accused of conspiring against two Times Square cops
Darwin Andres Gomez (left) and Kelvin Servita Arocha were released without bail and allegedly tried to flee
Mayor Eric Adams went along for the sting operation and appeared at a news conference with police later Monday. In 2023, New York City will experience the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants
One of the migrants accused in the brutal attack, Yohenry Brito, 24, was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday and was taken into custody on $15,000 bail after an initial court appearance last week.
He will appear in court again on March 25, when the charges against him will be revealed.
The case has highlighted New York’s inability to keep pace with the tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived in the city in recent months.
In 2023 alone, the city had to deal with the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants.
In the city’s latest controversial move to crack down on migrants, Adams announced a $53 million program to give prepaid credit cards to immigrant families with children.
On Tuesday, Adams defended his new program, saying, “So we’re going to save money on delivery, we’re going to save money on people wasting food, and this is a pilot project that we’re going to use to save money.” us $6.7 million per year.”
He had previously said the project would save the city $600,000 a month, or $7.2 million a year.
The Democratic mayor also wanted to counter what he called “misinformation” about the program.
“We don’t give people American Express cards,” Adams said. “We found that with the food delivery service we set up during the emergency, we could find a better way to do this, believing we wanted to save 20 percent of migrant costs.”